[Interview] RH First Look: Kami De Chukwu
SaveMoney has made as much noise as anyone lately in Chicago's Hip Hop scene. And while Vic Mensa and Chance The Rapper have led the initial charge for the army, it's clear that the crew has an onslaught of talent in its arsenal. Following in the footsteps of Vic, Chance, and Caleb James, in comes Kami De Chukwu. De Chukwu is looking to match the success of the aforementioned trio, who he met in high school and has been close with ever since.
"You know when you're scattering to make friends on the first day of high school and that first week?" Kami asks during our interview, "It's really been the same tight knit people since day one, for real." While they messed around with music and performing arts throughout high school, it took a serious turn when Vic Mensa broke the barrier by opting not to attend college in exchange for recording studios and road trips as part of his band, Kids These Days. As Kami says in the interview, Vic's decision impacted everybody, including Kami, and forced him to pursue his music with the same dedication and effort.
As Kami readies his August 20th project Light, we caught up with him for a First Look. Read the full interview to learn more about Kami De Chukwu.
Interview by Charles Farr
[Interview] First Look: St. Millie
Back in January, as I was cleaning up my stuff after ending my class at Columbia College, one of my students came up to me and asked if he could introduce me to a new artist that he supported. I'm always interested in music brought me to by my students, who are often times on the ground level with many of the young artists in Chicago's scene. The following week, as I lectured to my class, St. Millie sat patiently outside the classroom door waiting for my students' dismissal and his time to enter the room and share his music. That was my first meeting with St. Millie, who spoke humbly about his music and his hopes for it. He played me a couple records and mentioned that The Gift -who is most well known for his work with Rockie Fresh- was serving as a musical mentor on his forthcoming project.
Millie didn't brag or boast. He played the music and asked me questions about each song and exactly what he could do to improve, or any places he could get his foot in the door. A couple months later Millie opened up our Digital Freshness Under 21 edition, earning a coveted spot on the showcase of up and coming emcees that also featured Chance The Rapper, Caleb James, and Calez, all of whom are garnering interest from beyond the windy city right now. Millie's work ethic, approach, and respect for teamwork have greatly helped in getting him to this point, a place where he has a chance to break through with the August 11th release of his new mixtape, No Religion But Up.
In this new edition of RH First Look, Millie talks about the spiritual concept behind the project as well as his journey from near homelessness to finding his place within the Chicago Hip Hop community. Hit the next page to read on.
[Interview] RH First Look: The O'My's
Creating a band in 2012 takes a few different shapes than it did during the 70's or 80's, before the age of the the computer. Today, the emergence of the digital era has drawn so many musicians into an independent frenzy, creating all genres of music behind closed doors and sitting endlessly behind computer screens. Yet, not everyone is running out buying Ableton and locking themselves in their rooms, and most definitely not Chicago's premiere Soul, funk and R&B based band The O'My's. While they can appreciate technology's contributions to music, they aren't digging the auto-tune.
"In reference of what's going on in popular music now with the auto tuning and some synth based stuff, which is stuff we are not against, but there is a certain amount of honesty that comes from putting your voice and your instrument on tracks as is," says Maceo Vidal-Haymes, the lead vocalist and guitarist who is one of the leaders of the band. Vidal-Haymes met keyboardist and vocalist Nick Hennessey in 2007 at Lollapalooza after hearing about each other in the city's young music scene. The two connected in the studio soon after with amazing chemistry and the O'My's were born.
The O'My's have gained a solid following thanks to their great live show and the release their acclaimed mixtape, Chicago Style, the band plans to go full throttle in the studio this summer. They have plans to release up to 2 projects by the end of the season as well as help their friends record, mix and promote their own projects. They also plan to collaborate with the likes of Chuck Inglish and Chip Tha Ripper. "We just want people to listen man," Maceo told us. "We put [Chicago Style] and probably our next one out for free because we just want people to hear it."
Read on to learn more about The O'My's in this new First Look.
[Interview] RH First Look: theWHOevers
For Dotkom and J. Arthur, Hip Hop isn't just about the music. The two met at Northern Illinois University and quickly found that they each shared an appreciation for Hip Hop culture. That shared appreciation is at the core of their bond, and a mindset that informs them in their work as theWHOevers, one of Chicago's best new groups. "We both knew we wanted to create music that we as listeners would enjoy," says J. Arthur, "something that represents the essence of the Hip Hop culture we adored growing up."
In September of 2011, theWHOevers released their debut project, Renovations. The mixtape is an eclectic collection of beats and rhymes in the spirit of Hip Hop's golden era with influences from Chicago house and freestyle movements. Following that release, Dotkom and J. Arthur upped the creative ante and released a new song every Wednesday, forcing each other to push themselves beyond hot 16's and one-liners. Much like an athlete hitting the gym, or a samurai sharpening his sword, theWHOevers have only gotten better since Renovations. And this summer they will release a new mixtape, which will then set the table for a proper follow-up to Renovations.
In this First Look, we talked to Dotkom and J. Arthur about their influences, their solo projects, where they fit in Chicago Hip Hop, and much more. Check it out.
