Red Bull has revealed that the national final for its third annual Dance Your Style competition will take place in Chicago on May 20, with related programming in the days leading up to the event. The announcement took place at an invitation-only launch party for the 2023 season on February 22 at Smartbar, less than […]
Tag: RP Boo
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Local darkwave group Kill Scenes preview a new album at the Hideout
Last month, local darkwave band Kill Scenes dropped “Acid Black Window,” the first single from the upcoming full-length album Masque. The five-piece group, anchored by songwriters Meghan Lamb (vocals) and Sean Whittaker (guitar, electronics), lace their tracks with swirling six-string textures and driving synth melodies—Gossip Wolf doesn’t doubt for a second that “Acid Black Window” […]
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Black Chicago dance culture shines at Art on the Mart
On the evening of Thursday, June 30, dozens of young Black dancers gathered on the Chicago Riverwalk across from the Merchandise Mart. At 9 PM that night, Art on the Mart, which bills itself as the world’s largest permanent art projection, would debut two new pieces, including Billiken, an homage to the biggest Black parade […]
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Metro hosts a joyful send-off for the late Cynthia Plaster Caster
Legendary artist and writer (and onetime Chicago mayoral candidate) Cynthia Plaster Caster passed away in April after a lengthy illness, but Gossip Wolf isn’t done mourning. Future generations of local musicians and fans won’t get to bask in the splendor of her warm, glowing personality—thankfully her famous plaster casts of the private parts of musicians […]
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Spooky season begins with another Bandcamp Friday
Since the pandemic arrived in the U.S. in March 2020, Bandcamp has declared 15 Bandcamp Fridays, so forgive me if I truncate my usual spiel. If you’ve somehow found this post without being aware of Bandcamp Friday, I’ll just say this: for 24 hours, the digital retailer passes along its usual share of revenue to […]
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Jana Rush engineers her own empowerment
Experimental footwork producer Jana Rush recorded her breathtaking new album, Painful Enlightenment, while battling depression, but she’s careful not to romanticize that fact. “At that time, I couldn’t be consistent with anything. I could start something and good luck with finishing it,” Rush explains. “The loss of hope, it’s a strange and empty feeling, and […]
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Pioneering footwork producer RP Boo bares his soul on Established!
Footwork music’s whimsical, tempestuous take on house wouldn’t exist without Chicago producer Kavain Space, better known as RP Boo. In the mid-90s, he drew from his experience DJing for House-O-Matics dancers to devise skittish, hyperactive tracks that proved too puzzling for Dance Mania, a staple label of the scene that provided a home for the […]
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Open the Circle teaches footwork because footwork saves lives
Chicago nonprofit Open the Circle works to spread a local Black dance culture that can knit together youth communities.
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Photos from DJ Clent’s Beatdown House Litnic
Some of the biggest names in ghetto house, juke, and footwork played for free at a relaxed party and cookout in Dolton Park.
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DJ Clent’s Beatdown 22nd anniversary Litnic books the best in ghetto house, juke, and footwork
Our culture generally doesn’t consider 22nd anniversaries especially momentous, but I’ll take any excuse to see some of the most important figures in footwork, juke, and ghetto-house history—and that’s exactly who DJ Clent has brought together for this year’s Litnic, a daylong picnic that celebrates the 22nd anniversary of his label and collective, Beatdown House. […]
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Impulsive Hearts use their summery pop-rock to raise money for Resilience
Impulsive Hearts use their summery pop-rock to raise money for Resilience, footwork crew the Era screens short films in Hyde Park, and more.
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Could DJ Taye make Chicago footwork the biggest music in the world?
The Teklife producer integrates rap so perfectly on his new Still Trippin’ that he could bring footwork to new heights.
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Mark Grusane has forgotten more about dance music than you’ll ever know
DJ and collector Mark Grusane, cofounder of defunct south-side shop Mr. Peabody Records, talks about the insanely rare and sought-after tracks he’s sharing on his new compilation.
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Angel Marcloid of Fire-Toolz on the voyages of a digital native
Current musical obsessions of Resonance Series cocurator Ben Baker Billington, Angel Marcloid of Fire-Toolz, and the Reader’s Luca Cimarusti
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Chicago footworker DJ Manny brings his sinuous style to Wednesday’s Resonance Series
DJ Manny is one of footwork’s best and brightest, and he proves it again on the title track from his latest seven-inch.