ESS’s Option music salon returns for spring with Jim O’Rourke, and Chicago rappers Saint Ripley and Osa North level up on new releases.
Tag: Ajani Jones
Posted inMusic
Chicago rapper Jay Wood gives his hardest verses a pop polish on Trackstar
Three years ago Chicago rapper Jay Wood (a member of the Freesole collective) dropped his debut full-length, Self Doubt, where he made mincemeat of hard-edged beats while sharing the mike with more established MCs, including Ajani Jones and Femdot. Since then Wood has polished his skills and reconciled his fierce vocals with his interest in […]
Posted inMusic
Ajani Jones taps into a familiar paradoxical love for Chicago on Dragonfly
After Chicago rapper Fredrick “Ajani” Jones left the University of Iowa in 2015 to focus on music, he picked up a warehouse gig in Rogers Park to help fund what he hoped would be his real career. On “Pluto,” off his recent debut album, Dragonfly (Ajani Jones/Closed Sessions), the 25-year-old talks about pursuing his dream […]
Posted inMusic
Hip-hop site Ruby Hornet throws its first show in years
Hip-hop site Ruby Hornet throws its first show in years, Lumpen Radio teams up with Sonorama for a bumping Día de los Muertos party, and more.
Posted inBlogs
The Pitchfork Music Festival announces its 2018 aftershows
Headliners of Pitchfork’s 2018 aftershows include Japanese Breakfast, Girlpool, and Kweku Collins.
Posted inBlogs
‘I represent’: Rapper Ajani Jones on the city, his mother’s encouragement—and his fascination with dragonflies
Before the Chicago hip-hop label Closed Sessions released Jones’s Cocoons, he talked to the Reader at length about bugs, his high school speech team, and finding his voice.
Posted inMusic
Jordan Reyes of Moniker Records moves back to Chicago with a new tape label
Jordan Reyes of Moniker Records moves back to Chicago with a new tape label, singer-songwriter Micha and hip-hop producer Nasim Willams drop singles, and more.