In this week’s Reader music feature, I spoke with Chicago rapper ShowYouSuck about Good Luck Hunting, the free-form TV show he’s about to debut on JBTV’s 24-hour channel. And Show isn’t the only local hip-hop personality dipping his toes in that medium. Earlier this month, the Cool Kids released a trailer for their forthcoming sketch-comedy program, The Shit Show, though its website is sparse, with no information about what network (if any) will air it. (The show has an active Twitter page, so there’s that.) And on Christmas Day, producer and rapper Green Sllime, who DJs for Mick Jenkins, debuted a YouTube-based interview series, Sllime’s Broke Ass Low Budget Show.
Made with the help of local multimedia and events outlet 119 Productions, Sllime’s series combines the tropes of a legit network talk show with the “anything goes” approach of public-access TV, which gets a lot of its charm from sloppiness and amateurish editing. Its messier aspects are mostly affectations, though: Sllime’s conversations with his guests are often interrupted by seconds-long cuts to TV static. Because Sllime doesn’t rely on a network bound by FCC regulations, he can curse his way through his questions, which are so meandering I can almost smell the weed through my computer screen. (He lights up a blunt during each of the three episodes currently online.) This looseness and lack of focus don’t make Sllime look incompetent so much as really comfortable in the host’s chair. He’s amiable and enjoys an easy camaraderie with his guests—not a big surprise, since he’s only interviewed Chicago rappers so far.
For my money, the second episode of Sllime’s Broke Ass Low Budget Show is the best, and not just because the guest is cult rapper Sharkula. Sllime gets some great responses from Shark, who talks about his relationship with Kool Keith, in the process opening up about his private life; Shark chokes up while talking about the kindness Keith showed him after his mother died in 2012.
Sllime’s familiarity with his guests does a lot of work for him, and so far they’ve been game about his questions, no matter how silly. I’ve learned a little something from time to time too; in the first episode, Pivot Gang rapper Joseph Chilliams discusses the history behind his stage name. Sllime brought on Save Money MC Dally Auston for the third episode, which went live Saturday—roughly a week after he dropped his 99¢ EP. You can stream those two shows below.
Episode one with Joseph Chilliams:
Episode three with Dally Auston:
