On Loop

How struggles over Black sound have shaped Oakland's culture, politics, and geography. Chicago has house. Detroit has techno. But Oakland slaps. On Loop explores the role of Black dance music and sonic politics in recurring struggles over race and space in Oakland, California. Insisting on the centrality of sound in everyday social movementsfrom the mobilization of funk music and boogaloo dance during Black Power to the policing of the Hyphy movement in the 2000sAlex Werth argues that Black dance music is not merely a soundtrack to or record of urban resistance. Rather, its very sound waves have animated looping clashes over development, dispossession, and Black freedom. Through studies of downtown nightclubs, Lake Merritt, and the Eastmont Mallgeographies rarely considered, yet critical to Oakland's culture and politicsWerth reveals how the liberatory sonic politics of funk, hip-hop, and hyphy rap have been met with a repetitive war on nuisance. As both a means of empowerment and a magnet for policing, Black dance music has transformed not only Oaklands nightlife, but also its streets, parks, and neighborhoods. On Loop is a rousing encounter with the sound that moves urban life.