2014 Music Festivals Announcement Round Up
Music festivals in America and abroad are beginning to hit critical mass. It's our generation's sign of approval to any artist if they find themselves on a bevy of festival lineups come summer, they're doing something right. Perhaps the most prevalent "music for the people" approach in the industry, festivals allow acts both large and small great opportunities for exposure and listeners the chance to attempt to take it all in. The spring/summer of 2014 is shaping up to be one of the largest festival seasons in recent memory and event organizers have wasted no time announcing jam-packed lineups that look more like an iTunes playlist than a real concert experience. We gathered together lineups from festivals from coast to coast and even beyond to give you the most full, in-depth guide to diving into festival season, check them all out on the following pages.
[Songs of the Day] 3/26/14 (Feat. Chance The Rapper, SZA, Sam Smith & More)
Alright, an post-SXSW Song of the Day is back with a ton of good tracks to get you through the hump of the week. Leading things off is Chance The Rapper's latest, "Home Studio", produced with his team, The Social Experiment in his California-based home studio. The track features more of Chance's evolution into singing and adding vocal runs which seems to get better with every track. Chano also popped up on TDE-affiliate SZA's latest track, "Child's Play" which dropped the same day, alongside another familiar face in Vic Mensa who got on Asher Roth's latest, "Live Fast" off his upcoming project, RetroHash. Jerome LOL offered up a screeching, up-tempo electronic jam in "Feel It For The First Time" while The Code gave fans an ambient feel with their latest in "Her". SaudiMoney linked with another TDE member in Ab-Soul as he offered up a mouthful of a track on "Alejandro Jodorowsky Flow" and California product by way of Chicago, Lee Woods, put her own unique spin on The Spice Girls' iconic track "Say You'll Be There" as she resurrects the 90s on her recently-released Girl Power project. Bringing up the end is none other than British falsetto Sam Smith who offers up something new on "Stay With Me". It's all streaming below, folks.
Track of the Day: Chance The Rapper & The Social Experiment: "Home Studio"
Chance The Rapper & The Social Experiment: "Home Studio" (Back Up In This B*tch)
Asher Roth: "Fast Life" (Feat. Vic Mensa)
SZA: "Child's Play" (Feat. Chance The Rapper)
Jerome LOL: "Feel It For The First Time"
The Code: "Her"
SaudiMoney: "Alejandro Jodorowsky Flow" (Feat. Ab-Soul)
Scotty ATL: "Trash & Treasure"
Lee Woods: "Say You'll Be There"
Sam Smith: "Stay With Me"
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[SXSW] Music Festival 2014 Recap
Photo by Kristen Wrzesniewski
In 1977, a water skiing Henry Winkler wore a leather coat and life preserver and attempted to 'jump the shark' in a move that become synonymous with the beginning of the end of a good thing. In that regard it was the long-running "Happy Days" sitcom. Last week in Austin, Texas, it was the South by Southwest Music conference that took the leap from humble beginnings to corporate cash in it's own rendition of 'jumping the shark'. No one pointed it out better than TDE-signee and Oxymoron artist Schoolboy Q, who interrupted his set at the Complex House several times to address several SXSW sets he played for 'yuppies' while his real fans stood outside unable to get in. Alas, the 2014 edition of SXSW couldn't have been described better. An armful of wristbands, garnered through careful planning and RSVPs was instantly trumped by a litany of barriers between them and the artists they had traveled to see. When it began in 1987, the festival was a place for new and unsigned artists to get recognized and for true fans to catch them before they hit the big time. Today, to put it the words of my Journalism professor, it is essentially 'one big blow job'. Despite a lack of a real industry, or perhaps because of it, record labels funnel top-tier artists to the highest bidders, who more often than not come with long guest lists that leave fans sitting outside wondering where all the public transportation in this 'city' is. Even the Illmore, the exclusive house party that has become a staple of the fest, running late into the night with star-studded performance, seemed a bit too big this year in it's new home at a sterile youth center.
For me, the best part of the week was living vicariously as if the SXSW Schoolboy Q encountered was somewhere else. I hustled interviews with true rising acts in Philadelphia-based Cheers Elephant, who's onstage presence is obviously culled from years of performing together and who I'm sure saw a significant boost afterwards, The Tontons, a Houston indie/soul group with a personality to match that hit SXSW on the heels of their latest project, the well received Make Out King and Other Stories of Love. Then there was Radkey, the trio of young brothers, aged 16, 18 and 20 respectively who single-handedly got me back into punk rock with one of the wildest, most raw sets I have seen in a long time, and 17-year-old Bishop Nehru who very well may be the second coming of Nas, The Lonely Biscuits, a band of Belmont University students who stopped down to ATX between projects and mid-terms. They weren't a sit down with Rick Ross, or an in-depth on Phantogram, but the stories I was able to dig up throughout my time at SXSW made me proud to be able to say I saw through the thick haze of bullshit and gerrymandering that descends on the city for a week and actually seek out acts that benefited from the experience.
