KSRA: "Flying Balloon" (Justified Noise Remix)
Back this summer I did a feature on a local Chicago musician that goes by the name KSRA, the avant-garde, loop pedal maestro who channeled her passion for sound into her debut project, Petra, which we released here on Ruby Hornet. Today, we get a remix of KSRA's song "Flying Balloon" from Justified Noise, who described working with her by saying, "Rachel and I have known each other for years and unfortunately, due to distance, haven't been able to work together in some time-but when I saw she had released new material I immediately started emailing and calling her begging for some stems to rip apart!" He does just that in the tasteful, creative re-working of "Flying Balloon". Check it out for yourself below.
[Video] Brian Fresco: "Piece of Mind"
As you may have heard, Chicago's Save Money collective has been turning heads for a minute. 2013 may as well be their year after a slew of solid releases were peppered throughout Spring, Summer and Fall, with more to come through the end of the year. One of the standout mixtapes to drop was Brian Fresco's Mafioso, a stunningly adept, well put together project that featured some of the best verses by Fresco and his team including Joey Purp, Vic Mensa, Caleb James, Tokyo Shawn, Chance The Rapper and more. Today, the young MC drops his video for "Piece of Mind" off Mafioso. Personally, Fresco is one of the guys I'm most excited to see develop from this bountiful crop of artists in Chicago-check him out for yourself in the video below.
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Dre Green & The GTW: "Neymar Night"
Brazilian soccer player Neymar is widely known as one of the top athletes in the world. Today, he serves as inspiration for the latest single from Dre Green and The GTW, as the pair ruminate on the Barcelona forward as they kick it one on one. The GTW handles the beat on this one, taking things up to a signature 90s-esque dance vibe that he mixes with tribal drums, a staple of the "Chigeria" sound he has been crafting in Chicago for awhile now. Dre Green's sinewy, multi-layered voice is complemented well by supporting vocals as well from GTW. Check out the song below.
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Nunca Duerma: "Bloody Face Handshake" (Remix)
Chicago artist Nunca Duerma has been making noise throughout the summer and into the Fall as he prepares for his upcoming project, Shapeshifter, due out before the end of the year on Elliott Lipp's label, Old Tacoma Records. Today, Duerma drops a remake of Jeremiah Jae's track "Bloody Face Handshake," giving it some Nunca Duerma style and lending a different frame on the track. Check out the song below and catch Duerma on the road in December, dates below.
Champagne Safari Tour:
Dec. 22 - Chicago, IL.
Dec. 23 - Grand Rapids, MI.
Dec. 26 - Detroit, MI.
Dec. 28 - Kalamazoo, MI. More dates TBA. ###
The O'My's: "Mystic Pussy" (feat. Iceface, GLC, and Dally Auston)
Last week The O'My's dropped their new album, A Humble Masterpiece showcasing the band that has been making waves in Chicago for years. Today, we get the other side of The O'My's project as Maceo Haymes and Nick Hennessy and crew set the production for GLC, Dally Auston and Iceface who do their thing over the soulful instrumental beat accented by Haymes vocals and Will Miller's inspired horn playing. Check out the track below and stay posted to RH for more updates on The O'My's coming soon.
[Video] SunBLVD: "Time Traveler's Wife"
It's been a minute since we've heard from SunBLVD, but the eclectic female Chicago MC with creative bars is back with a new video for her latest track, "Time Traveler's Wife". The song and the video details separate lonely journeys, one amidst a relationship gone dry as Sun wanders from the south side north to Union Station and beyond, seemingly interested in being anywhere. The video, shot by DAP Productions, is the first in a series of poetic art pieces by Sun as she builds toward her upcoming project, Catharsis. Take some time to enjoy this breath of something different and vibe out to a solidly plucked stand up bass in this latest release from SunBLVD.
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[Video] Marrow: "Two" (Behind The Scenes)
It's not where you start, but where you finish. The age-old fallacy is one everyone can live by, but likely rings a bit more true for the members of Marrow. Six months ago band members Liam Cunningham, Macie Stewart and Lane Beckstrom made up the core of Chicago genre-fusion band Kids These Days. Having reached a good deal of success (playing on Conan & at Lollapalooza 2011), the band split up in May after two albums and a host of shows across the country. Vic Mensa left to pursue a solo rap career, Nico Segal and J.P. Floyd went on tour with Frank Ocean and Chance The Rapper, and Liam, Macie and Lane retreated to Lane's basement to work on their reformed band, Marrow. Having spent the summer writing a library's-worth of songs and recording a demo, the former KTD members, along with newbie Matt Carroll on drums, have developed a new sound that merges the careful songwriting of Cunningham and Stewart with the inspired musicianship of Beckstrom, all accented by a different tone on drums with Carroll. While working on their upcoming (and appropriately titled) EP, Two, due out the same day as their show at Schuba's on December 19, the group had cameras rolling to catch all the action. Tap into the young musician's creative process as they put the project together with the video below, and keep an eye out for an Austin Vesely-directed joint due out in late November.
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[RH Interview] Nate Fox
Photo by Bryan Lamb
A year ago, Nate Fox was living in Pittsburgh, working on a construction site. That all changed on April 30 when Chance The Rapper released his critically-acclaimed project, Acid Rap, featuring production from Fox. The past four months have taken him far from that manual labor life, traveling the country and then the world on the strength of his production and the success of Chance's latest release. To say it has been a long road is not an overstatement, after ten years plugging away in his native Pittsburgh and later Cleveland, Fox caught the ear of Chancellor with his beat for the Acid Rap single "Juice" with its quirky, bouncing, up-tempo beat. The rest is quickly becoming history as Fox and a talented team of producers including Peter CottonTale and Cam Osteen head back out on the road with Chance for his headlining Social Experiment tour. I got the opportunity to catch Fox while he was in Chicago preparing for the tour and had a chance to catch him for a few minutes between a salad and a session. Read about the crazy path his life has taken in 2013 and what lays ahead, below.
Jake: So I know you've had a crazy summer since Acid Rap dropped at the end of April, what's life been like?
Nate Fox: It's been a lot different, a lot different. Like, I don't feel any different but what I've been doing has definitely been different. It feels like a lot longer than what it's been just because its been so much compacted into such a short amount of time. You know, I was doing the construction thing. When Acid Rap dropped I was working construction in the middle of Pittsburgh, not even Pittsburgh but the middle of Pennsylvania, in the sticks. I think I left to go to LA to meet with labels and stuff in like June. And so from June until now, its been like a whirlwind of shit, like I just signed my pub deal with Disney like two or three weeks ago. I just got my check today, it came Fed Ex'ed to Pat (Corcoran)'s house today, but the ironic part is its Columbus Day and the banks are closed so I couldn't even do anything with it. So it was like ten years of waiting just to wait one more day (laughs).
Jake: Still, it always feels good to get that first check.
Nate Fox: Yeah, to get that first real check. I've gotten paid off music a whole bunch, but never to the point where I was like 'maybe I should start looking at places' you know what I mean?