[Video] ShowYouSuck: "Flip Phone"
Clinton Sandifer, affectionately known in many circles around Chicago as ShowYouSuck, knows how to turn a party up, and has proven that much at just about every show he has played in and out of his hometown. Mixing punk and hip-hop aesthetics, Show very well have the most live hip-hop set in the city. On Valentine's Day though? Show's a little more mellowed out, as he demonstrates for us on his latest video for the track "Flip Phone" off his 2013 project One Man Pizza Party 4: Slices After Death. Directed by Chris Beauchesne and animated by Benjamn Marasco, the video is wildly entertaining as the animations coincide with the lyrical content and the simple shot of Clinton by himself in a love seat, in what is becoming his trademark white dotted shirt, as the cartoon world wreaks havoc on him. ShowYouSuck has proven himself a capable artist in myriad situations and he's one artist we should see get his due in 2014. Check out the awesome video for "Flip Phone" below.
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[Video] Nick Astro: "Put Me On" (Feat. Legit)
Last summer, amidst a steady flow of exceptional projects from the Chicago hip-hop scene that gave us Acid Rap, Innanetape, Yeezus, Alternative Trap and The Recipe Vol. 2, among many others, newcomer Nick Astro snuck in an aesthetically interesting working in his debut project, Super16 which dropped in July. The project demonstrated Astro's careful, almost conversational rhyming tone and lyrical content that easily transitions between the powerful and mundane. After a wait, the Columbia Film student and LOD member dropped his visual treatment for "Put Me On" featuring fellow Chicagoan Legit.
The video certainly plays on Astro's background in film, with a theatrical opening sequence that gives way to a graphically-accented still shot, capturing the pair in a freight elevator. Shot by CAKEatersTV, it's a an appropriate prelude to Astro's "Scarlett Johansson" video. Check out the video below and keep an eye out for his latest project, ListenToNewMusic, due out this Summer.
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[Mixtape] Sulaiman: "Hook Line & Thinker"
Sulaiman is back with a fresh new tape to help his friends and family back in the midwest brave through (hopefully) the last few terrible months of winter. A few months back I found myself sitting and talking to Suli, discussing the new rise of the scene in Chicago, the jump-off of artists like Vic Mensa and Chance The Rapper and what it all means. Sulaiman stressed the thought process of artists coming from Chicago, the need to keep the talent flowing to make it a scene that rivals the coasts at the end of the say. The Treated Crew member has been in and out of the foreground of hip-hop, always a thinker and a lyricist. With that in mind, Hook Line and Thinker may just be one of the most appropriate album title in recent memory, certainly making more sense than Rick Ross's Mastermind.
Produced by Doc Da MindBenda and featuring Dally Auston, Gzus Piece and Keenan Coke, the seven-song Hook Line and Thinker is a boom-bap-ish lyrical playground, with Sulaiman going off for bars. It's a refreshing project that will certainly make people once again take notice of Sulaiman. Check out the latest from Chicago, available for stream/download below.
[Album] Psalm One: "Hug Life"
With all the talk of the violence in Chicago and 'Chiraq' this and that being hawked by out-of-towners on the daily, mucking up the Second City's image for personal gain, it can be easy to forget that there is still plenty of positivity in the city's streets. Chicago's first lady of hip-hop, Psalm One is out to challenge that dubious status quo with her latest project, Hug Life. A play on Tupac's seminal phrase all the way down to the "Hug Life" torso tat on the album artwork, the title is a juxtaposition of nuanced meaning that perfectly accents the message Psalm puts forth on her latest, perhaps most complete project to date.
Released via iTunes under Psalm's alter-ego Hologram Kizzie, the project is an examination of love, lust and the things that come from both. In a story for the Chicago Sun Times, Psalm characterized her different monikers and the roles they occupy as such: "Kizzie is a little — a lot — less inhibited than Psalm One,” the rapper detailed, pointing out that while her biblically derived handle is well suited to her all-ages content and humanitarian endeavors, being Hologram Kizzie “gives me a lot more freedom.” The project includes a who's who of Midwest up and comers and bedrocks alike, including the likes of ProbCause, Tanya Morgan, The Hood Internet, Young Josh of Flosstradamus and Lazerbeak and PO$ from DoomTree, among others. Hanging out at a West Town loft last weekend listening to the project, we listened through several times without noticing it had started from the top again, a true testament to a full-fleshed out project that hits the proper chords from start to finish. Check out Hug Life streaming below and pick up the full project over at iTunes!
[Video] Z Money: "Ignorant"
Chicago's West Side produced one of the city's quickest-rising stars last summer when local artist Z Money dropped a pair of mixtapes, Rich B4 Rap and Heroin Musik that took the underground hip-hop scene by storm and placed the 20-year-old restauranteur firmly in line as the next thing to blow from the Windy City. Currently preparing to up the ante on his dual release, Z Money is currently hard at work in the studio preparing to release a trio of projects simultaneously, while also getting ready to travel south to Austin for SXSW. As part of all that preparation, the relative newcomer dropped the APJ Films-directed video for his track, "Ignorant" which features Z rocking a Michael Jackson-esque red leather jacket. While not the most visually-striking video to release lately, Z Money certainly knows how to stay in the news cycle. Check out the latest, streaming below.
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[Video] Tree: "Like Whoa"
Chicago's own MC Tree has been busy as hell lately. The creator of the sub-genre known as "Soul Trap" teamed up with Scion last month to drop the seven song @MCTREEG EP, yesterday dropped, "More Than You Know" a gem that he'd been sitting on for a minute via Closed Sessions and today, the raspy-voiced producer/rapper returns with a fresh visual for his track, "Like Whoa" off the @MCTREEG EP. The video is shot in Tree's hometown and follows him as he crisscrosses the city in the dark days of winter as he continues a smart relationship with Scion AV. Check out the full video for "Like Whoa" below.
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[Album] St. Millie: "Road To Glory"
Chicago native St. Millie has been slowly growing his name and brand within the burgeoning scene around him for some time now, releasing a host of projects that have endeared him to a local college and young adult market while establishing himself. Today, we get the latest from St. Millie in the eleven track project, Road To Glory, mixed by Elton Chueng at Classick Studios. The project is a mark of growth for the 22-year-old Columbia College student who can more often than not be found hanging around Jugrnaut in the city's South Loop. The project is a hometown affair with production coming from fellow Treated Crew member Nasim Williams, fellow Columbia student Thelonious Martin, THEMpeople and Von Vuai, among others. Overall, it's a cohesive, flowing project that laments on critical issues while keeping the tension at ease with well-placed tracks. St. Millie literally had his face plastered all over the city as wheat pastings of his face with a crown were pinned to walls across the city. With Road To Glory he's hoping to move beyond those walls. Check out the full stream/download below.
