How big is Oakland's pint-sized Kreayshawn? Huge. Today, MTV announced that the rapper/director whose "Gucci Gucci" has been playing all summer long (more than 12 million YouTube hits and counting) would be anchoring their red carpet coverage on Sunday's national telecast. From MTV's website: Kreayshawn (whose real name is Natassia Zolot) grew up in Oakland, California, and is known for her clever rhymes as much as for her much-blogged about thrift store style. The ......

Wholesome and not-so-wholesome food, obnoxious drivers and Berkeley scenery are all featured in the remix of the YouTube hit, the Whole Foods Parking Lot. Musician LaeCharles Lawrence Jr.'s north Oakland home is near the Ashby and Telegraph Whole Foods. He created this Bay Area version of the song, spiced up with illustrations and dramatic re-enactments. The video has made its way onto Bay Area publications like Berkeleyside, the Berkeley Patch ......

After elections officials on Wednesday declared Jean Quan, the popular Oakland city councilwoman, the city's next mayor, political observers pored over the varied factors that catapulted Quan past Don Perata, the influential former president of the California state Senate, to be crowned the first Asian-American and woman leader of the city in its 158-year history. Was it due to a progressive wave of young voters — energized by Prop. 19 — who ......