Photo by Allen Daniels
By Jake Krzeczowski | February 19, 2013 4:52PM
Originally Appeared for Chicago Sun Times
Talk to Malcolm London for a moment and his words will resonate.
The 19-year-old poet seems wiser than his years, perhaps part of the reason he has garnered such success.
He wrote his first poem in the aftermath of Derrion Albert’s murder in 2009. Continue reading Poet Malcolm London creates power through words and deeds
BY Jake KRZECZOWSKI February 21, 2013 4:21PM
Chicago Sun Times
For Alex Fruchter, no day is like the one before.
The 30-year-old Indiana University graduate and founder of the Chicago blog RubyHornet decided to forgo a more “traditional” path after college, investing his future in an art form that had followed him his whole life: Hip-hop.
“Hip-hop was going on all around us,” said the Hyde Park native. “You’d hear it outside or walking down the street. Eventually I just fell in love with it.” Continue reading Digital Freshness concert series kicks off
BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI February 21, 2013 4:42PM
School: Columbia College
From: Homewood
Natalie Wright is representative of her generation. Frustrated with the sometimes monotonous system that can be school, the 19-year-old asked “why not now” and launched her fashion label, Made in June, in January.
“Since I was 14, my summers have been dedicated to moving me forward in a fashion education,” Wright said.
Since her sophomore year in high school, she spent her summers taking college courses at both Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute. “There was nothing in my high school courses that would teach me anything about fashion.”
Fast forward five years, and Wright’s sportswear collection includes dresses, rompers and separates for women looking for interchangeable pieces. Made in June will be available for purchase later this year, but a lookbook is available online at http://www.made-in-june.com.
Wright is loosely affiliated with the Save Money collective that includes members of the band Kids These Days, along with many young artists, students and beyond. Being surrounded by young creatives helps inspire her work.
“The ideas are ongoing all the time and it’s a lot of feeding off of each other,” said Wright. “It’s the most exciting thing ever, to see people my age doing their thing and think that I can do that too.”
Jake Krzeczowksi is a local free-lance writer.
BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI February 20, 2013 8:40PM
What: Photographer
School: Hampton University
From: Homewood
For a while, the cameras were always on Allen Daniels. A star high-school football player at Homewood-Flossmoor, he earned a scholarship to Georgia Tech before transferring to Hampton to
play out the last three years. While at Hampton, he first picked up a camera.
“Photography has always been a passion for me, and it’s really made me a better person and a better man,” he said. “Because you’re capturing a moment in time, a life-changing event, and when you hold it in your hand, you can point to something you’ve done and have a smile on your face.”
Nowadays, Daniel, 23, who never seems to be without a smile, often finds himself on the other side of the device, onstage shooting with local rap group Treated Crew and rapper Rockie Fresh, as well as working with Kendrick Lamar.
“Photography has really opened a lot of doors for me and taught me a lot about myself that I didn’t know,” Daniels said.
For all the doors that have opened in the year since he graduated from college, Daniels isn’t satisfied just yet.
“I want to be considered one of the best photographers of all time,” he said. “I want to be legendary, and I won’t settle for less, so every day I push myself.”
Jake Krzeczowksi is a locally based free-lance writer. Follow him on Twittter:@jakekrez.
By Jake Krzeczowski
February 19, 2013 4:52PM
Talk to Malcolm London for a moment and his words will resonate.
The 19-year-old poet seems wiser than his years, perhaps part of the reason he has garnered such success.
He wrote his first poem in the aftermath of Derrion Albert’s murder in 2009.
“After [I performed] that poem at a high school, some of the women cried. The mothers told me how powerful my words were,” said London. “For me, it made me realize the impact I can have with my words.”
London wants to make an impact in deeds as well, and does so by working with Chicago youth through Young Chicago Authors, which offers workshops on poetry and writing and does work in CPS schools.
Through work in the community with his involvement in Young Chicago Authors and beyond, London is definitely a young person to keep an eye on.
“Writing about the things that I saw made me want to do something about the things that I saw,” said London. “The ability to get in front of people and talk and get them to think critically, even if it’s only a few minutes, is what I want from my poetry.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a local free-lance writer.BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI February 19, 2013 11:00AM
What: Singer/Poet/Playwright/Teacher
School: Brown University
From: Hyde Park
There may not be enough hours in the day for Jamila Woods. The do-everything 23-year-old is a sort of modern-day Renaissance woman. With all that she does, it’s a wonder she can find time to do anything at all. “I really find that I can’t really do just one thing,” said Woods. “I get a lot of energy from that balance of other things, and I think my craft benefits from doing all of it.”
Woods sings as part of the Chicago duo Milo and Otis, who opened for Chance The Rapper at The Metro last October, and play the Hard Rock Cafe on March 1. Her poetry has won her two Louder Than A Bomb College slam poetry titles (2009 and 2011). “Being onstage for poetry has helped me so much because if I have a nervous feeling now, it’s more of a familiar feeling,” said Woods. She has also produced two plays and has a book of poetry, “The Truth About Dolls” (New School Poetics Press). Woods also spends her down time helping at Young Chicago Authors.
“Working with students, they don’t care what I do in my free time. It’s humbling because I have to come in and convince them that poetry is worth their time, which, at the same time pushes me to do the kind of poetry that I’m writing.”
