They sought talent that fit the mindset of Black Wall Street — musicians who could set aside ego to commemorate their ancestors. Ryan Cash/Fivvish/Courtesy of the artist “But we’re what it looks like when we got our own backs / And we’re what it looks like when we build it back black / We’re what […]
On ‘Fire In Little Africa,’ Oklahoma Artists Embody The Black Wall Street Mentality
Steph Simon (pictured) and fellow rapper Dialtone were among the first artists contacted by Fire In Little Africa executive producer Stevie Johnson when he arrived in Tulsa in 2019. Ryan Cash/Fivvish/Courtesy of the artist Motown Records imprint Black Forum released Fire in Little Africa — an album written and recorded by a collective of Oklahoma hip-hop artists — last […]
Briana Wright Comes Into Her Own In Tulsa, A City That Hasn’t
Briana Wright says she turns to music to express what it means to be fully herself, in a city that has not yet reconciled with its past. Fear the Locals/Courtesy of the artist If music is the compass by which we navigate a complicated world, it’s no surprise that Tulsa lays claim to artists as […]
‘Like Deftones Meets Miles Davis’: Tulsa’s Tori Ruffin Gets Freaky
“Music definitely drives me,” says guitarist Tori Ruffin. “I’m always trying to learn, always trying to create.” Phil Clarkin A Tulsan by way of Detroit, Austin and Los Angeles, Tori Ruffin is the founding member of Freak Juice, a funky, hard-rocking music collaborative that includes musicians Charlie Redd (bass), Stanley Fary (drums) and Christopher Simpson […]