During the second iteration of COMMON canvas, bodies circled around a center point: a pile of clothes in an upstage corner. For a moment, the pile of clothes moved, as if to take a breath, and the bodies around it held still. The performance, which Chicago dance artist and current Hubbard Street member Alysia L. […]
Tag: Common
Posted inMusic
After influencing pop for decades, veteran Chicago producer the Twilite Tone drops his solo debut
In Brian Coleman’s liner notes for the 2010 Get On Down reissue of Common’s Resurrection, producer No I.D. (aka Dion Wilson) talked about his early collaborator, the Twilite Tone, who was also Common’s DJ. Specifically he credited Tone, born Anthony Khan, for helping catalyze the growth of Chicago’s hip-hop community in the late 80s and […]
Posted inMusic
Andrew Kitchen’s boogie strikes back
Soul Train veteran and Attack of the Boogie host Andrew Kitchen celebrates the reissue of his dance show’s 1984 theme song.
Posted inFilm
A Most Beautiful Thing reunites the first all-Black high school rowing team
The Chicago-based documentary flips the script on the white savior story.
Posted inMusic
Thirty-five moments that brought Chicago music to the world
The Year of Chicago Music has had less music in it than anybody anticipated, but we still have plenty to celebrate.
Posted inMusic
Rhymefest’s greatest moment in Chicago music history
Veteran rapper and activist Rhymefest remembers an all-star festival by and for the community.
Posted inMusic
Rest in power to hip-hop activist Jamie ‘J. Milla’ Sevier
Hip-hop activist Jamie “J. Milla” Sevier dies at 47, and Well Yells drops a new darkwave album that trafficks in the sonics of isolation.
Posted inMusic
Building on the pillars of Blue Groove Lounge
An oral history of DJ Jesse de la Peña’s foundational Blue Groove Lounge hip-hop night, on the occasion of its belated 25th birthday parties
Posted inMusic
Gifts to teach hip-hop heads their history
Each of these reissues helps unfold a different chapter in the rich narrative of the Chicago hip-hop scene.
Posted inMusic
Fighting for Chicago’s place in hip-hop history
Darrell “Artistic” Roberts of Chi-ROCK Nation has worked to document Chicago hip-hop culture for more than three decades—and now he’s finally publishing a book.
Posted inFilm
Movie Tuesday: Gotta move!
Inspired by the release of John Wick: Chapter 3, we present five of the best choreographed films ever made.
Posted inMusic
Ravinia announces its 2019 season
This summer’s Highland Park highlights include Queen Latifah, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Michael McDonald and Chaka Khan, Kesha, T.I., Buddy Guy, Jennifer Hudson, and Lyle Lovett.
Posted inBlogs
Marvell Wesley and his mini-me stroll in style on 95th Street
Crisp but comfortable is key.
Posted inBlogs
Black Pegasus just dropped two unreleased early Common cuts—and you can only hear them on vinyl
Black Pegasus owner Marc Davis talks about how his microlabel managed to release two tracks from the sessions for Common’s 1992 debut, Can I Borrow a Dollar?
Posted inMusic
Vic Mensa revisits his vanishing Hyde Park
Rising rapper Vic Mensa considers his old Hyde Park neighborhood home, even though gentrification has killed his favorite hangouts.