Archive for the ‘Hip-hop’ tag
Sticking to the Dream
This piece originally appeared at Gapersblock
CHICAGO IS ENJOYING A HIP-HOP REVIVAL. Kanye West took home three awards at last year’s Grammys, and his fire and brimstone performance that night also made him the only rapper since Tupac to imitate Jesus and get away with it. Stony Island native Common is releasing Be, the much anticipated return to the beats and rhymes soul aesthetic of his 1994 classic Resurrection, on May 24th. And the city’s underground veterans like All Natural and Do or Die have recently released new albums to greater exposure, basking in the glow cast by their more famous brethren. It’s a good time to be a rapper from Chicago. So where does a 26-year-old white kid from New Hampshire fit in here?
“The Chicago scene is definitely big enough for us,” says Adam Arnone, otherwise known as Adeem, MC for the hip-hop group Glue. The group has created a buzz on the underground rap circuit with their engaging live performances and a strong debut album, 2003′s Seconds Away. They hope to cash in on this momentum by releasing an EP called Sunset Lodge in late May followed by a full album, Catch as Catch Can, later in the year.
ODBituary
The news that Ol’ Dirty Bastard had died surprised no one. A friend who knew I was a fan of the Wu-Tang Clan, ODB’s Staten Island, NY rap collective, emailed to tell me the news. I immediately checked the web for a write-up, and found the expected news that he had collapsed of apparent heart failure in a Manhattan recording studio. His passing in such a sudden manner, just two days shy of his 36th birthday, was the inevitable flameout at the end of an explosive career. Born Russell Tyrone Jones, ODB died on November 13, 2004. He left behind the musical legacy of a deranged genius, and an evolving persona that, just a month later, has already been turned into a cultural punch line.
Tangled Cords, Clear Message
“You know it’s underground when the rappers have to untangle their own microphones,” said Afrobatik, as he and the rest of the Perceptionists, Mr. Lif and DJ Fakts One, prepared for their set at the Def Jux Presents III tour on Sunday night at the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago. The cables were twisted into a knot after 4th Pyramid and SA Smash kicked off the night, but the Perceptionists managed to deal with the minor inconvenience and deliver an intense, politically charged performance that topped a bill also featuring indie-rap hero Murs and none other than Humpty Hump himself, Shock G, formerly of Digital Underground.