Jake Krzeczowksi is a local free-lance writer.By Jake Krzeczowski
Originally appeared for Elevator Magazine
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.”
Written by Jake Krzeczowski
Any band has its growing pains, but for Chicago funk-fusion band whysowhite, there have been more than a few.
Its show and coinciding debut album release Friday at Martyrs mark a milestone for the eight-piece band, which started recording the project in 2011.
After a period of setbacks, the band is playing its first gig together in more than a year and a half. “It has seemed like every year is a set-up year for the next one, which is why I think we’ve been successful,” said rhythm guitarist Charlie “Uncle Funk” Dwyer. “We’re excited to get things rolling finally.”
The band started as the brainchild of eclectic front man Nick McMillan, who began his stage career as an actor before slowly drifting toward music. Over time each member seemed to fall into place.
“Even since our last show at Martyrs, our numbers have grown,” McMillan said. “Davis [Haines, vocals and percussion] dropped out of school and came back to Chicago to play with us and start recording our album.”
In July 2011, just after the band began work on its self-titled debut album, Haines was run over by a semi while he was on his bike. The accident left Haines with a shattered pelvis, broken femur, fibula, ribs and two collapsed lungs, and quite near death. “I pulled through, but we weren’t sure really how the whole thing would affect the band,” said Davis, whose twin brother, Charles, also provides the band’s lead vocals.
The Davis twins retreated to their home Birmingham, Ala., to recover physically and mentally, leaving whysowhite in a state of hiatus for about six months.
“We were in a whole different world, there was no time, and day to day, business was just ambiguous. We felt like the band was a passing fancy we would tell our kids about,” Charles said. “We weren’t sure how to be in a band after our world had just shifted.”
After their bandmates took a road trip to visit the twins in late 2011, there was renewed faith in the group. With Davis on the mend, whysowhite enlisted help from newcomers Hannah Shefsky, a Northwestern grad, on keyboards and supporting vocals, and DePaul graduates Dave Sumberg on bass and Andrew Ambromawitz on percussion.
The steadily growing band began playing again, with shows at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas; Martyrs and Abbey Pub. But the show Friday at Martyr’s represents the first time the full band has performed together since Davis’ accident.
As they jam in their practice space, a converted fire-house on the North Side, it is easily evident that the close friends put heart and soul into their work. The sound is a mix of funk and rock with a hint of hip-hop flavor, lent by Charles Haines and McMillan.
“We spend 10 hours practicing every week, but probably like 40 hours together just hanging out,” said lead guitarist and in-house engineer Chris Miller. “The reason for our sound is because we said maybe to everything and didn’t say no to anything.”
With the album finally out, the band isn’t certain what the future holds, but it plans to charge fully into whatever it is.
“We’ve had every reason not to stay together, and we’ve been through tough times, which makes hanging out that much more important. This music is what we make when we hang out,” Charles Haines said. As for the future, “We have no idea; there’s no precedent for that in life.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a locally based free-lance writer. Follow him on Twitter: @jakekrez
At age 15, Dikembe Caston, better known as Kembe X, decided to drop out of high school and pursue hip-hop.
After an argument with his father, the former De La Salle student shifted his focus to rhymes, with an understanding that time and concentration breeds success.
“I knew that if I focused on [rap], the way stuff works, if you work at it, you’ll get good at it,” said Kembe X, 18, a native of South Holland. “I figured if I worked at it then and took the four or five years necessary to develop , and I’ll be like 19 or 20 when it comes to fruition.” .
It was a chance for sure.
That chance began to pay off in 2011 when his debut mixtape, “Self Rule,” landed on the Forbes.com list of top free music for the year, placing above the likes of Frank Ocean and The Weeknd.
Since then, Kembe X has released a project with sometime partner Alex Wiley, “Can I Borrow a Dollar?” He was quiet in 2012, save for lending his voice to some local records.
While that success was well-deserved, it did put added pressure on the teen artist. “The pressure actually was like immediately after I dropped ‘Self Rule,’ and it was more so [about] people’s expectations,” he said. “The pressure was making me apprehensive with my writing. It just wore off because I wanted to make music.”
The product of his renewed efforts is the follow-up mixtape, “Soundtrack II Armageddon.” The project, released Monday, is a departure from the dark, interpersonal theme of his debut, and is the first in a multi-part series that will be released throughout 2013.
“This project, for me, is even more personal as far as the way that I think,” he said. “The way that I think has changed, I’m not in the same dark place. It’s the same subject but the view is just different.”
“Soundtrack II Armageddon” demonstrates the sort of growth one would hope to see from an artist his age, with lyrics that show a knack for subtle detail.
To help celebrate the release, Kembe X will join his good friend Alex Wiley for an all-ages “Club Wiley Appreciation Show” starting at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 at Reggie’. The show will be the second visit to Reggie’s in three weeks for Wiley, who impressed as the opening act for Action Bronson on Jan. 27.
If nothing else, the leap of faith seems to be working out.
“Last year, we wanted things to be big, but we knew it was kind of a set-up year,” he said. “This year is going to be really big, though, with everything we have coming out. I’m excited.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a local free-lance writer. Follow him on Twitter @jakekrez
Jake Krzeczowski 