Avatar Darko is not your typical rapper.  The Seattle native has embraced his Russian heritage and current surroundings to carve his own lane with a mix of trap and grunge sounds, which has helped him gain some notoriety in his hometown as one of the city's fast-rising acts.  His latest 'tape, Soviet Goonion, served as an introduction of Darko's talent to the rest of the country, and was pretty…

Today we continue our collaboration with Columbia College's AEMMP Hip Hop, which is a completely student run record label.  Each week they select one Columbia College student to profile as their featured artist of the week. This week they send us Greg Owens, who took some inspiration from Will Smith and turned into a burgeoning career as a rapper and producer.  Check it out below. RubyHornet:…

Troy Boy is gearing for a strong output at the polls tomorrow, as projections show him having a great chance of gaining some notoriety as a popular write in candidate on ballots in Illinois. Yesterday he released his debut solo project Troy Boy For President, an eight-track LP solely produced by long-time collaborator Montana Macks. Right off the bat Troy takes us to "Camp David," a head knocking…

The Pitchfork Music Festival kicks off on Friday at Chicago's Union Park.  The festival has become a staple of summer time Chicago, and showcases over 40 independent bands during its three day span.  While Pitchfork still features predominantly indie rock acts, each festival includes Hip Hop and it seems like the genre is taking up a larger percentage of set times each year.  Last year's festival…

When ever someone asks me, 'what do you think of Mac Miller?' I usually answer by saying first and foremost that I love the way he chooses Hip Hop instrumentals from the 90's as the basis of his new songs.  I love that during his concerts he sometimes stops and tells the crowd to go listen to A Tribe Called Quest when they get home.  I love how he's on a song with Pos from De La Soul, and how…

We are patiently waiting for Mikkey Halsted to drop his new mixtape, Money Makin' Mikkey Season, the new project he's been working on out in L.A. with The Legendary Traxster, No I.D., Don Cannon, and Young Chop.  Good music takes time, and while originally the mixtape was slated to drop in May, Mikkey is still putting the final pieces together.  Halsted relocated to L.A. earlier this year to…

It's been a hectic couple months for Chicago in a good way, and chances are if you are on a flight between LA and Chi a rapper is aboard as well. Today King Louie, releases his first single from Dope & Shrimp "Val Venis" while also announcing a deal pairing Lawless Inc with Epic/Sony Records. In a recent interview with FSD, Louie stated "we’ve been back and forth to LA lately, and the second…