King L’s latest banger, “Tony”, off his recently-released mixtape Drilluminati 2 is a mafioso dream cut with shot of L’s harrowing live shows donning a three piece suit. The song and the video create an interesting aesthetic for the 27-year-old artist from Chicago and calls to mind a young Jay-Z going the same route when his career had hit a breaking point, a decision which ultimately vaulted him to the top of hip-hop for years to come and allowed him to re-write the narrative that had followed him to that point. The points in career are much different, King L largely holds his destiny in his own hands, but perhaps the sentiment makes sense. “My name is Louie, but they call me Tony” is simple, yet packed with meaning and braggadocio and the suits and overall motif may well be a direction King L wants to keep traveling down. While the video gets the overall aesthetic right, it misses an opportunity to take this song from up a notch by using the mafioso and Tony Montana motifs a bit further. Chance also makes a cameo, keep an eye out for that. Full video, from WorldStarHipHop below.
|Video| Pussy Riot Appears on ‘The Colbert Report’
One of the biggest stories to hit the international registry over the past few years was the jailing of the all-woman punk rock band Pussy Riot by the Russian government in early March following a wild punk-inspired protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. The court case garnered international attention as the world’s focus narrowed on human rights abuses by the Kremlin, making the three imprisoned Pussy Riot members international celebrities in the process.
Russia is again in the spotlight as of late, the twenty-second running of the Winter Olympic games begins in Sochi, Russia in just two days. On December 23, 2013, the last two members of Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, were released from prison. The release was viewed by many as a public relations move for the regime, plagued by allegations of human rights abuses towards women and homosexuals, as well as several explosions that rocked train stations near the site of the games last month. Upon her release, Alyokhina said to the New York Times, “I think this is an attempt to improve the image of the current government, a little, before the Sochi Olympics — particularly for the Western Europeans. But I don’t consider this humane or merciful. This is a lie.” Tolokonnikova added, “Whether one likes it or not, going to the Olympics in Russia is an acceptance of the internal political situation in Russia, an acceptance of the course taken by a person who is interested in the Olympics above all else — Vladimir Putin.” The trio, who have vowed to not perform musically anymore, appeared last night on The Colbert Report to discuss their experiences and what’s next for them and Russia proper. Watch the video above.
Chance The Rapper Performs “That’s Love” at The Riviera
Photo by Jake Krez
Back in November, Chance The Rapper took a few days off of his headlining “Social Experiment” tour to play a pair of sold out shows at The Riviera in his hometown of Chicago. The dates, sandwiched around Thanksgiving were a milestone in the young artist’s career, a full year almost to the day since he had first played his first sold out show at The Metro in support of his upcoming Acid Rap tape that eventually launched him into rarified air. The performances at The Riv were a quintessentially hometown experience that oozed Chicago from the get-go with Stunt Taylor opening things up with a run through of his street banger “Fe Fe on the Block” before turning the show over to Chance and his band, made up of Donnie Trumpet, Nate Fox, Greg Landfair and the tour’s Music Director Peter CottonTale who re-arranged the tracks from Acid Rap to fit subtly into a live atmosphere. 2013 was the craziest year to date of young Chancelor Bennett’s life, and he wrapped it up appropriately, as you can see in the video below, shot by Bryan Lamb (FragDFilms) and myself at the first show. It’s a little late, but these days who can get enough Chance?
Marrow: The Second Time Around
Six months ago the dream was all but dead.
Kids These Days officially broke up on May 8, 2013. Two days later I was behind the wheel of my Chevy Trailblazer heading north to Wisconsin. The seven piece funk/soul/rock/hip-hop group that had captivated a generation of a city was no more, and they had retreated north to make sense of it all.
As I drove through the newly warm spring air with drummer Greg Landfair, his girlfriend and a friend, we listened to the eclectic sounds of Traphouse Rock and Hard Times. The group had spanned nearly four years together, essentially amounting to what would later be referred to as their “college days”. With college over, we pulled up to a hastily-erected sign on the side of a seldom-used street in what seemed like the middle of nowhere of Wisconsin to return to where it all began. Continue reading Marrow: The Second Time Around
After whirlwind year, Chance the Rapper comes home
Story originally appeared for Chicago Sun Times.
The Chicago kid who released arguably the year’s hottest, free hip-hop album returns to town this week for his debut headlining tour, dubbed the “Social Experiment Tour.” For his first show home since he performed at Lollapalooza earlier this year, tickets to the first show sold out so fast that a second was quickly scheduled and just as quickly
sold out.
