Lit up in color, a portion of the SoFA Art District in downtown San Jose was redesigned and revamped on Saturday in honor of the late Detroit rapper and producer, J Dilla.
Donut Day was co-produced by The Come Up and Bay Beats Summit. The hosts gave shining testimony of Dilla’s work on his final studio album, 2006’s “Donuts.”
The Come Up and Bay Beats Summit are local music collectives in San Jose’s downtown community that allow beat makers, bands, DJs and artists to showcase their talent.
“We just took both of our elites and blended them together and we made this crazy show,” Bay Beats Summit producer Austin Avila said.
Avila and The Come Up co-producer, Isaiah Wilson, worked for weeks to curate this event.
“One thing we had to really think about was if we were able to cover the cost,” Wilson said. “We wanted to pay the artists performing.”
The Come Up has organized guest performances at venues such as The Ritz, Cafe Stritch and Garden at the Flea. This event was the first independent showcase for the collective avidly promoting a dedicated space to visual art and sound.
Given that there are not a lot of all-age inclusive music venues in downtown San Jose, Wilson said The Come Up is a fun side project to help better the local music scene.
“People want to be in a place where they can just chill and vibe,” Wilson said.
From 7 p.m. to midnight, about
200 audience members grooved to the sounds within the brick walls.
“I really felt at home. I felt really comfortable with the community and the vibe . . . the music felt like it connected to all of us, resonating at the right times” Antonia Briones, a 27-year-old audience member and aspiring producer, said.
Visual artists such as Ivan Gonzalez, Dulce Gambo, Francisco Ramirez and Victor Peres created pieces specifically as a tribute to Dilla and auctioned them off during the entire show.
Their art created a visual journey before reaching the stage and was saturated with colorful sprinkled donuts.
“I’m just here to celebrate Dilla, his legacy, his birthday,” Peres, digital art and animation junior at Cogwels Polytechnic College said. “I’m here to showcase who I am and what I do.”
Artists in graphics, graffiti and posters were also selling their work at tables scattered near the entrance.
Deeper into the venue, the performance stage was flooded in neon pink, blue, red and purple colors and spotlighted by kaleidoscope visuals.
Beat maker, producer and multi-instrumentalist Bad Snacks said, “Intimate events like this are always unreal. Everyone is just so present.”
Bad Snacks visited from Los Angeles and mixed her beat tape, sang and glided with her violin on stage.
Alongside her were locally-known performers Knowmadic, William Corduroy, Irata, Something Ok, DJ Emz and DJ Llama.
“I honestly didn’t expect that many people,” William Corduroy lead singer, Willaim Corduroy said.
He was not only shocked by the audience and their energy, but inspired by how much art surrounded the room.
“This is what the community needs, this is what the world needs. We need to have more artists and more people coming out to stuff like this,” Corduroy said.
Avila and Wilson swayed with the front row audience members, content that their vision of the night was fully realized.
“I just couldn’t believe it, it felt like a crazy dream,” Avila said. “Everyone was feeling it, it warmed my heart to see everyone enjoy it.”
