Coors Light Soundtrack reFRESH Chicago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyj7zo5GDwM
Photo/Video: Jeremy Franklin
Wednesday night (11/14) Chicago’s Park West opened its doors for the final stop on Coors Light’s 100% free Soundtrack reFresh tour hosted by Hustle Simmons. The Coors Light team partnered with hip-hop DJ and producer, DJ Mustard for its Soundtrack reFRESH tour, which launched in Charlotte with special guest Fabolous.
Anticipation filled the air in Lincoln Park as the crowd stood in line waiting for doors to open. At the start of the show fans had the opportunity to sip on Coors Light and vibe to the beats of Chicago’s own DJ Sean Mac and DJ Toure, who served hot hip-hop tracks during his set. His set included mixes of various songs such as Fetty Wap’s current classic “My Way” and Drag On’s “Down Bottom”. During Mac’s set the concert quickly turned into a hip-hop wonderland as artificial snow fell from the ceiling, covering the hyped crowd as OT Genesis’s turn up anthem “Coco” thumped through the speakers. Park West’s power went off while he was playing Kendrick Lamar's Alright but was soon turned back on and led the party to another high.
As the crowd prepared for the main act, people bustled to the front of the stage. Fabolous eventually jumped onto the stage paying homage to the Chi wearing a Bulls jersey with Sox hat. Fab kept the crowd jumping performing new music from his latest album, The Young OG Project. The crowd sang along as he performed his hits “You Be Killin ‘Em,” “Foreigners” and “Cuffing Season.” The surprise was when Jeremih came through and met Fabolous on stage. They performed their hit song Planes. Fabolous looked tired after 2 songs or so. It felt like he didn't bring his A game. However at the end, he preached to the Chicago fans "he loves Chicago".
[SXSW Interview] Bishop Nehru Embodies 'The Twenty Year Loop'
Photography by Asia Ashley
For the length of my career covering music, one theory has always stayed planted firmly in the back of my mind. Explained to me in one of my first interviews, with 9th Wonder in 2009, the 'Twenty Year Loop' has shaped much of the way I have consumed and understood music, culture and art since. The idea is somewhat simple, that every two decades, themes, aesthetics and ideas will re-emerge and manifest themselves once again in popular culture. It can explain the current 90s trend we're enjoying, the bell bottom craze of the late 90s and even bridge to presidents No. 41 and 43. I've never been more eager to sit down with an artist to discuss this phenomena than I was last week in Austin as I arrived at The Omni Hotel to talk to 17-year-old NYC phenom Bishop Nehru. The young artist from Rockland County, NY has a distinctly Nas-like flow that is easily recognizable throughout his breakout project, Nehruvia which was released last year. If we're following the Twenty Year Loop to a t, then that would put us in 1994. On April 19 of that year, Nas released a little project by the name of Illmatic, which can be fully felt on every rhyme Nehru spits. In essence, Bishop Nehru is the Twenty Year Loop personified. This is not to say he is a carbon copy of Nasir Jones, far from it. Instead, the point is to draw a map of the way influences work and how they manifest in music today. To be sure, Nehru has set himself up for a productive career in hip-hop, having been tapped by WorldStarHipHop as their 'Rap Act of the Week' in July 2012 at age 15 for an 8-bar freestyle over Mos Def's "Mathematics". Since then he has garnered co-signs from his idol, Nas, opened for Wu Tang Clan on their 20th Anniversary Tour and positioned himself as the true boom-bap artist to be reckoned with. Currently working on his MF Doom-produced project which he calls 'the first project he's been proud off all the way through,' epect to hear Bishop Nehru's name talked about a couple decades from now when influences get brought up. Check out my Q+A with the budding east coast MC.
Alex Wiley & Kembe X: "Know Normal"
It's been a minute since we've heard from one of my favorite duo's coming up in Chicago right now, but today we got a long-awaited update from the pair of Chicago artists, Alex Wiley & Kembe X who last got together on, "Midnight to Morning" off of Club Wiley since recording 2012s Can I Borrow A Dollar? together. The Closed Sessions release is several songs in one and was recorded this week at Soundscape Studios on Chicago's west side. Stopping in last night, engineer and studio owner Mike Kolar showed me the many levels to the track, produced by The Innovatorz, that is able to succinctly play to both of the artist's strengths.
Expect plenty more from Wiley, who recently dropped a four-song surprise project, and Kembe who has reportedly been spending time in California with the likes of SZA and Isaiah Rashad.
"Know Normal" is a precursor to Wiley's headlining show this Saturday at Reggie's Rock House in the South Loop of the city and tickets are available here.
[Video] Klassik: "Boogie"
Avant-garde hip-hop artist Klassik has been making moves in his native Milwaukee for some time now, establishing a uniquely soulful, creative musical aesthetics that mirrors his locale and earned him the distinction as Wisconsin Area Music Industry’s 2013 Hip Hop Artist of the Year. Today, we get his video for the lead single, "Boogie", off his upcoming project release for Young Rising Phenom, due out December 13. The track uses a Michael Jackson sample of "Blame it on the Boogie" for a funk-filled 80s-esque dancey hip-hop number that will have you tapping your feet and bobbing your head. It's fun watching this creative new breed of artists pull from so many other genres to create hip-hop music these days and the saxophone-playing Klassik may be doing so better than most right now. Check out the video for "Boogie", below.
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Rough Around The Edges: Jonathan Mannion's Polaroid Exhibit
You might not know who photographer Jonathan Mannion is, but if you've been a fan of hip hop in the last 18 years, I can almost guarantee that you've seen his work, because he has shot just about everybody in hip hop from Jay-Z to 50 Cent to Rick Ross and pretty much anybody you can think of. He's also provided us with many of the album covers we've seen on the shelves, most notably Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt. If you remember DMX's Flesh of Flesh, Blood of My Blood, he provided the photo for the album cover, as well as Eminem's The Eminem Show and Ludacris's Back For The First Time. In total, Jonathan has a total of 19 album covers under his belt and has taken countless portraits of hip hop artists.
In his new exhibit at Milk Gallery, he displays portraits that he has taken over the years. What makes this exhibit cool is that all of the photos on display were taken with 665 Polaroid film on a 195 Land Camera, essentially meaning that he would take the photo, instantly get a Polaroid copy, and he could save the negative to use in the future. Rough Around The Edges: The 665 Polaroid Work of Jonathan Mannion opens June 18 through July 7th. I wish I were able to check out the gallery, and I suggest if you're able to to go ahead and do so. If you aren't able to see the exhibit, you can see some of the images below and read more about exhibit here.
Photos by Jonathan Mannion
