[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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[Video] Giftz: "Game of Chess" (Feat. Boldy James)
Chicago's own Giftz got people talking in the middle of last year with his mixtape project, Position of Power, which established him as an artist to know in the increasingly competitive Chicago scene as he emerged as a storyteller capable of reporting back on and framing the things he saw around him everyday growing up in the city's rough areas. Just before the weekend, Giftz took fans there with Detroit MC Boldy James for the visual to his song "Game of Chess" off Position of Power. It's a seminal street banger that features the pair traversing the dark and hallowed-out streets of Detroit, which only serves to add to the overall demeanor of the track. Check out the latest from Giftz, streaming below.
[Video] Fredo Santana: "Ova Here"
Over the past year and a half, a sort of "next up" mentality has been established amongst the Chicago hip-hop scene. Chief Keef gave way to Reese, then there was Chance, then Vic, Durk, the list goes on. One artist that has seen his profile rise in recent months is veteran southside MC Fredo Santana, who has migrated from being auspiciously behind the scenes to playing the villain in Drake's cinematic video for "Hold On, We're Going Home."
Today we get the latest from Fredo, a video for his single, "Ova Here", off his recent album, Trappin' Ain't Dead. In the video, Fredo takes viewers to his side of town, warning against making the trip themselves. Following the WorldstarHipHop documentary The Field that highlighted the plight of young adults in the city's rough neighborhoods, Fredo continues to tell his tale. Watch the latest, streaming below.
[Mixtape] Tink: "Winter’s Diary 2: Forever Yours"
[Documentary] Chicago Hip Hop Profiled in "The Field"
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WorldStarHipHop, the website best known for knock out videos and general ratchet-ness, decided to bring their cameras to Chicago for a special video special titled The Field, detailing the in and outs of not only the Chicago hip-hop scene, but the social and socioeconomic ramifications that surround it as well. Shot by Sher Toor and Jonathan Hall, the doc is an interesting take on the issues facing the Second City, from those who have become rhyming reporters to explain what is happening around them.
The documentary delves deep into the "drill" movement, focusing on the record 2012 murder rate as the major catalyst for the rise of the haunting beats riddled with gunshots and stories of surviving with little and trying to find a way out. Upon first hearing about the documentary and it's publisher, I was immediately skeptical. Although named better than Vice's "Chiraq" documentary done earlier in 2013, The Field digs beyond the surface issues by going to the sources for the answers.
I found it interesting to hear artists like Lil Bibby, Lil Durk and Lil Reese talk about the stress from the success they've realized lately, what it potentially leads to. Hip-hop today has become such a game of numbers, it's interesting to hear some of the artists at the top of the game here talking about how far they've come with almost a semblance of regret, not unlike a star athlete that doesn't especially like sports. Music may be a passion to many, but to these young artists from the rough neighborhoods, it's more than that; it's a way out. Toor and Hall do a tremendous job organically demonstrating this through first person accounts and careful storytelling.
What the documentary really does is hone in wholeheartedly on a specific location in the country and demonstrates how hip-hop music is largely seen not as a way to get famous, but a vehicle to escape their current environment. By highlighting the likes of Bibby, Reese, Durk, King Louie and Katie Got Bandz, the filmmakers did an excellent job in drawing the very thin line between the artists and those around them. Given more time with the subject, the video could have possibly been the hip-hop Hoop Dreams.
The project is both inspirational and upsetting, casting a light on not just the murders that plague the landscape, but also the catalysts that lead to the current situation. It's a surprising production for WSHH, an interesting take on the rise of drill through the violence and crime of the south and west sides of the city. Riding through the streets, talking to the people that live there, it perfectly captures a very certain period in the history of Chicago by highlighting the good and the bad, and the unexpected.
[Video] Sasha Go Hard: "Own Lane"
For Chicago hip-hop artist Sasha Go Hard's video for her single "Own Lane", off of her recent release Nutty World, the rising star decided to take it back home, bringing things back for the APJ Films-directed visual. Success has found Sasha quickly as she has risen from a virtual no name two years ago, into one of the leading ladies in hip-hop today, and she ruminates over feeling some type of way about the whole ride, while taking a trip through familiar streets while pressing, "I'm in my own league, with my own lane" from behind the steering wheel. Earlier this week she also announced a European tour, on the heels of a string of successful London dates in late 2013. Sasha has most certainly carved out her own lane in the greater hip-hop scene, and this latest track may be one of the most lyrically-inviting pieces to date from the rapidly maturing MC. Check out the video for "Own Lane" below and scroll a bit for the full European tour dates.
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[Video] Freddie Gibbs: "Deuces"
Photo by Virgil Solis
It's been a minute since we've heard something fresh from Indiana's finest, Freddie Gibbs. This time around, the seminal gangsta rap artist of our time teams up with the mastermind of the drill sound in Young Chop for this dark, ominous track. In what seems like a match made in heaven for Chop and Gibbs to get together on a track, the song is as gritty and street-conscious as you'd expect and another solid get for Chop, who recently put out a track with Taylor Gang's Wiz Khalifa. The video for the single dropped yesterday and has ESGN Films’, Danny Manhattan following Gangsta Gibbs from his hometown of Gary, Ind., to nearby Chicago. Take a dip into Freddie Gibbs' world in the video below and pick up the track via iTunes.
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