To be sure, it was two Chicago artists who not only embodied all that SXSW should be, but capitalized on it to continue their independent, organic rises out of their hometown. A year ago, Chance The Rapper ran around SXSW playing sets in anticipation of his yet-to-be-released album, Acid Rap that turned 2013 into a roller coaster of experiences for the 20-year-old MC. At that time, Vic Mensa was still performing as part of the band Kids These Days, which broke up soon after Chance dropped his project on April 30. The two close friends arrived again in Austin at wildly different points in their careers. Chance, with just about every accolade possible under his belt is becoming the biggest independent artist in recent memory, while Mensa, fresh off a plane from Norway, put on a marathon of sets throughout the week that had crowds buzzing in the street about the kid from the Midwest with the funky, different flow to him. Chance's only show was cut short by Fire Marshalls, an ode to his popularity and a crux of the festival at large while also picking up a Woodie award with Austin Vesely for the "Everybody's Something" video. As independent, self-funded artists, Chance and Vic may have embodied the spirit of what SXSW is supposed to be better than anyone else in Austin this week.
In 1977, Fonzie made history by ruining a good thing while ten feet in the air on water skis, in 2014 Lady Gaga did the same by performing beneath a carefully-placed canopy of Doritos bags. Corporate money has always been prevalent (early 2000s 'ringtone rap), and it's just another chapter in the money making something so genuine so utterly unrecognizable.
[SXSW Journal] Day 1
Photo by Andrew Zeiter
After sixteen and a half hours in my past-her-prime Chevy Trailblazer, my knees were sore and my back was knotted but I had gotten to Austin, and it was time to dive back into the deep sea that is South by Southwest. After hiking downtown through the cab-less wasteland that is downtown ATX and picking up the proper credentials, I took off for the W Hotel where local Chicago music label Maek was taking part in the Fashion Brain Bar, a cocktail party and show on the fourth floor of the W that served to introduce invitees to new acts. So, there are always lessons, and this year I got one early.
Having found a pair of brand new Converse Chucks in my closet from Christmas, I decided to run around my first day of SXSW tearing up my feet to the point of almost utter disrepair. Gingerly walking my way down the vaunted sixth avenue I came across artists from around Chicago’s scene including Calez, Legit, Eryn Allen Kane and Stefan Ponce as everyone milled about, looking for the thing to do on a fairly dead Monday night offset by the rain. I had the chance to catch Charlotte, NC dance duo Styles N’ Complete who got the rooftop indoor-outdoor space jumping with hip-hop infused production pieces that were equal parts sample and original work. After that I rushed down to the other side of the freeway to link up with Supa Bwe, Karl, Blakkass Westley and Netherfriends who put on a set at the Volstead that set the bar high on night one as he killed his night cap with his looping sounds, interesting overall aesthetic and powerful stage presence got the alcohol-infused crowd that got pushed out at close.
Waking up the next morning, startled again by the lack of white icy hills outside my window in March, I continued a slow transition into the full breadth of what SXSW can offer as Chicago came out in full force, led by the enumerable Mayor Rahm Emmanuel himself for a pre-party at the aptly-named The Chicago House, which was filled with artists, media members and local movers and shakers from around the Windy City. Red 7 on 6th St. and Red River was the setting for Chicago Made Blog’s showcase, hosted by Hologram Kizzie, which started off with a rousing, endearing set from ProbCause, who when paired with his live drummer Cofresh is a true sight to see and got the steadily-building crowd worked up before the very talented singer-songwriter Bonzie took the stage, changing the aesthetic as the sun began to wane. Rockers Autumn Defense and Archie Powell and the Exports did their thing, showing Chicago has much more than just the hip-hop that has burst from it’s streets over the past couple of years. ShowYouSuck did what ShowYouSuck does, joined again onstage by compatriot Auggie The 9th he put on one of his best sets to date, crowd surfing, moving erratically from one side of the stage to the other and waxing knowledge on everything from ‘Big Gulps’ to ‘80’s Boobs’. As fans patiently waited, the show slowly ground to it’s headliner after a heavily Kanye-influenced DJ set from The Hood Internet, who flexed his production muscle a bit by bringing up a host of earlier performers onstage to do a series of tracks including ‘Sub-Zero’ off of ProbCause’s The Recipe Vol. 2 which may go down as one of the cooler moments of this years SXSW, as Auggie The 9th showed how hungry he is to take his game to the next level, eagerly tearing through bar after bar with vigor. Chicago seems to have a new act pop every year, and Auggie made a case for himself surrounded by some of the city’s finest. The big moment finally came around 1 am for Chance The Rapper and Peter CottonTale to take the stage, which revamped the crowd who had stood in line and inside the venue for nearly six hours. Chano started things off with the familiar “Good Ass Intro”, dropping into “Brain Cells” which got a juke mix before rolling through his Acid Rap catalogue. But, suddenly, as seems to happen in Austin during SXSW, the fire Marshalls called, the police showed up and a comfortably outstanding show was cancelled. And that was it. Two days down so far, plenty more to go.