[Interview] RH First Look: Caleb James
When I walked into Leaders 1354 on Friday night, it was immediately apparent the path Chicago Hip Hop is heading. About 60 of us packed the Chicago boutique to witness the first sounds from Caleb James' debut project Ground Up. Recently, Chicago's scene has become a hotbed for new talent and many artists are bringing our sound to a national stage. That list includes recent major label signees like Chief Keef and King Louie, as well as soon to sign artists like Rockie Fresh and L.E.P. In this new wave of attention, it is important to understand who the new fans are. They are the consumers who watched "3Hunna" 1 million times, the kids standing in lines wrapped around the block at Leaders waiting to meet Chance The Rapper on a cold and rainy day in November, they are the youth. Caleb's listening party was even more proof that the enthused teenage fan will be a leading factor in deciding the future of Hip Hop, not only here in Chicago, but everywhere.
There is an honest and personal connection that James and SaveMoney have with their fans. For one, a big foundation of the SaveMoney Army (as their called) come from the same Chicago (and surrounding) high schools as Vic Mensa, Caleb James, Chance The Rapper, St. Millie, Calez and others. They've been to almost every in-store at Leaders or Jugrnaut since last September, and wouldn't miss a Chance, Caleb, or Kids These Days show unless Kanye was playing the Metro unexpectedly. The national popularity surrounding artists like Louie and Keef has only strengthened the other local scenes, as their rising star power has not only inspired local artists to reach that level, but have unearthed Hip Hop fans of all ages. This bond has centered around supporting the young talent of our city, that ultimately is the future of Hip Hop. This allows for scenes like Friday where everyone from MC Juice, Treated Crew's Sulaiman, Gzus piece, and ShowYouSuck, The Village's Alex Wiley and a buttload of teenage stans came together supporting Caleb and his team's Movement.
For James, the road to this launching point of his career has been a random one of some sorts. Yet, with a renowned producer as a father who worked closely with Avant and the Isley Brothers and owned a studio in Wicker Park, this path can be seen as destiny for "Mr. DoItForSaveMoney". Keep reading to learn more about Caleb's emergence into the industry in this new First Look.
[Interview] RH First Look: Chandler London
About a year and a half ago, Stefan Ponce started telling me about this new kid he was working with and an upcoming project that they created all on their own. That new kid was Chandler London, and the early skeletons of songs appearing in my inbox were off Chandler's debut mixtape, The Science of Sleep. Chandler London and Stefan Ponce created a new kind of sound for Chicago's buzzing Hip Hop scene and after speaking to Chandler about his influences, it becomes clearer where that sound came from and how he got here. Drawing inspiration from sources stretching from "Grease" and Ritchie Valens all the way to DMX and Motown, London is building a name for himself and his style of music.
In the newest RH First Look, we spoke to Chandler London about his early days sitting in on his dad's practice sessions, linking up with Stefan Ponce, wyling out to It's Dark And Hell Is Hot, and hopefully collaborating with Tree and Chance The Rapper. Check out the interview to get familiar with one of Chicago's most promising artists.
Interview by Peter Kole.
[Interview] RH First Look: Warm Brew
Artists evolve throughout their careers. Some change for the better and some for the worse. Some artists don’t change much at all, producing a catalog of stale material with redundant lyrics and sounds. Other artists change noticeably from project to project, but struggle to recreate the same success found in earlier work. Luckily for us, there are a handful of artists who seem to just get it and manage to deliver a variety of quality music.
Enter Warm Brew. These guys get it. They have an expanding collection of tracks that might make some listeners reminisce on the Cali Hip Hop stylings of the 90’s. Warm Brew has a similar kind of “style with ease” (steez) that was seen in artists such as Hieroglyphics, Pharcyde, and Jurassic 5. The Left-Coasters have proven themselves on a collection of tracks with a wide range of both sound and subject matter.
Warm Brew’s latest mixtape, Kottabos, dropped on April 26th and it’s pretty different from their prior tape, Warm Brew. That being said, both tapes are impressive in their own right because Warm Brew is able to deliver such unique and well rounded tracks. Their material isn’t only unique in that it doesn’t sound like what other artists are doing. Each track is unique from the rest of their catalog, making it easy to listen to Warm Brew’s material for a while without it getting stale. This young and talented collective is definitely worth keeping an eye on and we’re excited to see what they do next. Make the jump to check out RH’s First Look with Warm Brew.
[Interview] RH First Look: The Pro Letarians
The saying, “I’d rather be lucky than good,” chooses one of two desirable options, but what if you could have both?
The duo known as the Pro Letarians were fortunate enough to be just doors apart at Indiana university, a school of over 40,000 students. That's pretty lucky. With JO on production and Jupiter Jim emceeing, The Pro Letarians have created plenty of well-rounded tracks that often uniquely sample familiar songs such as The Beatles’ “Let It Be” and the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”. Their tracks possess an infectious enthusiasm that makes it hard not to nod along. That's pretty good.
The Pro Letarians have already come out with two mixtapes despite having just met each other around 7 months ago and being in school for almost the entire time. Their first tape, The Pregame, may have been a little rough around the edges in some spots, but the tape showcased the duo’s potential and received positive praise in the blogosphere. They followed this up with the March release of Hello, Forever, which made the duo’s sonic evolution apparent. Hello, Forever was a longer, more diverse tape, which like their debut mixtape, had no features. That fact kept the spotlight, and the pressure, on them throughout. It seems like the young duo is heading in the right direction and it will be interesting to see where The Pro Letarians end up. The maturation seen in such a short time is encouraging and further proof that these kids out of Indiana are good enough to make their own luck.
Make the jump to check out our First Look with The Pro Letarians.