Recently, Chicago rapper Sterling Hayes was ready to retire. At 28, after over a decade making music alongside SaveMoney, his talented group of friends that have held sway over their hometown since around 2011. After losing money on a couple projects and with a daughter on the way, he was at a point in life where going to school and working a job seemed the right route. So he did. In the last year and a half Hayes has built a life for himself got married and has a child who’s birth is any day now. Despite the success in his personal life, he had an itch to get back to the music and was encouraged by artists like Peter CottonTale who urged him to get back into it. After blistering writing sessions and self-discovery, the result is Beam Scale, a 12-track collection that speaks to the passion behind Hayes here. You can feel the hunger and the ups and the downs and he wears it loosely on his sleeve. To get a better sense of the project itself and what went into it we sat down with Sterling to find out more. Check out our Q&A and the full project streaming below.
By now, you’ve likely seen or heard the letters NFT. Whether from a “tastemaker” on Clubhouse, account on Twitter, or a think piece in a tech magazine, it’s clear: NFTs are the new “it” thing on the internet. But what the fuck are they? And what are you buying?
The concept of NFTs can be fairly confusing. That’s partly due to the fact that they so recently found applications in art, crypto, and music, vaulting them into public consciousness. Without a clear understanding of how NFTs will eventually operate, those diving in right now are entering unmapped territory.
Simply put, NFTs are a unique digital representation of an item, whose ownership is tracked and verified on a digital ledger, aka a blockchain. NFT stands for Non Fungible – meaning not able to be replaced or duplicated – Token. And that’s exactly what NFTs are: a digital token whose value of ownership is derived from its limited quantity that’s verified and tracked via blockchain.
Last year was the first time since the early 20th century that the entire world was simultaneously dealing with an issue. A collective experience not bound by borders nor politics, gender nor ethnicity. We all had to go through the same uncertainty. Locked down in his home in Los Angeles, painter Keezerfeld began working with found materials to create works that reflected a communal emotional and mental toll 2020 took on all of us and he appropriately named it The Quarantine Chronicles (TQC). With the series complete, the burgeoning expressionist painter is putting it forward as his first exposition and utilizing the burgeoning technology of NFTs to allow everyone an opportunity to own a piece of our story.
Defined as “nature personified as a creative and controlling force,” no term better describes the rap duo of Klevah and TRUTH, than Mother Nature.
The Chicago rap pairing has been manifesting their realities through their creativity for years and continued to do so with the release of their full-length album, SZNZ, with local record label Closed Sessions.
Since arriving in Chicago, Mother Nature has gone about growing deep roots in the city that go beyond the music scene. True students of hip-hop that believe in and preach the power of the genre, they’ve established themselves as progressive idealists that do the work. That’s all reflected in their music.
People always say write what you know and that’s why I typically like to stick to covering artists I know in some regard. With that in mind, I found myself on a Zoom call a couple of months ago late at night with a singer from Seoul. Over a brief conversation, I was introduced to burgeoning K-Pop star MRSHLL and been paying attention since. The multifaceted singer/songwriter has garnered a massive following in South Korea where his unique blend of soul-influenced pop has found a welcome audience. With a new full-length on the horizon, he released Archives 1 last week, a collection of previously recorded singles, bundled together for the first time.
How Vic Mensa Found Peace Through His Pursuit of Happiness
Photos by Keeley Parenteau
Originally Appeared as Summer Cover Story for Elevator Magazine
In the early morning hours of a brisk Los Angeles February 2018, Vic Mensa sat in his car on Mulholland Drive wondering if he should drive it over the edge. Seemingly on top of the world, with a Kanye cosign, Saturday Night Live appearance, and all the shows, followers, and attention one could want, Mensa was ready to call it.
The drugs, the women, the fast life had become too much. It’s not easy to reach your dreams before you can really understand them. Feeling attacked, misunderstood, and uninspired in life while dealing with all the addictions possible, he gripped the wheel, moved his foot off the gas, and took a deep breath.
“Everything was magnified and that shit just got to be too much where it was like I didn’t love it. I remember I was sitting in my car and I was like man I’m driving this bitch off the cliff,” Vic said, explaining his thinking at the time. “ at that time resistance was kicking my ass and whenever I felt resistance I would just go snort some pills or some goddamn molly or drink and fuck some pornstars, do a club appearance. But I was doing everything except for honestly and satisfyingly expressing myself, doing what I love to do.”
A while back Mensa got“Still Alive” tattooed across his stomach, a personal mantra that kicked in when he was at his lowest.
“I was like man I’m driving this motherfucker off the cliff and then the next month after being really fucking low I got through it.”
In another collaboration with IXI Chicago (SideBySide Collective), we bring you a look into the mind of Chicago-based producer, Thelonious Martin. Peep the video and profile below – video by Bryan Lamb – words by Jake Krzeczowski.