“The whole thing has just been crazy,” said Chance during a break from rehearsal last month. “I definitely thought it might sell out, but not as fast as it did. The whole show is different from what we’ve done before, so it’ll be cool to show it to Chicago.” Continue reading After whirlwind year, Chance the Rapper comes home
|Editorial| Why TDE’s ‘Top Dawg’ Isn’t Happy With GQ
Last week, Kendrick Lamar added to the illustrious 2013 he has enjoyed by being named GQ’s “Man of the Year”, complete with cover story and a party/performance in his honor. What should have been a landmark event for the Los Angeles MC instead turned sour after the “Top Dog” of Top Dawg Entertainment (Kendrick’s Label), Anthony Tiffith, pulled Lamar from the performance at the party, citing problems with the way the story was written and going as far as to point to “racial overtones” in the article as a reason for the cancellation. While on the surface, the move may be viewed by many as a bad one by Tiffith, looking further into the reason why he made such a bold statement at such a traditionally celebratory moment demonstrates the growth of a genre not only in the product, but in the way it is marketed. Continue reading |Editorial| Why TDE’s ‘Top Dawg’ Isn’t Happy With GQ
![[Review] King Krule at Lincoln Hall 12/11/2013](https://jakekrzeczowski.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/krule-8.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
[Review] King Krule at Lincoln Hall 12/11/2013
Photo by Nolis
On a blistering cold Wednesday night on the North Side of Chicago, everything I thought I knew about British indie artist King Krule was blown away. The 19-year-old artist, formerly known as Zoo Kid, took the stage in front of a sold out Lincoln Hall crowd that seemed to be almost frothing at the mouth for him to play just a note. Cat calls from women likely twice his age rained down on him as the young artist sang with his deep baritone voice, resolute and certain in a way that permeated inner confidence. It felt like a small miracle every time he opened his mouth that Krule could produce such a powerful voice from such a slight package. Continue reading [Review] King Krule at Lincoln Hall 12/11/2013
Vic Mensa Live At Reggie’s Recap
Photo by Nolis
This past Saturday, Vic Mensa took over Reggie;s Rock House for his first solo headlining show since breaking up with Kids These Days earlier this year and dropping his solo project, Innanetape, in late September. The buzz Mensa has garnered since releasing the project was palpable, with tickets selling out a week in advance for the tightly-packed affair. Fellow Chicago acts Jean Deaux and The Hood Internet opened things up, appropriately getting the crowd going with a mix of genres that mirrored the kind of frenetically changing and eclectic backdrops Mensa utilizes throughout Innanetape. Continue reading Vic Mensa Live At Reggie’s Recap
|Review| ShowYouSuck: “Dude, Bro”
ShowYouSuck has been one of the more interesting artists in the Chicago landscape for a minute now. Since establishing himself as a witty lyricist and connoisseur of all things “rad” on his One Man Pizza Party trilogy, released throughout 2011-13, Show has carved out a niche unto himself with a character and personality to match. Continue reading |Review| ShowYouSuck: “Dude, Bro”
|Interview| Justin Rose Makes Ripples With ‘RoseWaVve Vol. 1’
Justin Rose does a little bit of everything. The 23 year old from New York City started off rapping before gravitating to what he calls the “addicting” process of crafting beats. I met him this past year at SXSW while hanging out at the Illmore after-party, wondering how I was still awake. Since then we have kept in touch as Rose has spread his forward-thinking production across his scene and city, linking up with the likes of NYC up and comer Kris Kasanova which garnered him a track on Peter Rosenberg’s curated mixtape earlier this Summer, as well as doing in-house production for Nakim. When I met him on the front end of 2013 there were still a lot of question marks around both of our futures. Nearly a year later, Rose has found himself bouncing around the vibrant and bubbling New York scene that have many bloggers across the country learning how to spell the word ‘Renaissance’. The growth and uprise of that scene in New York is due in large part to progressive, hungry and cross-platform artists like Rose who are eager to find a way to push the music and culture forward without apology. I was able to catch up with Rose over the phone recently as he was leaving the studio from working on his debut project, RoseWaVve Vol.1. to talk about what the year has been like, what he’s been up to and where things are headed for the young crafter. In exchange, he sent over this video for his track, “PARTY4ME”, which we are premiering here on Ruby Hornet. Give the video a watch below and get to know Justin Rose. Continue reading |Interview| Justin Rose Makes Ripples With ‘RoseWaVve Vol. 1’
Jake Krzeczowski 