[RH Interview] Soul Trapping with MC Tree G at Pitchfork 2013
Photography by Virgil Solis
Chicago's genre-bending MC Tree loves to make predictions. Last year, while attending Pitchfork as a guest, he told everyone who would listen that a year from then he would be on one of the four stages in Union Park. On July 21st, he proved that estimate true as he played the opening 1pm set on Sunday. It was an appropriate setting for the Soul Trap creator.
As he dabbled between the duo of Sunday School mixtapes released over the past year and a half, church bells rang out from service at First Baptist Congregational Church just west of the festival. By all accounts, it was a solid fest debut for Tree, who was joined onstage by a drummer and vocalists Lili K and BenOffishal. Tree's prediction this year? Read it in the Q+A below and hear the lofty goals the producer/MC has for the rest of this year and 2014.
[RH Interview] Legitmix wants to revolutionize the way you consume remixes
(Photo via Malcolm Hearn)
Remixes and mash-ups of songs have existed in one form or another for a multitude of years as rappers and musicians have released a capella versions of their songs to encourage such projects. You can't go into a club or dance party without hearing a DJ spinning one of their own original remixes. However, the nature of remixes doesn't easily allow audiences to acquire such remixes unless the DJ releases their own version. Of course, such releases run the risk of being shut down due to copyright laws protecting the properties of the original artists featured in the mixes. So what's the solution?
Omid McDonald and Booker Sim feel like they found one with Legitmix. The service allows DJs to upload their remixes, and by utilizing an algorithm the developers put together, remixes are broken down to separate original music from sampled artists' songs. With such illustrious artists like Diplo and The Hood Internet backing up the service, and a platform for aspiring DJs and producers to showcase their remixes, Legitmix represents a revolutionary way for both fans and artists to share and discover new music.
Read on for my full interview with both Omid and Booker. At the end of the interview is an exclusive look at "The Vapors Pack," which is a remix created by Pickster, Riot Earp, and Melo that fully showcases how the Legitmix service organizes each remix in the pack.
[Interview] Idris "Peeda Pan" Speaks Out on Chief Keef's Arrest
Chief Keef has been arrested again, this time on trespassing charges. In what has become somewhat of a routine for the 17-year-old artist who has seemingly spent as much time in legal custody as not this year, Keef was apprehended as he left a court appearance in Skokie for a speeding violation last month in Northbrook. After learning that he was barred from driving a vehicle for 18 months due to his 110 mph joy ride down the Edens, Keef and his team were surprised to be confronted by an unmarked police car with officers allegedly brandishing AK-47s to arrest the unarmed Keef. The trespassing charge allegedly stems from a gathering near a school about a month and a half ago when Keef visited his old neighborhood. With the lockup of fellow GBE member Lil Durk on gun charges June 5, rumors have spread of a special CPD task force aimed at targeting Chicago hip-hop artists, most notably Keef's GBE clique. While the jury is still out on the existence of the task force, it is worth asking: do officers from the South Side really need to apprehend a 17-year-old with automatic weapons? While it may be easy to point a finger at Keef and his associates because of their lyrical content, it seems as if officials are permeating violence in the city in an attempt to find a "face" for the violence that has been plaguing the city even before the local artists made it big or even picked up a mic. Read the full interview with Idris Peeda Pan, part of Keef's management team, below.
[Interview] AEMMP Hip Hop Artist of The Week: Terra 5
[Interview] Hebru Brantley: F**king Awesome
“An artist is someone who constantly creates without having to be told when and where," says Chicago's Hebru Brantley. "They do it from the soul.” Hebru Brantley’s personal definition of what an artist is, also serves as a great definition of himself. Brantley, who has been painting for his entire life, has an arsenal of work behind him. They range from pieces created in numerous art studios, graffiti done on city bricks and concrete, recognized exhibits, websites and portraits on the walls of some of your favorite retailers such as Leaders. A master of many styles, he has traveled from Chicago, to New York to L.A. to express his very interesting artwork.
Hebru never stops creating, and rarely sleeps. Just Mos Def claims restlessness to be his number one nemisis, Hebru's main antagonist is time, as there never seems to be enough. That said, we were able to get the dirty handed painter to put down his brush and answer some questions for us. Check it out.