In late November East Bay Express wrote a piece about Oakland rapper Yared Kiflai. I'd never heard of him, but then again there are so talented artists shining brightly in Oakland. Tragically too many of them were lost in a fire. On other days, in other moments, others are lost to acts of violence. Life goes on for those that remain, and with heavy hearts, so does art.
Kiflai's debut single "CGH" has less than 1,000 spins on Spotify, when it should be popping up on radars and year-end lists. Not that Kiflai's sweating any of it. Rappers are the new pop stars, and with his flow I think Yared knows that he'll be charting sooner than later.