It is hard to believe its already been a week since Lollapalooza, but as is known after the fourth of July summer is noticeably on its way out. While the summer season is fading, the same can’t be said about Kanye West, whose LP with Jay-Z has taken over the internet since its release on Monday. With much positive response coming from across the board, its unfathomable that these two won’t win Album Of The Year come February. It’s sad to see the best time of the year fly by, but I am always ready for a change. Today’s edition of Local Sounds includes a healthy dosage of news, tidbits, and music from a wide array of local artists including Kanye West, Kids These Days, The Primeridian, Neak, GLC, Lungz, Lupe Fiasco, Mass Hysteria, theWHOevers, The Cool Kids, L.E.P Bogus Boys, YP, + More.
Aside from dropping their LP on Monday (projected to move 400-500k in 1st week), Kanye West and Jay-Z let the visuals to “Otis” go last night, further cementing themselves as two human beings with a swag that is utterly unf**kwitable. Spawning many different styles, Watch The Throne has Kanye’s fingerprints all over it, as Jay-Z seems to lurk around throughout each track almost as back-up, waiting for someone to question Kanye, ready to immediately act in big brother defense. Add another Grammy to the wall for both of these fellas.
For those in younger generation, hungry to reach stardom, Kids These Days came one step closer this past weekend, performing a righteous debut set at Lollapalooza. While the weekend was plenty of fun & games for the youngsters, they also dropped “Clear Eyes” produced by The Blended Babies. Meanwhile, band member Nico Segal was out working on some of his own solo material at SoundScape, mentioning a main influence for his sound is Typical Cats member Denizen Kane. Either way that sounds dope to me.
It was recently announced that Vans OTW has paired up with Lupe Fiasco to be their brand ambassador for the upcoming 2012 year, a solid move for any company that wants to stay in the “know” in urban culture. “Vans has enlisted the services of Lupe Fiasco for a collection of more casual kicks for its Spring 2012 OTW drop. The sneakers feature a more overall lifestyle feel that resembles that of the brand Gourmet. Minimal branding, clean cuts, and monochromatic uppers characterize the Lupe-collaborated series, as they will be available sometime next year.”
Something that I believe will never change in the Chicago Hip-Hop scene is the overall influence and knowledge that GLC has, and drops everyday for his city. In this clip with Greedmont TV GL keeps it 100 talking about Chicago’s gang history, Larry Hoover, the importance of mothers + more. In other GLC news, he will be announcing some big news soon, in a collab between him and BluRoc, something that we’ve heard for a while, but still do not know any important details.
New Music & Videos
To keep things Ism related, GL recently linked with fellow southside emcee Willie Stylez for “Super Lame”. GLC stated, “My player partner Willie Stylez & I go back to our days @ Simeon! He came to the table with a cold ass concept that we both embraced & it was to dethrone the emergence of all of these Super Lames! We felt this here must stop! We laid down some ism over this China Man produced record & let the truth manifest!”
While GL keeps the city bouncing, The L.E.P. Bogus Boys are another local crew that regularly puts on for the Chi nationwide. This week they released visuals for the track “Church Is In Session” off Now or Neva which drops this fall. Also if you missed “Right Back For Da Summa” last week, don’t again. Trust me.
Lungz recently dropped “Memories” of his RH presented mixtape DreamKillaz, due soon. On “Memories” he takes on the persona of someone looking back at their struggling days. The song’s production adds an upbeat feel, but the lyrics serve as a harsh reminder of past days, some that Lungz hopefully won’t be going back to. The homies from Mass Hysteria dropped the track “Lick a Shot” feat. GQ, produced by the homie SC. They also hit us with some ill visuals with graffiti artist Romewon getting busy in a warehouse. Catch the Mass Hysteria crew along with Scheme, Ghetto Division, Mattboy White and more at the 6th Annual: We Are Hip Hop Festival tomorrow afternoon. Full information here.
Neak linked with GLC & Trinity for “A Celebration of life’s Illz” produced by Slot-A. The track will be part of the forthcoming Love Greater // The Prequel project, consisting of two EPs—one entirely produced by Slot-A, the other by Rashid Hadee. In All Natural Inc. news, The Primemeridian, Tall Black Guy & Shev Rock got together for “Melodic Healing” a tribute to the healing tool for the soul that music is. The track is off the upcoming collaborative Full-length from Prime & Tall Black Guy titled Darling Lure, due Sept. 13th. Word to Simeon going in on the horns!
YP, who is gearing up for his highly-anticipated release Still Awake, released some newness this week by hopping on MMG’s “That Way”. One of the best unsigned MC’s in the city, I cannot wait to hear more what YP has to offer for his new release, after showing much improvement from No Sleep. Rum Runners crew representatives, theWHOevers came to me with some dope visuals for their summertime classic “All Night”, paying true homage to the best city in the summertime.
Another solid week in our local scene, as we prepare for The Mad Decent Block Party tomorrow, fans get ready for another dosage of Curren$y as he hits Wicker Park tomorrow afternoon. If you’d like to contribute something to Local Sounds, just hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or send an email to seanck@rubyhornet.com. Happy Weekend!