[Songs of the Day] 3/6/14 (Feat. Mac DeMarco, Big K.R.I.T., St. Vincent & More)
Thursday brought about some new heat to warm our nasty March and leading things off we have a pair of tracks dedicated to another world. Along with the announcement of a "Game of Thrones" mixtape titled Catch The Throne, due out tomorrow came two tracks, Wale's "King Slayer" and Big Boi's "Mother of Dragons", stay posted for the rest of the tracklisting. Big K.R.I.T. continued his solid flow of new content by teaming up with Childish Major for another cinema-inspired track in "Wolf of Wall St.". Chuck Inglish teased his upcoming album with a very dope track with fellow Chicagoan Chance The Rapper for "Glam" which will wear out your repeat button in a hurry. A couple dance numbers got in the mix with Nick Nikon's "100 Deep" and a remix of M.I.A.'s "Y.A.L.A." anthem by Falcons. Mac DeMarco continued to prove why he's a rising star with his latest, "Brother" and St. Vincent once again showed she can do no wrong on "Del Rio". Columbia College's AEMMP Records released another track from their upcoming album, La Collection, produced entirely by C-Sick. The track, "All Love" features Taylor Bennett, NoNameGypsy & Nick Astro. Check everything out, streaming below.
Track of the Day: Chuck Inglish: "Glam" (Feat. Chance The Rapper)
Wale: "King Slayer"
Big Boi: "Mother of Dragons"
Big K.R.I.T: "The Wolf on Wall St." (Prod. Childish Major)
Chuck Inglish: "Glam" (Feat. Chance The Rapper)
Nick Nikon: "100 Deep"
M.I.A.: "Y.A.L.A." (Falcons Remix)
Mac DeMarco: "Brother"
C-Sick: "All Love" (Feat. Taylor Bennett, NoNameGypsy & Nick Astro)
St. Vincent: "Del Rio"
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[Songs of the Day] 2/27/14 (Feat. Chance The Rapper, King Krule, LIZ & More)
It got colder in the Midwest today. And new music came out. As I sit shivering at my computer, I can only be glad that the Internet brought us some heat today. Ace B8gie gave fans a new version of the instant classic "Fuck A Plan B" enlisting the likes of Creative Control, Young Giftz & Saba for the remix while Chance The Rapper hopped on the soundtrack to the new movie "Divergent" by hopping on "Fight For You" with Pia Mia. Zella Day gave listeners a light new song in "Sweet Ophelia" and RAC released "Tear You Down" featuring Alex Ebert. Evian Christ dropped the first single off his upcoming album in the glitch-filled ride that is his latest track, "Waterfall" and LIZ celebrated the drop of her project in style, tapping Tyga for "Don't Say". We also got a remix of King Krule's "Neptune Escape" from Travi$ Scott and another solid new track from newcomer Joyner Lucas in "Jurisdiction".
Track of the Day: LIZ: "Don't Say" (Feat. Tyga)
Ace B8gie: "Fuck A Plan B" (Feat. Creative Control, Young Giftz & Saba)
Pia Mia: "Fight For You" (Feat. Chance The Rapper)
Zella Day: "Sweet Ophelia"
RAC: "Tear You Down" (Feat. Alex Ebert)
Evian Christ: "Waterfall"
LIZ: "Don't Say" (Feat. Tyga)
Joyner Lucas: "Jurisdiction"
King Krule: "Neptune Estate" (Travi$ Scott Remix)
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[Video] King L: "Tony"
King L's latest banger, "Tony", off his recently-released mixtape Drilluminati 2 is a mafioso dream cut with shot os L's harrowing live shows donning a three piece suit. The song and the video create an interesting aesthetic for the 27-year-old artist from Chicago and calls to mind a young Jay-Z going the same route when his career had hit a breaking point, a decision which ultimately vaulted him to the top of hip-hop for years to come and allowed him to re-write the narrative that had followed him to that point. The points in career are much different, King L largely holds his destiny in his own hands, but perhaps the sentiment makes sense. "My name is Louie, but they call me Tony" is simple, yet packed with meaning and braggadocio and the suits and overall motif may well be a direction King L wants to keep traveling down. Chance also makes a cameo, keep an eye out for that. Full video, from WorldStarHipHop below.
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Chance The Rapper Hints at New Song
Chance The Rapper has been making the rounds while taking a break from the harsh Chicago winter out in Los Angeles. While on the left coast, he has been spotted in the studio with the likes of Skrillex, Justin Bieber, Jeremih, Common and No I.D., among others. All that time in the booth had to result in something, and today Chano hinted at what fans can begin to expect from his next project, not yet titled and currently in early production. The song is "Somewhere In Paradise" and was unveiled throughout Chance's "Social Experiment Tour" late last year, and again a few weeks ago at a show for DePaul students in Chicago with Jeremih. A soulfully poignant number, the track continues to build on the aesthetics of Chicago music that has come to characterize the young, terribly talented artist, this time taking things to a mix of gospel and juke music for something that is at once dancing and lyrically entrancing. Chance posted the below video to his Instagram last night of himself in the studio with savemoney horn players, Donnie Trumpet and J.P. Floyd getting down and layering the sound throughout. Chance had an amazing 2013, looks like he's cooking something up for 2014 now. Check out the Instagram video and Chance performing the song at The Riviera in Chicago in December.
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