Jamel Griot’s 2025 track “Coping Mechanism” sounds like a page from his diary. Over a soft piano loop and the crackle of a record player, the Oakland-raised rapper gets vulnerable about struggling to face himself as he navigates money problems, romantic entanglements and chasing his dreams. The warm, angelic voice of Lovey cuts in like his conscience speaking: “But you know that you should take some time alone / You say you will but you won’t / ’Cause lust is your way to cope.”

The two close collaborators are cousins, and they’re performing together with a live band on Nov. 8 at Studio X in Oakland at a launch party for Griot’s record label, Remain Family Oriented, a new hub for alternative hip-hop artists.

Lovey and Griot’s family bond is strong, but, surprisingly, the two only met as a

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