AMÉMÉ, courtesy Patrick Ames. The first Tuesday Tracks column of December features Afro-house from AMÉMÉ and Franc Fala, uplifting pop by Dylan Cartlidge, neo-soul by UMI, a jazz tribute to drum and bass music by Kuna Maze, deep dance-pop from Joey Sachi and AKINAT, and a reflective lullaby by…

UMI photographed at Oakland Arena in Oakland on Dec. 2, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. OAKLAND — “I feel very accomplished right now,” Tierra Umi Wilson says shortly after her December performance at Oakland Arena, where she opened for one of her biggest role models, Jhené Aiko. The 24-year-old Seattle native,…

UMI performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland on Dec. 2, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. Updated: Dec. 25 OAKLAND — Seattle-born, L.A.-based neo-soul artist UMI and BTS’ Kim Tae-hyung, better known as V, recently announced on social media a collaborative song the two worked on remotely. UMI (Tierra Umi Wilson), who…

Jhené Aiko performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland on Dec. 2, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. OAKLAND — It’s been months—last summer–since soul vocalist Jhené Aiko last performed on stage. Back then, she canceled several shows to focus on her health and her family, including her second child, with rapper Big…

Clockwise from top left: UMI, BENEE, Kidd Kenn, Winona Oak, Sorcha Richardson and Alexander 23. Artists on platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp are plentiful, and the radio offers a steady deluge of new singles, but who has time to sort through all that? RIFF does! We pooled our resources to find…

Attendees at Sol Blume in Sacramento on April 27, 2019. SACRAMENTO – Sol Blume’s two stages and unique festival fashion culminated with Miguel’s first Sacramento show in seven years Sunday. Entering the stage with no introduction, he began with the acoustic strums of “Criminal,” off of 2017’s War &…