Hear An Uncovered Malcolm London + Kweku Collins Track on the LTAB 2018 Mixtape
"Always bout my bills, no Bill Cosby."
The only things certain are death and taxes. Just below that are other things we can begin to count on every year, the LTAB mixtape has become one of those things. For the last few years, Young Chicago Authors, has put together a free mixtape to coincide with their annual youth poetry slam, Louder Than A Bomb. This year's mixtape includes an almost overwhelming 26 tracks from familiar as well as unfamiliar names ranging from Femdot and Matt Muse to Aeon Moore and Loona Dae. Also included is an uncovered collaboration from Malcolm London and Kweku Collins.
I do remember Malcolm and Kweku recording this in the Closed Sessions C-Room, I believe it was very close to the time Kweku started coming around. I don't really remember much outside of that, and honestly totally forgot about this song. This is actually the first time I've heard it, and I fucking dig it.
Outside of the song's quality, it's just dope to see this record come to life via the LTAB mixtape. Good mixtapes include rarities and b-sides, and YCA is keeping that spirit alive. Peep the full mixtape below, you might just find a new favorite.
Malcolm London's "Smokescreens & Magic" is a request that won't be granted
"How much of your soul gonna cost you a mansion?"
The unexamined life is not worth living, and the examined life is pain - that was the first thing that ran through my mind after listening to Malcolm London's newest song, "Smokescreens and Magic". Set to piano and handclaps produced by BAD CXMPANY, Malcolm examines present day with an eye towards how he got here.
Sleepless nights is a theme running through both verses - in terms of Malcolm losing sleep, as well as having nightmares that trouble him by blending Freddy Krueger and Fred Hampton. Those names don't just make for good poetry, but draw a very specific parallel between fictitious nightmares of Freddy Krueger, to the very real-world horrifics experienced by Hampton who was murdered by Chicago police while he slept.
London also mentions Malcolm X in both verses, also in different ways as he fluctuates between his own internal issues (drug addiction, finding a solid team, moving away) and the external circumstances that have taken their toll and perhaps led to the internal.
At the end, London has no real solutions here, and doesn't seem to be searching for those in this song. There is a plea to go back to a simpler time, when we are young, before life has been "examined" and we realize how bullshit everything truly is. London delivers this plea knowing full-well it is an impossible ask.
The song is from his forthcoming #RightAwaySeries, which is releasing on 1/19/18. I personally can't wait.
Early Chance The Rapper Tracks Discovered
Complex's Kyle Kramer is reporting a swath of mostly unheard Chance The Rapper material that was unearthed via Reddit late last night. The new (old) music is from Chance's high school days at Jones College Prep and after school sessions at YouMedia, the local poetry and spoken word program held at Harold Washington Library in Chicago's South Loop. The center was the breeding ground for much of the music coming out of the city today, including Kids These Days, Donnie Trumpet (Nico Segal), Vic Mensa, NoNameGypsy, Malcolm London, and plenty more. The tracks were recorded as part of Chano's group named Instrumentality and feature early cuts of many of the songs that fans know him by today, including a rough cut of "Nostalgia". Production for many of the tracks, available here below, is handled by close friend Nico Segal, who has been working behind the scenes with the likes of Frank Ocean and Hit Boy recently and should have be reaching listeners collective consciousnesses soon. The projects are titled Good Enough and Back to School Pack, and provide a sketching of the early days of Chano's career, which really weren't all that long ago. With the hometown kid on every publication, blog and website, take a trip back in time when things were a little more calm for Chancellor Bennett.
[Video] Malcolm London: "Never Too Late"
Malcolm London is one of those people you know for all the right reasons. At 20, the native Chicagoan has had as much of an impact on changing the norm of the streets of his city as any community leader or alderman. London has a voice and a message to match that he has taken across the country, even appearing on a TED talk speaking on the intricacies of the plight of young disenfranchised minorities in the communities he frequents. Today, he continues to spread that message of hope and healing for a city that is hurting for both by teaming up with renowned Irish graffiti artist Maser for this video for his spoken work piece, "Never Too Late", shot by up and coming video crew Heart of the City.
The video is at once art installation and background imaging, as Maser paints the words "never too late to love" on white over a black background, silhouetting the poignant wordsmith-ing put on by London throughtout. Much of the resurgence of hip-hop, on a certain side of Chicago, grows out of spoken word poetry classes at after-school programs like YouMedia and Young Chicago Authors. London, a Save Money affiliate and occasional rhymesayer is easily one of the most poetic souls in the city, stating in his monologue below: "Every morning I read headlines: 18 shot in a weekend, 300 dead in a summer, 50 schools shut down, public funding cut, trying to turn poems into eulogies I find in the newspaper. Everyday I teach students who's stories will footprint into new front page stories. . " Take some time out of your day to get some knowledge and insight on what this thing others call "Chiraq" actually is.
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Malcolm London: "All Gold Everything" Freestyle
"If I got to wear a chain, then it better be all gold everything."
Malcolm London recently messed around at Saba's in-house studio and came away with this new "All Gold Everything" freestyle. Jewelry isn't really the topic at hand here, as gold is more of a mindframe for London and co. This is why London landed a spot on our come up list. Peep it below.