Dressed as a Sims character, rapper and actor Honey Gold Jasmine and Plus Arcade's Cosplay Coordinator Noël The First, who is her own created character, take a photo at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. (Honey Gold Jasmine)
This weekend at Oakland’s Fluid510, the Blerds will gather.
While people in cosplay outfits face off against each other at video game consoles, DJs will spin hip-hop and Afrobeats during the inaugural Plus Arcade Party on March 29.
The event will also feature live performances, live painting and board games. There will be prize money for the winner of a Street Fighter 6 tournament, and an award for the person with the most impressive costume.
“There’s a special thing that happens,” says event host Honey Gold Jasmine, “when Black folks who like ‘alt’ things come together.” It results in what she calls “open acceptance.”
Jabari Ali, founder and CEO of Plus Arcade, plays a VR game at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. (Courtesy of Jabari Ali)
Plus Arcade founder Jabari Ali says the idea for the party took shape as he reminisced about college game nights. He asked himself, “What if we could take that vibe to the next level?”
Ali’s goal is to simply make “something that’s really fun for the nerds.” A game developer and designer himself, Ali adds, “Because, let’s be honest. We like to have fun, too.”
Honey Gold Jasmine notes that the event is open to nerds of all backgrounds, but it strives to make space for Black nerds who don’t always feel welcome in gamer culture. “We do fun stuff, but we do it alone due to the nature of these things,” she says.
Jasmine wants to get Blerds out of their silos and metaphorically “touch grass.” “But we want them to touch grass together,” she adds, stressing the need for community.
Outside of hosting, Honey Gold Jasmine plays the role of Aqua in the Bay Area-based drama series now streaming on Amazon, Reckless Behavior. She’s also the organizer of Oakland’s Black Fae Day, a celebration of fairy and fantasy cosplay. Plus, she’s a gamer and hip-hop artist. Her latest track, “In The Game” (featuring StunnaMan02) combines all of her worlds.
Over punchy drums she recites the song’s chorus, “I got the crown and the one-up / I’m a player, you a lame, bitch get up / Q-U-E-E-N / They don’t know who the fuck she is?”
Honey Gold Jasmine on stage, hosting the first Bay Area Black Fae Day in Oakland. (Aneesah Dryver)
In writing the song, she imagined herself as the final boss in a video game, a parallel to how she feels about herself in real life. “You met the most gamed-up, glowed-up version of me,” Jasmine says. “And you’re never going to win.”
This weekend she plans to bring that energy to the stage at Fluid510, while surrounded by a crowd of gamers and anime fans who are excited to have this type of event in their backyard.
“I’ve spent thousands of dollars to go to Dream Con in Texas,” says Jasmine, highlighting other events in the U.S. tailored toward Black gamers. “It captures the Blerd community and the fact that we like to turn shit up.”
As someone who has also worked with Oakland’s AfroComicCon, Jasmine says the Bay needs more events like this. It makes too much sense: The combination of unique fashion and innovative technology, uptempo music, anime and community — it’s all so Bay Area.
She points out that Bay Area hip-hop culture has some overlaps with the world of cosplay, anime and gaming. During the hyphy movement, people rocked colorful, oversized clothing and backpacks with cartoon characters, and artists like Mac Dre championed being as unique as you want to be.
“When you sit back and think about it,” Jasmine says, reflecting on the fun-loving energy and appreciation of what some deem as weird, “we’re all of that.”
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