Names can get tricky for Chicago producer Thelonious Martin. Often confused with Theophilous London and Thelonious Monk, the 19-year-old Columbia student has gone about establishing his own name in music over the past few years. Continue reading THELONIOUS MARTIN: INTERVIEW→
If ShowYouSuck’s recent release, One Man Pizza Party Three: Rest In Pizza, ends up as a flop, it won’t be the end of the world for the Chicago MC.
While he may not have to worry about bad reception, Clinton Sandifer, better known as ShowYouSuck, has plenty of options if the music world was suddenly not an option.
At 27, Sandifer finds himself of the older guard in a city where it seems as though the average MC’s age hovers somewhere between a driver’s license and a first legal drink.
With age comes wisdom and Show has seen it all, becoming a sort of twenty-first century Renaissance man in the process.
A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg, Sandifer helped establish an art gallery, Artpentry, in Pilsen and is involved with Code of Conduct tattoo parlor along with his clothing line Slurpcult, and yeah, he sometimes finds time to rap too.
Fresh off the Slumerican Tour with Yelawolf, ShowYouSuck credits his creative personality to his success.
“If this shit fucked up tomorrow I could go right back to working at a skate shop or to the art gallery or tattoo shop,” said ShowYouSuck. “It allows me to make my music freely. Music isn’t my last resort.”
The Bridgeview native doesn’t necessarily evoke the stereotype of a rapper. You can often find him around town in a cut-off jean jacket and tie-dye shirt. His style is more punk than hip-hop, an ode to his first true love in music.
“I’d rather embody the spirit (of rock) than rapping over guitars and shit,” said ShowYouSuck. “There’s definitely been rappers before me who have shown influence from rock but I feel like a lot of it comes off cheesy. I just want to make rap music.”
The rock influences are easily evident in his work.
“Girlfriend” from his 2012 Stefan Ponce-produced mixtape Girls, Girls, Girls features a heavy guitar riff and “The Return of the Headbanger’s Ball” on OMPP3 evoked feelings and fond memories of the 80s MTV rock show.
He admits his stage name is somewhat modeled after bands he knew growing up.
“It was sort of an ode to me playing with a lot of bands when I started doing shows, especially in the ‘burbs and hardcore scene,” said ShowYouSuck. “A lot of them had names that were statements. People seeing it might think I’m a band at first.”
OMPP3: Rest In Pizza is the end of a saga for the Treated Crew member, the third installment of a trilogy that came about because “America loves threes and who doesn’t love pizza?”
To be sure, the growth in each chapter is evident as his deep, gruff tone rhymes about everyday topics over uptempo beats from an assortment of producers including Chicago’s own Mike Jaxx with some help from Ponce.
Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Auggie The 9th, Hollywood Holt and Grade A Plus also lend a hand with well-placed features.
The mosh-pit party vibe that was a theme on the first two One installments of the Man Pizza Party trilogy is still there in the third chapter, but blends itself with a grittier, trappier sound.
“I get the same feeling from trap music that I did when I first discovered punk,” said ShowYouSuck. “OMPP3 is basically a kind of cleansing, kind of a bass-heavy trap sound. There’s definitely inklings of what we have coming in the future on there.”
As someone who has been around the game in Chicago for awhile, Show has seen the growth in the scene around the city.
With the rise of a steady, nationally-recognized hip-hop scene one would assume competition and beef would be at an all-time high; he feels the contrary is true.
“I’m kind of like the new old guy,” said ShowYouSuck. “I was rapping on the Chicago scene before the internet age. At that time? Four years ago? That was cut-throat. Right now it’s not cut-throat; everyone’s working together.”
The collaboration of artists in the Windy City is obvious by looking at any release to hit the internet from the area in the past year. With more freedom for everyone to pursue their own lane, the competition has given way to a sort of collective.
With the project out for the public, ShowYouSuck continues to carve his own very distinct niche and will turn his sights to 2013 of which South By Southwest in Austin, Texas March 12-17 is the first priority.
ShowYouSuck was chosen by RedBull and Fake Shore Drive as one of three contestants for the SoundSelect competition between Sasha Go Hard, Tree and himself for a spot at RedBull’s SXSW showcase, fans can vote for their favorite artist of the three here.
If his performance at the kickoff event February 7 at the Bottom Lounge was any indication, ShowYouSuck means business. Sandwiched between the other two acts, Show’s punk-inspired live show left the crowd in a frenzy.
“The SoundSelect show was hands down my best show yet,” said ShowYouSuck. “The crowd was amazing and the vibe was perfect. I was stoked to be playing for people that were ready to party, I felt right at home!”
While he may be prepared to pursue other endeavors at some point, it looks like hip-hop will remain priority No. 1 for the do-everything MC. The strong, well-thought Rest in Pizza finale is the perfect end to one chapter and beginning of another for ShowYouSuck.
“At this point I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel,” said ShowYouSuck. “I just wanna keep doin rad shit and keep connecting with like minded people. Life is good.”
Jake Krzeczowski 