[Review] Kendrick Lamar: The Championship Tour
Top Dawg Entertainment: The Championship Tour was an epic experience this weekend. I found out last minute that we had tickets available for us. After picking up tickets at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Tinley Park, we made our way to our seats right in time for Kendrick Lamar's performance.
The huge dual illuminated screen, combined with the light show, and fire show displayed how well put together the tour was. I shouldn't be surprised by this, since the members of the tour are some of the largest in hip-hop currently. The stage setup was really something else, compared to the dozens of underground shows with little to no budget I have lately been attending.
A highlight of the performance was when Kendrick brought out Jay Rock for "Money Trees". Another highlight occurred when KDot started playing the intro to "Humble". The crowd rapped the entire song acapella with minor assistance from the MC. This was impressive to say the least. Around 20,000 people, young and old, shouting the words to this hit. Ironic is an understatement, with the crowd shouting, "Sit down be humble" with Kendrick listening to them.
Overall its crazy to see Kendrick, and all of TDE, progress the way they have. The last time I saw Kendrick was in 2012 and he opened up for Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa. If you haven't checked out the new Jay Rock album, you should, it's the next great project in their collection.
[Video] Jhene Aiko Performs "The Worst" on Conan
Songstress Jhene Aiko continued her tour of late night TV sets, last night making her rounds at the Conan O'Brien Show on TBS to perform her song "The Worst." The beautifull, charming Aiko killed the track, as was expected with her having performed the song now on Jimmy Kimmel, Saturday Night Live with Drake and on Jimmy Fallon, maybe she'll also help Seth Myers settle in next week? Anyway, it's always a good day when you can wake up and hear Jhene sing, check out the full video streaming below.
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Grading The 2014 Grammy Winners
So, back in December, around the time the Grammy nominations were officially announced, I wrote a post titled "Grading The Grammys" where I gave my two cents on what I thought of the nominees, who I thought should win and who I thought actually would win. The music industry equivalent to filling out an NCAA tournament bracket in March, I watched yesterday as my picks were scuttled fairly quickly. Using the mentality that it is better to recognize many rather than few and spread an award rather than smother one artist with them, my choices for Grammy winners was a bit different from what actually went down last night in LA. Read on to see who I thought would win, who actually did and how that makes me feel, here below.
Record of The Year
Nominees:
- "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
- "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
- "Royals" - Lorde
- "Locked Out Of Heaven" - Bruno Mars
- "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell
Actual Winner: "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
My Prediction: “Royals” – Lorde
Breakdown: I read somewhere in the lead up to this year's Grammys that the award show could very quickly devolve into a sort of Lifetime Achievement Award for Daft Punk, who did have arguably the song of the year in "Get Lucky" which seemed to be on an endless loop throughout the Summer. "Royals" certainly had its own run, but looking back it was somewhat ridiculous to think she could overtake Daft Punk.
New Chicago music venue Concord Music Hall to open on 8/17
The historic Congress Theater has been facing some legal problems involving some much-needed renovations. Because of this, a large number of shows have been rescheduled or moved to other venues. Luckily, the Concord Music Hall will be opening its doors for live music entertainment. Located at 2047 N. Milwaukee in Logan Square, the venue has been renovated and updated from its days as the dance club, V Live, and will be the perfect music venue for the Congress Theater relocated shows as its only a few blocks away. Concord Music Hall is a scalable venue, meaning it can be fitted to house between 700 to 1600 people. The venue is jointly run among three promoters (React Presents, Riot Fest, and Silver Wrapper), which will bring in a large and varied number of artists from different genres.
To commemorate the launch, the previously scheduled Gogol Bordello show at the Congress will now be taking place at Concord. Previously purchased tickets will be honored for the Concord. Those interested in tickets can purchase some from the Concord Music Hall website. The lineup of scheduled shows from August until the end of the year are listed below, including some North Coast Music Festival and Riot Fest after parties.
8.1 – Adam Ant
8.17 – Gogol Bordello
8.24 - Boombox
8.30 – NCMF: AlunaGeorge (Live), Passion Pit (DJ Set), Capital Cities (DJ Set)
8.31 – NCMF Afters: The Disco Biscuits
9.1 – NCMF Afters: Lotus w/ Future Rock
9.7 – Carnage w/ Special Guests
9.13 – Riot Fest Afters
9.14 - Riot Fest Afters
9.15 - Riot Fest Afters
9.19 – Netsky (DJ Set)
9.20 – Jimmy Cliff
10.18 – Boys Noize
10.19 – Dumpstaphunk
10.20 – The Misfits
10.24 – DJ Bl3nd
10.26 – Jason Isbell
10.31 – Laidback Luke
11.16 – Less Than Jake
11.23 – Figure & Crizzly
12.12 - Lettuce w/ the Nth Power
[Event] Kid Cudi, Tyler, the Creator, and Logic at UIC Pavillion 9/20
Kid Cudi's coming back to Chicago this fall! The rapper, in support of his recent album, Indicud, is embarking on a nationwide tour, "The Cud Life Tour 2013," and bringing along Odd Future figurehead Tyler, the Creator and up-and-coming Def Jam rapper, Logic, with him. I know this is far in advance, but tickets will be going on sale next week on July 31st at 10am here. Considering the show is all-ages, it will probably sell out relatively quickly, so prepare to wake up nice and early next Wednesday to get tickets.
You can see the full poster below.
[Video] Chance the Rapper Live at SOB's (6/20/2013)
Chance the Rapper, arguably one of the hottest young rappers in the game right now, has been touring the country in support of his latest project, Acid Rap. At his headlining show at New York's legendary SOB's, the people over at Good*Fella Media shot a small video recap of Chance's set last night. Featuring a medley of "Pusha Man," "Favorite Song," "Juice," "Fuck You Tahm Bout," and a special cameo appearance by Travie McCoy.
It looks like the Chicagoan rapper is having loads of fun on the tour, and more importantly, the crowds are responding positively to him. His next block of tour dates are with Mac Miller, so be sure to let him hit you with that Zan dance when he comes to your city.
[via Good*Fella Media]
http://youtu.be/UrEdO8ynWbM
[Mixtape] RubyHornet x SoundScape: DJ RTC & Friends Live
On May 30, 2009 DJ RTC set up shop at Do Division Fest, an annual music and arts festival stretching roughly 9 city blocks in the heart of Division street. He asked some of Chicago's finest emcees to join him during his set. So many artists signed up that it turned into an exclusively Chicago set, which played out like a live mixtape. DJ RTC arranged and blended tracks together to make for smooth transitions, and a concert with few pauses and lots of excitement. Michael Kolar of SoundScape Studio recorded and mastered the full set, which is available for free download by clicking the link below. With ten of Chicago's most accomplished and beloved Hip Hop artists making appearances, DJ RTC & Friends Live is a one of its kind live concert mixtape, which represents everything that's dope right now about Chicago's Hip Hop community. Notorious as a city full of haters, DJ RTC & Friends serves to contradict the Chi's haterville moniker and signifies the change in the attitude taking place in the Chi. Artists such as Mike 100's, Really Doe, Phil G, Project Mayhem, Mikkey Halsted, Mick Luter, Mic Terror, Rhymefest, The Primeridian, and GLC all been lead the pack.
If you were there, you can relive the experience. If you missed it, you can get caught up to speed. Please enjoy by finding the download link and tracklist below.