Features, Interview, Music, Portfolio, XXL

The Come Up: BandMan Kevo

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Written By Jake Krzeczowski

Crossing the street and entering the ice cream parlor it was easy to pick out Bandman Kevo. Clad in sweatpants and a pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers, he stood out from the typical Baskin Robbins patron. Shaking hands with the rising 24-year-old hip-hop artist, who has taken his hometown of Chicago by storm with a series of lavish, gold-encrusted singles that have seen regular play both on Chicago’s Power 92.3 & 107.5 and the web, he approached the counter and ordered. After grabbing me a mint chocolate chip shake and a sundae for himself, we crossed the street, entered his building, and headed up the elevator. Continue reading The Come Up: BandMan Kevo →

Music, Music Review, The Smoking Section

[Review] Mick Jenkins: “The Water(s)”

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Chicago’s Mick Jenkins has some pretty serious thoughts about water.

Aside from being the namesake for his highly-anticipated project, The Water(s), the natural resource is also the first thing listeners hear on the opening track “Shipwrecked.” The 22-year-old rapper is the latest to rise from the city with poignant lyricism and a clear aesthetic that is understood throughout his catalog. The difference with Jenkins has been his ability to migrate from the city and grow his brand elsewhere in the process. Continue reading [Review] Mick Jenkins: “The Water(s)” →

Music Review, The Smoking Section

[Review] Lucki Eck$: ‘Body High’

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Sometime last summer, set amongst the rippling gunfire of drill and the eclectic storytelling of SaveMoney, a new voice emerged from Chicago’s bountiful streets with a melancholy mood and an almost chillingly calm disposition in relaying tales of growing up in one of the country’s roughest cities.

That voice was Lucki Eck$ and listeners got to know him on his debut, Alternative Trap, a project that eschewed raucous, repetitive choruses and trap beats for a more gentle, soft-spoken aesthetic from which to explain the world he exists in. On his latest project, BODY HIGH, released last week, we get a continuance of those elements that show a mastery of his own distinct sound, without exploring too far beyond it. Continue reading [Review] Lucki Eck$: ‘Body High’ →

Music, XXL

XXL’s Guide To Chicago Hip-Hop: 5 Influential Hot Spots

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193360_10151225329911667_1875020983_oClassick Studios

Chris Classick started his studio out of his parents basement over fours years ago. Today, he oversees one of the busiest sound booths in Chicago with a team of engineers and a client list that would make even the most on-point blogger blush. I remember stopping by last summer before North Coast festival as Chance The Rapper and his production team were cutting the early versions of “You Song” with Lil Wayne with tireless engineer Elton Chueng.

To be honest, stopping by the studio located on the near west side of the city at any time of the day or night could mean bumping into a who’s who of the local scene that makes the installation of a revolving door a solid investment. If you’re listening to anything coming out of the indie side of Chicago, there’s a good chance it was recorded at Classick Studios. Continue reading XXL’s Guide To Chicago Hip-Hop: 5 Influential Hot Spots →

Features, Music, XXL

XXL’s Guide To Chicago Hip-Hop: Top Five Producers

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1522106_558352047590197_2118632672_nThe Social Experiment

If you’ve been to a festival or accessed the Internet anytime over the past few months, it’s pretty certain that you’ve heard something that’s been touched by The Social Experiment. Chance The Rapper’s in-house band and production team—comprised of Peter Cottontale, Nico Segal, Greg Landfair and Nate Fox—has been busy since releasing Acid Rap last April. That included crisscrossing trips across the country playing sold out venues as well as spending time in the studio with the likes of Skrillex, SZA, Jeremih, James Blake and Justin Bieber, just to name a few.

Producing sonically beautiful backing tracks that are both a play on the pillars of Chicago music thus far and a trajectory forward of where it can go, this group has been able to make hip-hop music that is palpable to the general public. Currently working on the follow up to Acid Rap, each of the members of the collective have plans for solo albums over the next year that should prove to continue the forward-thinking production across the spectrum of music. Continue reading XXL’s Guide To Chicago Hip-Hop: Top Five Producers →

Chicago Sun-Times, Music, News, Portfolio

Chance the Rapper spearheads #SaveChicago campaign

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Photo by Allen Daniels

On Chancelor Bennett’s sophomore mixtape, “Acid Rap,” he rhymes on “Paranoia”: “It just got warm out/this the s— I been warned about/I hope it storm in the morning/I hope it’s pouring out.” For those in-the-know about Chicago summers, it’s a nod to the dramatic uptick in gun violence that tends to follow the rising temperatures. Continue reading Chance the Rapper spearheads #SaveChicago campaign →

Music, The Smoking Section

|MIXTAPE| Calez: “Ceito”

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Amongst the increasingly crowded landscape of Chicago Hip-Hop these days, it is becoming harder to stand out. It seems as though you need to create an entirely new sound to even reach ears outside your own city. It’s with that as the backdrop that Calez released his latest project, Ceito, a decidedly turn-of-the-millennium, East Coast-feeling mixtape. Instead of creating a new lane, Calez plays on past aesthetics in one of the better listens of the year so far. Continue reading |MIXTAPE| Calez: “Ceito” →

Music, Music Review, The Smoking Section

|MIXTAPE| Towkio: “Hotchips N’ Chopsticks”

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If you want some good music out of Chicago, the SaveMoney clique is a good place to look. If you’re looking for something unique that will get your feet moving? Look no further than Towkio (formerly Tokyo Shawn). From head to toe, note to lyric Towkio is a unique talent that has been brewing on Chicago’s underground for some time now. As Vic Mensa and Chance The Rapper have ascended to the stratosphere, Towkio may well be one of the city’s best kept secrets. Continue reading |MIXTAPE| Towkio: “Hotchips N’ Chopsticks” →

Music, The Smoking Section, Video

|VIDEO| Netherfriends: “Joey Vision”

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So for the past month there’s been this guy living in the attic of my house in Chicago. He goes by Netherfriends, and you may have heard of him. In the midst of keeping our neighborhood funky with his tunes emanating from the upstairs windows, the eclectic artist got together recently with Everett Ravens for a visual of his latest track “Joey Vision,” an uptempo cut that’ll remind listeners of mid-2000s Modest Mouse. Continue reading |VIDEO| Netherfriends: “Joey Vision” →

News, The Smoking Section, Video

|VIDEO| Tree x Chris Crack: “CUTS” + Two New Songs

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Consider the Soul Trap movement in full effect. Starting in 2012 with Chicago’s MC Tree’s project Sunday School, we have been consistently graced with the chopped soul sampling production that has come to define the 30-year-old artist. Recently, he teamed up with fellow Chicagoan Chris Crack for the much talked about release, TreeSwag, which dropped earlier this month (get it here). Continue reading |VIDEO| Tree x Chris Crack: “CUTS” + Two New Songs →

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