Freddie Old Soul credits music with helping her heal and find God.
Tag: Young Chicago Authors
Posted inMusic
Metallic hardcore masters Harm’s Way celebrate a decade of Isolation
When metallic hardcore masters Harm’s Way dropped their second full-length, Isolation, in 2011, Gossip Wolf hailed the “chug-o-riffic” album for its “circle-pit-ready brutality”—and the band have gone on to build a worldwide fan base and sign to Metal Blade. In November, Closed Casket Activities (who originally put out Isolation) released a tenth-anniversary edition with four […]
Posted inNews & Politics
A silence louder than words
How allegations of sexual abuse exposed cracks in the foundation of Young Chicago Authors, Free Write Arts & Literacy, and the city’s spoken word community
Posted inMusic
August Fanon and Defcee go back to hip-hop’s graffiti roots on their new EP
The new EP by Defcee and producer August Fanon, We Dressed the City With Our Names, ties Defcee’s history in Chicago’s rap and poetry scenes to the primordial hip-hop culture of New York graffiti artists depicted in the 1983 documentary Style Wars. The first track opens with a sample of a young graffiti writer explaining […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Class is in session with The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop
Felicia Rose Chavez’s book challenges how educational institutions support people of color—and provides a blueprint to be better.
Posted inMusic
CaSera Heining, producer at WGN Radio and DJ Ca$h Era
“For a couple months, I was just DJing for tips. Luckily the community that I have around me, they were pouring into me as much as I give out to them.”
Posted inMusic
Emerging rapper the Third angles for a place in Chicago’s hip-hop pantheon with The Director’s Cut
The past decade of Chicago hip-hop would be entirely different without Young Chicago Authors and the Harold Washington Library’s YouMedia lab. Both have served as creative hubs for local teens, and their storied weekly open mikes—YouMedia’s Lyricist Loft and YCA’s WordPlay—have given many beloved Chicago rappers their starts. In the 2020s, a new generation of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Del Marie: locked down, but not out
The rapper-dancer-performance poet rolls with the pandemic punches.
Posted inMusic
Femdot pauses his rap career to help feed Chicago
Femdot’s nonprofit, Delacreme Scholars, has run the Scholars Slide By to deliver groceries to hundreds of people in need this summer.
Posted inArts & Culture
Jamila Woods to perform at 20th anniversary Louder Than a Bomb finals
The musician, poet, and LTAB alum takes the stage during halftime.
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
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On Love & Nappyness, Chicago rapper Matt Muse explores the complexities of love
Chicago rapper Matt Muse first studied his craft through mentorship nonprofit Art of Culture (back when it was still called Donda’s House), but he didn’t begin performing in earnest until he started classes at Northern Illinois University in the early 2010s. “That played a huge role in helping me improve my performance skills,” Muse told […]
Posted inMusic
The Reader’s guide to the 2019 Pitchfork Music Festival
Even on a weekend it shares with the Silver Room Block Party and the debut of ComplexCon Chicago, Pitchfork stands out for its far-sighted, eclectic bookings.
Posted inMusic
Kaina gives her soulful R&B the intimacy of real and chosen family
On her debut album, Chicago singer-songwriter Kaina takes strength from her favorite people: her friends and collaborators, her childhood mentors, her immigrant parents.
Posted inReader
Chicago Reader Pride Block Party 2019
There may have been rain on Sunday, but that didn’t stop the rainbows from taking over Marz Community Brewing for our Pride Block Party! Thanks to all who came out to celebrate our city’s rich and diverse 50 years of LGBTQ+ community legacy with Drag Queen Story Hour, house and salsa dance lessons, a Janet Jackson […]