In late 2014, I was incredibly homesick: I’d just left Chicago for college out of state, and I was struggling to adjust to a new campus and an immediate world that looked vastly different from what I was used to. Treated like an outsider, I yearned for pieces of home. Luckily Soundcloud recommended Comfort Zone, […]
Tag: Bucket List Project
Posted inMusic
Who is Lollapalooza for?
Lollapalooza brought the big names on its 2019 lineup, but could it do more to engage the Chicago fans and artists who make this such a great city for music?
Posted inMusic
Chicago rap crew Pivot Gang honor a fallen comrade
Pivot Gang cofounder John Walt is memorialized in Saba’s Care for Me—and by an arts nonprofit that bears his name, which holds its flagship concert fund-raiser this weekend.
Posted inBlogs
Joseph Chilliams talks about the losses he overcame to release one of the year’s best Chicago hip-hop albums
Pivot Gang cofounder Joseph Chilliams released his debut, Henry Church, in August, after months of career highs and personal lows—including the death of friend and collaborator Dinner With John.
Posted inBlogs
With his new GSPL, Phoelix may stop being one of Chicago hip-hop’s best-kept secrets
Phoelix coproduced two of the best Chicago hip-hop releases of 2016, but he saved plenty of magic for his own new debut EP.
Posted inBlogs
RIP Chicago rapper-singer Dinner With John, cofounder of Pivot Gang
Dinner With John, born Walter Long Jr. and formerly known as John Walt, was stabbed to death yesterday at age 24.
Posted inMusic
The year Chicago hip-hop beat the haters
For ages, Chicago rappers tore each other down, as though the city could produce only one star at a time—but in 2016 the whole scene seemed to grasp the value of community.
Posted inBlogs
The Era and Lud Foe help us see Chicago hip-hop as more than ‘drill vs. Chance and friends’
Last month’s flood of Chicago hip-hop releases ranged far and wide, and the Era and Lud Foe show two very different directions the music can go.
Posted inMusic
Saba brings the west side to life in rap
On the new Bucket List Project, Saba reminds Chicago that the west side is more than just a source of crime statistics—it’s also a home.