Knox Fortune Goes For Dolo On New LP, Paradise
Last week I wrote briefly about Knox Fortune's single "24 Hours", a jam that I really enjoyed and harkened back to late 90's indie alternative type shit (the good kind). Today, Knox has released his full LP, Paradise, and you can stream it below via Apple Music. I haven't had a chance to really dig in yet, but I plan on setting aside some time to properly give this one some attention.
And if you want to know about Knox, I highly recommend this piece written by Britt Julious for Noisey. Knox won a Grammy for his work with Chance The Rapper, and has help guide projects from Joey Purp and KAMI. It's kind of a like a secret weapon isn't such a secret anymore.
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Knox Fortune: "24 Hours"
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Knox Fortune is preparing to release his debut LP, Paradise, on September 22nd. Ahead of that drop, he has blessed the world with the new jam, "24 Hours". This record feels like it would fit right in with the late 90's alternative scene. Not to say that it sounds dated by any means, in fact, this pretty fucking fresh. And certainly a compliment to what Knox has done within the hip hop scene, working with artists like Joey Purp, Chance The Rapper, and KAMI.
Stream the record above, and look for the full alum 9/22.
Vic Mensa’s intimate show at The Vic Theater
Vic Mensa has grown not only in age before our eyes but also in character. Mensa fans witnessed his coloring, playful attitude in Kids These Days to his more critical thinking side in There’s Alot Going On. Mensa definitely has a lot going on.
We caught Mensa at The Vic Theater as he makes his move through his There’s A lot going On tour. Mensa will soon join Justin Bieber on a Europe tour. The Southside rapper is rooted in Chicago which made his show a bit more personal.
We caught Mensa’s incredible performance at Lollapalooza were he used riot police guards to help him magnify the messages in "There’s Alot Going On". Mensa brought the same riot police at The Vic to enhance his bold statements. This was clear with his performance of 16 Shots. Dedicated to Laquan McDonald, 16 Shots depicted McDonald’s senseless killing from the hands of the Chicago Police Department. Mensa brought his to life showcasing an otherwise not talked about issue.
Mensa with an arsenal of support of talented rap peers to choose from, Mensa brought out rising star Joey Purp. Purp joined Mensa in their joint record 773. Another Chicago favorite Purp was met with roars of applause.
Mensa brought it back with his record Down On My Luck. Mensa from his successful debut mixtape Innanetape, has not looked back in classic records. On the tail end of the show Mensa performed UMad, his first major collaboration with Kanye West.
Mensa closed off the night with his record There’s Alot Going On his most personal record to date. With his forthcoming full length album his first since signing with Roc Nation were sure to expect the best from Mensa.
Setlist:
- Danger
- Free Love
- New Bae
- Liquor Locker
- Down On My Luck
- Shades of Blue
- 773 (with Joey Purp)
- Holy Holy
- Wolves
- UMad
- There’s A lot Going On
[Video] SAVEMONEY: "Still Alive"(Feat.) Joey Purp & Kami de Chukwu
SaveMoney is very much still alive as members Kami De Chukwu & Joey Purp go bar-for-bar across the heavy-handed beat produced by Thelonious Martin and Stix to prove just that. The video was originally slated for a 2013 release, around the time the song hit, which was canceled after the production was shut down due to a robbery during the the time of the shooting. With schedules hard to line up with members on tour and in the studio, the SaveMoney squad re-assembled at my house on Thanksgiving Day to shoot the video alongside a celebration that was sandwiched between a pair of Chance The Rapper's sold out Riviera shows. SaveMoney made the video to prove they're "Still Alive", which Vic Mensa took to a new level by tattooing it across his abdomen. Check out the full video below, alongside the trailer for the upcoming SaveMoney episode of the 8-part Noisey "Chiraq" documentary, due out soon.
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[Video] The Save Money Christmas Cypher + New Songs
Few collectives in music had a bigger rise in overall reputation than Chicago's Save Money team. In honor of a 2013 that saw projects from Vic and Chance, as well as Brian Fresco's Mafioso, a Save Money compilation and a steady slew of singles that increasingly unique. In honor of all this and Christmas, some of the team got together for a special cypher video just for the holidays. Joey Purp starts things off before handing off to Kami De Chukwu, Tokyo Shawn and Vic Mensa, who caps off the short video, shot by the girls of Verluxe.
In other Save Money news, we also got new tracks from both Vic Mensa and Dally Auston that can be heard below. Vic's "Crazy" is a lost cut from his 2010 Straight Up EP and was released around Christmas as a loosie single, as is Auston's "Great Gatsby".
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[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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Tokyo Shawn: "World Turning" (feat. Joey Purp)
With his upcoming mixtape Wave Theory expected to drop extremely soon, Tokyo Shawn has enlisted himself as the next SaveMoney representative to break-out big time and released the video for "World Turning" to prove it. The Joey Purps-featured track finds the two emcees stunting on your favorite stylist and rapper at the same damn time over a Caleb James instrumental.
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Kami de Chukwu: "Droptop Vision"
Chicago native Kami De Chukwu released his latest single, "Droptop Vision" alongside fellow Save Money MC Joey Purp yesterday as we waded through a site change. Forgive our tardiness and be sure to give Kami's latest a look here below.