I’m thankful for the first full-length collaboration between Chicago rappers SD and Brian Fresco, the new Muddbruddas (Empire). Its mere existence takes a wrecking ball to the tired cliche that the local scene is split into two camps, “drill” and “alternative hip-hop,” that are isolated from each other’s sound and influence. When Chief Keef kicked […]
Tag: Save Money
Posted inMusic
Chicago rapper Sterling Hayes travels down his own unusual path on Flirting With Death
Four years ago, Save Money rapper Sterling Hayes dropped his debut mixtape, Antidepressant, which foreshadowed the wave of Soundcloud rappers who’ve peppered their rhymes with intimate disclosures of their struggles with mental health issues. But that’s not to say that Hayes has much in common with those MCs, or with any scene around town either. […]
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Chicago band Diagonal do mid-90s shoegaze so well they might have a time machine
Chicago band Diagonal do mid-90s shoegaze so well they might have a time machine, Save Money rapper Sterling Hayes talks mental health on a new mixtape, and more.
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.
Posted inBlogs
Chicago rapper Kami has a big hit in the making with ‘Payload’
The standout single from Kami’s June EP, Superstar, gets the party-video treatment for the new year.
Posted inBlogs
Fake Shore Drive founder Andrew Barber on ten years of blogging and the evolution of the Chicago hip-hop scene
Fake Shore Drive has grown alongside Chicago rap, becoming an institution in its own right—and it celebrates its tenth anniversary by reuniting Big Tymers for a show at the Portage.
Posted inMusic
Knox Fortune learned his trade in hip-hop, but he wants to make his name in pop
Producer Knox Fortune, aka Kevin Rhomberg, headlines his first show as a solo artist to celebrate his debut album, Paradise.
Posted inBlogs
Mick Jenkins’s DJ, Green Sllime, takes a break from the turntables to host a talk show
The newish YouTube series Sllime’s Broke Ass Low Budget Show caters to Chicago hip-hop fanatics.
Posted inBlogs
DJ Oreo talks about footwork, booking a Chicago party from Australia, and Sunday’s birthday battle with Elz the DJ
West-side native DJ Oreo throws himself a birthday party at East Room on Sunday that doubles as an informal turntable battle with his best friend—and then he hits the road with Lil Yachty.
Posted inBlogs
Dividing Chicago hip-hop into ‘Chance and friends’ and ‘the drill scene’ insults its richness and variety
Stereogum’s recent survey of Chicago hip-hop gets a lot of things wrong, but it also serves as a reminder of how much there is to discover here.
Posted inMusic
Can Vic Mensa radicalize Lollapalooza?
Chicago rapper Vic Mensa publicly supports Black Lives Matter and LGBT rights, while Lollapalooza tries to please everyone—so it’ll be interesting to see how his festival set goes down.
Posted inBlogs
Save Money rapper Brian Fresco realizes his ambition with Casanova
Save Money Summer continues with the release of Brian Fresco’s Casanova, whose best moments don’t come from the collective’s best-known members.
Posted inBlogs
Chicago singer the Mind makes romance sound huge and feel intimate on his debut mixtape
After adding his voice to music by the likes of Mick Jenkins, Chance the Rapper, and Joey Purp, the Mind steps out on his own with Summer Camp.
Posted inBlogs
Vic Mensa gets personal and political on his Roc Nation debut, There’s Alot Going On
Chicago rapper Vic Mensa doesn’t always strike the best balance of politics and pop, but he never fails to get his point across.
Posted inBlogs
The Palmer Squares defy the stereotyping of Chicago hip-hop with the new Planet of the Shapes
Local rappers Acumental and Terminal Knowledge, aka the Palmer Squares, don’t fit any prefab notion of a Chicago MC, but their new album is selling like hotcakes.