R&B singer Ifeanyi Elswith makes a star turn on the new Everything Festyle, hardcore trio Warrior Tribes turn a posthumous record into a benefit, and more.
Tag: R&B
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Chicago pop experimentalists White Ppl offer a brief glimpse of their huge promise on their debut EP
In a 2019 interview for WBEZ’s Weekend Passport, Filipinx producer-vocalist Ano Ba said they were inspired to start their own group after seeing a garage band at a favorite Logan Square bar that was made up entirely of white dudes. Ano thought it’d be cheeky to recruit other POC musicians to make garage rock under […]
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Spend quality time in quarantine with your new favorite Chicago albums
Close your eyes and picture yourself at your favorite local venue while listening to these new releases.
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Drama’s new Dance Without Me is for sad-but-sexy folks everywhere
When the COVID-19 crisis subsides long enough for the concert circuit to start up again, you’ll want to see Chicago electro-R&B duo Drama live. But in the meantime, their new debut LP, Dance Without Me, might just be the record you need to get through your social isolation. An album for sad-but-sexy people everywhere, Dance […]
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Blood Orange brings his intimate R&B pop indoors
UPDATE: as of Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 2 PM this concert has been postponed, with the new date to be determined in the future. Refunds available at point of purchase. Dev Hynes, who makes pop and R&B as Blood Orange, has a gift for synthesis that’s made him a favorite collaborator of many cross-genre […]
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After a bout of self-doubt, Chicago rapper Kembe X re-emerges with a star’s brightness
In an October interview with Lyrical Lemonade, Chicago rapper Kembe X (born Dikembe Caston) described a rocky patch in 2017 that brought him to a breaking point in his career. He’d been talking to R&B singer Kehlani, opening up about his lack of confidence and disinterest in his creative direction, and she asked him if […]
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With Piece of Mind, Hxry brings a laid-back vibe to Chicago’s R&B scene
Chicago R&B artist Hxry got his start as a producer—at least as far back as 2016, he was releasing stylistically scattershot instrumental tracks on Soundcloud—but he got his first real taste of success as a vocalist, with his 2018 song “Reasons.” Atop a fluttering synth melody and a suave, minimal rhythm section, Hxry gently sings […]
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New York R&B singer Samoht searches for pop music’s unknown paths
New York R&B singer Samoht knows how to draw listeners in by draping his luxurious voice all over lava-lamp instrumentals. Keeping them engaged is the challenge. A few too many tracks on Samoht’s 2019 album, Exit (Mxxn Wave), sluggishly disintegrate into the ether, no matter how captivating his vocal twists and turns get. But when […]
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Chicago’s Bad Ambassadors use hip-hop as the glue for their genre-jumping debut
You might mistake Chicago duo Bad Ambassadors for a new group, since they’re just now dropping their debut—a self-titled EP of easygoing hip-hop filtered through sophisticated boogie, energetic yacht rock, and sleepy psych. But if you’ve been to even one local hip-hop show in the past five years, you’ll immediately recognize the silver voice on […]
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Avery Sunshine brings in the new year with her bright neosoul
Some neosoul artists focus on torch songs and heartbreak, but as her name suggests, pianist and singer Avery Sunshine (aka Denise Nicole White) sticks to the brighter side of the genre. Working with guitarist and arranger Dana Johnson (who’s also her husband), Sunshine mixes old-school R&B grooves, gentle funk, and jazzy gospel vocals on flirtatiously […]
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Pieces of Peace cut most of their brilliant soul-funk for other people’s records
Chicago soul-funk band Pieces of Peace didn’t put out their only album till 35 years after they broke up.
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Summoning the ghosts of Record Row
For two decades, a short stretch of Michigan Avenue hosted a concentration of creative entrepreneurship whose influence on Black popular music is still felt today.
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JPEGMafia offers an escape from single-genre monotony on the eclectic All My Heroes Are Cornballs
On his new third studio album, All My Heroes Are Cornballs, Brooklyn-born, Baltimore-based hip-hop artist Barrington Devaughn Hendricks, aka JPEGmafia (Peggy for short), offers an escape from the monotony of music that’s restricted by genre. Hendricks dives headfirst into his attention-deficit-fueled opener, “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am a Thot,” which is the album’s most concise […]
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Little-known Chicago blues-rock wizard Zach Prather has found his crowd in Europe
Thanks in part to a long partnership with the late Cash McCall, Prather has played with the likes of Willie Dixon, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Etta James.
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Johnny Pate is one of the great unsung architects of Chicago soul
This 95-year-old living legend has played jazz, written blaxploitation soundtracks, and arranged for Stan Getz, B.B. King, and most famously Curtis Mayfield—but he’s probably most widely heard via hip-hop samples.