[Video] Caleb James: "Eddy Curry"
You might remember Eddy Curry. For some, he was the hometown kid who jumped from Thornwood High School on Chicago's South Side to The United Center on the city's West Side as an 18-year-old, drafted by the Chicago Bulls with Tyson Chandler, essentially marking the end of the Jordan era for good, and the beginning of the Baby Bulls. Well, if you know what happened next, you're likely from Chicago. His weight ballooned, he and teammates almost single-handedly put the cornrow and headband look to bed and he found a way to earn checks by sitting in a suit on a cushioned chair for thousands to ogle.
Well, Chicago's own Caleb James decided to commemorate that very certain era in Bulls history by shouting out the former athlete in his latest track, a banger appropriately titled "Eddy Curry". The video is shot by Brandon “N2ition” Riley, and features a side of the city we've been seeing a lot of; snow. James has been on his hustle in the Midwest for a minute now and last night shut down Subterranean in Wicker Park with Roman Flowrs. Keep an eye out for the SaveMoney artist's latest project, The Jones 2.0, due out next month.
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Chance The Rapper: "Interlude (That's Love)" Live
Back in November, Chance The Rapper took a few days off of his headlining "Social Experiment" tour to play a pair of sold out shows at The Riviera in his hometown of Chicago. The dates, sandwiched around Thanksgiving were a milestone in the young artist's career, a full year almost to the day since he had first played his first sold out show at The Metro in support of his upcoming Acid Rap tape that eventually launched him into rarified air. The performances at The Riv were a quintessentially hometown experience that oozed Chicago from the get-go with Stunt Taylor opening things up with a run through of his street banger "Fe Fe on the Block" before turning the show over to Chance and his band, made up of Donnie Trumpet, Nate Fox, Greg Landfair and the tour's Music Director Peter CottonTale who re-arranged the tracks from Acid Rap to fit subtly into a live atmosphere. 2013 was the craziest year to date of young Chancelor Bennett's life, and he wrapped it up appropriately, as you can see in the video below, shot by Bryan Lamb (FragDFilms) and myself at the first show. It's a little late, but these days who can get enough Chance?
[Video] Chance The Rapper & Jeremih Debut New Song
Photo by FragDFilms
Last night in Chicago, Chance The Rapper held a secret show for students of DePaul University at Lincoln Hall in the city. A sort of off-the-cuff decision to do the show, Chance and crew were on a whole other level, taking things to a sort of unplugged feel as Chance was joined onstage by "The Social Experiment," the name for his backing band of Peter CottonTale, Nate Fox, Nico Segal and Greg Landfair, as well as Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, who performed songs from Acid Rap and 10 Day with ease. Chance, whose manager is a graduate of DePaul, brought Jeremih out not once, but twice, to unveil songs that have yet to properly hit the 'net. In the video below, the pair perform the upcoming single. Live, Jeremih sounded so clear you would have thought he was being mixed and mastered on the spot. Jeremih and Chance also teamed up for the yet-unreleased track, unveiled at The Riviera in November as well. Check out the latest song from two Chicago natives, below.
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Peter CottonTale: "Suitcase Remix" (Feat. Vic Mensa & Chance The Rapper)
Yesterday, Chicago's SaveMoney squad dropped their much-delayed video for "Still Alive" and today, the clique gets another listing as Acid Rap and Innanetape producer Peter CottonTale gives Vic Mensa & Chance The Rapper's recent collaboration, "Suitcase" his own unique spin. Perhaps no one else could have given the track the kind of fitting twist than CottonTale, who has worked closely with both Mensa and Chance over the past year or so, helping to craft two immensely eclectically-unique sounds that can intertwine, as they do here, or venture off into wildly different paths.
While he has established himself while being a part of several successful ventures, there have been few, if any, solo releases from the producer responsible for Chance's "Brain Cells," making today's offering a special one. Different for CottonTale on this release is his use of samples, which are almost completely left off of his own production, opting instead for a instrumental aesthetic that has had many across the country pointing to the 22-year-old producer as bringing soul and jazz back to hip-hop. The "Suitcase" remix is a fully Chicago affair, with close friend OJ Hays providing the artwork. Check out the latest from CottonTale and co., streaming here below.
[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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Taylor Bennett: "Ballin"
Yesterday, Chicago's latest up and comer, Taylor Bennett, celebrated his 18th birthday with the Hypetrak premier of his latest track, "Ballin," due out on his anticipated 2014 project, Mainstream Music. The follow-up to last month's debut single "Heartbreaker," Bennett is proving that there is more to him than his older brother (Chance The Rapper).
He's a mile-a-minute on the haunting Saint The Good Boy beat, tossing together rhymes in rapid-fire succession while allowing listeners to digest his thought-provoking and insightful bars he's throwing at them. It's equal parts Twista and Lupe as he churns his way through the track. Check out the latest from Taylor Bennett from yourself, streaming below.
[Video] Common Talks Chance The Rapper with Vibe
The vast majority may associate Kanye West with the top rapper to come from the Windy City, but to real hip-hop fans, there's few artists above Common in terms of Chicago rap legends. The soulful, poetic artist laid the groundwork for an entire generation of artists from his hometown to pursue different sounds and aesthetics within their records. As Chance The Rapper has ascended to hip-hop royalty over the past year, we have heard little from the upper-echelon of Chicago hip-hop on the young artist responsible for Acid Rap. Twista hopped on the project, spitting a verse on "Cocoa Butter Kisses" and Lupe shouted him out at the end of a recent song, but nothing has been heard from Yeezy, and very little from Common on Chano until today, when Common sat down with Vibe to discuss Chicago's newest star.
Common remarks at Chance's ability to have as much fun as he wants with his music, citing his varying vocal patterns, rhyme schemes and voices that make up the sort of R&B/Hip-hop aesthetic that has become Chance's calling card as of late. The Chicago legend also expresses his belief that Chance has a very bright future ahead of him. That's verification. Check out the full interview, streaming below.
[Vibe]
[Mixtape] Doc Da MindBenda: "Welcome To The Grindhouse"
You might not have heard of the Grindhouse yet, but you've most likely have heard music from the Grindhouse. The house that Doc Da Minbenda built has seen a vast majority of Chicago's best emcees come through and record at the studio, building up a highly-respected reputation and relationships that go way beyond the music. Inspired by RZA, Doc spent almost two years crafting a true local opus by gathering both legendary and up-and-coming acts, supplying them with hot instrumentals and putting it all together for a true showcase of all the talent brewing in the city. Akbar, Pugs Atomz, Psalm One, Griff, GLC, Treated Crew, SaveMoney, ProbCause, Legion Of Dudes, Martin $ky, Pavy, Onis and many more are featured in Welcome To The Grindhouse, available for free download below.