Hyperprolific rapper and Culture Power45 label co-owner Marcellous “Infinito 2017” Lovelace and Chicago hip-hop scene player Sterling “Pugs Atomz” Price are both former members of the Nacrobats crew, and when Lovelace asked Pugs last year about releasing a vinyl compilation of old Nacrobats tracks, it kicked off a wave of celebrations that will continue through 2020. Pugs founded Nacrobats as a Kenwood Academy student in 1993, and the group ballooned to around 200 members before dissolving in 2003. Many of those connected to the crew have gone on to leave their marks on the cultural landscape here and around the country—including Pugs, Psalm One, Offwhyte, and Open Mike Eagle, all of whom provided archival material for November’s Nacrobats compilation, A in the Square. (It’s packaged with the book A Love Supreme, a must-have history of the group’s journey.) For this Nacrobats reunion show, Pugs recruited a crowd of former members, among them Psalm One, Thaione Davis, Cos G, Rift Napalm, Offwhyte, Kao Ra Zen, and the groups Centric I.E. and 1993 (aka Roger Rodriguez and Brian Nevado, co-owners of Loop streetwear shop Jugrnaut). They’ll perform solo and collaborative songs in a round-robin-style set, and Pugs will also screen a preview of a forthcoming Nacrobats documentary. Given how many of the people who joined the crew in their youth are still involved in the city’s culture, this reunion would make a great hook for the first chapter of the next Nacrobats book. v