November Favorites
Mat 𝘅 Share the Cool
November was packed in good findings but also in good old habits. This month’s favorites is a bit of both.
🎶 The Space Between by Majid Jordan
Majid Jordan is a Canadian R&B duo. Majid is the vocalist and Jordan the producer. I discovered them with their second EP “A Place Like This” back in 2014, I was instantly seduced by their slow and sharp beats. They just released their second album at the end of October, named “The Space Between” and this is by far their best production. The album starts with a high paced beat that has lots of funky vibes, I just love it. They made two featuring in this project, one with PARTYNEXTDOOR and one with dvsn, both from Canada. If you are not familiar with them I highly recommend their individual projects as well.
This project is a pure Canadian product. Not only the collaborations are coming from the same country, but they are also signed on the same label: OVO. This label was created by Drake and Noah and it clearly rules the R&B scene today. You should check their weekly radio show on Apple Music, I discovered so many gems with it. It’s called OVO Sound Radio and it airs every Saturday.
Belgium is probably the hottest scene at the moment for French Rap and R&B. Hamza just proved it one more time with its new album “1994". With its vibes inspired from Donell Jones or Drake, Hamza is bringing the European R&B to a new age. I hope we will see more projects like this one coming out.
For the little story, the first time I heard about Hamza was actually on OVO Sound Radio with his song “La Sauce” from its project H-24. I am not sure how Drake’s crew heard about him but it’s good to see that some R&B songs are traversing the atlantic in the other way around.
🥐 Les Gourmands Bakery in SOMA, San Francisco
Les Gourmands opened a few weeks ago on Folsom and 5th St. This is the project of a family directly coming from Normandy, France. They make amazing Croissant, Pain au Chocolat, Chouquettes, Brioche, Chausson aux Pommes and more. My favorite is the Pain au Chocolat et Amandes. Their 30 years of experience in France plus the butter directly imported from Normandy make them have probably the best pastries in the city.
🍜 Iza Ramen in Lower Haight, San Francisco
Iza Ramen serves, for me, the best ramen in the city. Located between Haight and Fillmore St., the restaurant makes this pork based broth and it’s absolutely delicious.
The place is pretty crowded most of the week, you will have to wait approximately ~40 minutes to get a table but it’s worth it. A few months ago, they opened a new location in SOMA.
💃🏽 Bissap Baobab in Mission District, San Francisco
The “Baobab” as we call it, is a Senegalese restaurant until a certain time and then it becomes a bar/nightclub. This is probably my favorite place in SF to go out. Everything is about dancing and joy, and sometimes dance battles (well, most of the time but don’t be scared 🙃).
Don’t be fooled by the exterior look of it and just go in, trust me, you will have a lot of fun and you will dance like you never did before 🐎.
🤝 SF Food Bank in Dogpatch, San Francisco
Once a month I try to do a shift at the SF Food Bank to help preparing care packages for people in need.
The warehouse is located in the Dogpatch and is opened during the weekend. Shifts are either available in the morning or the afternoon and they last three hours. Usually there are around 40 persons per shift. The last time I did it we prepared ~1500 boxes, this was pretty cool, we really got a lot done!
The Food Bank relies on donation and volunteering, if you want to participate please sign up! And bring your friends for more hands 👯♀️.
Thanks Sabrine Rekik for the opportunity of “Sharing My Cool”. I hope this wasn’t too boring 🤓.
Continue to Share The Cool!
