The past three years have seen a massive resurgence of interest in the Chicago hip-hop scene. The reasons for this sea change have been repeated ad nauseam in hip-hop blog posts, documentaries, and op-eds. Continue reading
Author: Zach Goldhammer
The Homecoming Show
Vic Mensa returns to Hyde Park for UofC’s Summer Breeze
MICHAEL CHEN/MAB
After a last-minute scheduling conflict prevented South Side-born singer and Columbia College-grad Jeremih from performing at UChicago’s Summer Breeze concert, the Major Activities Board [MAB]—the organization responsible for organizing the annual event—began searching for another local star to serve as an eleventh hour replacement. Continue reading
Wyatt’s Wall
Hyde Park celebrates the life of a local hip-hop legend and beloved son
Two surviving members of Stony Island freestyle in front of Attica’s memorial wall. Video excerpt from an upcoming documentary by Sarah Friedland and Esy Casey. On the last weekend of this past March, a crew of artists, filmmakers, musicians, and friends gathered around a memorial wall on the side of Hyde Park’s Kinko’s, in the alleyway a few doors down from the Medici on 57th Street. The wall itself has been in continuous transition over the last decade, cycling through stages of decay, renewal, and transformation. But one figure has been constant: a goofy, fish-eye perspective portrait of a young man grinning eagerly down at the passers-by.
WHPK Radio Veteran: PJ Willis
The DJ and lover of dusty vinyl discusses his thirty-year career
ZACH GOLDHAMMER
PJ Willis has been in the radio business for more than three decades. Continue reading
Psalm One Editor’s Picks
As Psalm One transitions into her Hologram Kizzie persona and continues to push toward a new innovative soundscapes, we took some time to pick a few of our favorite tracks from Psalm’s vast back catalogue of albums, mixtapes, and guest features. Continue reading
Mister Go-Go
The story of Jake Austen and “Chic-A-Go-Go,” the city’s most sincere cable TV show
ZACH GOLDHAMMER
On Sunday, March 16, Jake Austen promised his fans that he would be staging “Chic-A-Go-Go’s” “weirdest taping ever.” Continue reading
The Springtime in Chicago Playlist
Locals pick the definitive sound of Chicago spring
Sun Ra’s “Springtime in Chicago” never became a seasonal jazz standard on the level of Vernon Duke’s “Autumn in New York.” Continue reading
Ain’t No Fish in the Percolator
Maria's serves some damn good coffee
Paul Durica congratulates the winner of the “Twin Peaks” costume contest. BEA MALSKY.
This weekend, Maria’s was overcome with nineties nostalgia as the Bridgeport community bar hosted a crowd of clairvoyant detectives, agoraphobic orchid growers, Hawaiian-shirted shrinks, and log-cradling ladies. Continue reading
Weekend of Folk
Workshops at the fifty-fourth annual University of Chicago Folk Festival
JULIET ELDRED
This past weekend, the University of Chicago held its fifty-fourth annual Folk Festival. The organizers gathered an eclectic collection of roots music performers, including the “Queen of Cajun music”, Sheryl Comier, and her family band Continue reading
Darkscorch Canticles
A Preview of Numero Group's D&D-inspired hard rock compilation
Darkscorch Chronicles takes the Numero Group from its soul roots to a new orc-rock sound.
Helping to further delineate the link between simulated-dungeon-crawling and six-string-shredding, the Little Village-based Numero Group label is preparing to release a compilation of Dungeons & Dragons-inspired seventies hard rock. Continue reading