Updates from erivera7 RSS
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06:04:09 pm on November 7, 2008 |
Tuesday night was clearly a historic one for all Americans to witness, as Barack Obama became the 44th President-elect of the United States of America. I know that the hip-hop community, specifically, is overjoyed by the events that transpired a few days ago. There’s been an outpour of support I’ve never seen before within the hip-hop industry, and its great to see.
Many of my friends who are embedded within the local hip-hop scene in Chicago are loving every second of it. Everyone that I know is excited to have someone as President that they can finally identify with on so many levels. Barack Obama truly represents what America is all about; a melting pot of cultures/races/ethnicities.
Anyways … here’s a quick clip of the day of the election. I had to get footage of history, so here it is.
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11:37:31 pm on November 3, 2008 |
… that picture of a few members of the Chicago police is just a sample of what we will be seeing tomorrow at Grant Park on Election Night, which will be playing host to Senator Barack Obama (expected) victory party and his (expected) acceptance speech as the 44th President of the United States. If the 2000 election has taught us something, it’s that ANYTHING is possible. But, many at Grant Park (totaling an expected crowd of over 70,000) are prepared to potentially be witnessing history tomorrow evening.
MANY within the hip-hop community are pulling for Obama to be the new Commander-in-Chief. The majority view him as a man that has shown the ability to unite beyond party/racial/ethnic lines and pull the American people toward a common cause. Obama has shown his support to the hip-hop community, noting Kanye West as one of his favorite artists amongst others. The hip-hop community has reciprocated their support for him, promoting him in a multitude of songs and mixtapes.
Tomorrow night could be one of the most historic events in U.S. history, and because of it, the hip-hop community is absolutely buzzing over the moment.
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11:02:23 pm on October 28, 2008 |
… with Halloween steadily approaching, the local hip-hop scene is definitely going to be poppin’ to celebrate the occasion. I’ve been notified of a few things by some DJ’s I know and figured I’d spread the word.
Angels & Kings is going to be THE spot to hit up on Thursday, as Chicago artists & DJ’s such as Mic Terror, Skyler, Willy Joy, and others will be performing or spinning that night. No cover if you wear a costume (you should be wearing one anyway), but if for whatever reason you need to validate taking the time to wear a costume, it’ll save you a few bucks getting into A & K. Plus you won’t look like a loser …
Thursday night will be the first night of many this Halloween weekend, so dress up, get out, and party hard (responsibly).
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11:37:04 pm on October 27, 2008 |
I’m sure by now many of you have caught wind of the horrible news that came down this weekend for Academy Award-winning singer & actress, Jennifer Hudson, who is a Chicago native.
This past Friday morning, both Hudson’s mother and brother were killed by gunshots at their South Side residence. News began to spread quickly once word broke out concerning the tragedy, and eventually it became a breaking story on all national media networks – such as CNN, etc.
My condolences go to Jennifer Hudson and her family for such a horrific loss. It’s a shame that this has happened to another artist from Chicago. It’s been almost a year since the death of Kanye West’s mother (Dr. Donda West), who passed away on November 10th, 2007, and I know it took Kanye a while to really get over her loss.
What I find intriguing is that it’s clearly affected Kanye’s work as an artist since the death of his mother; just look at his new upcoming album, 808’s & Heartbreak. “Heartless”, “Coldest Winter”, “Real Bad News” – the title to each song is negative.
In Jennifer Hudson’s case, hopefully in time she can recover from such a tragic loss. It’ll be interesting to see how her career goes from here, and whether it’ll take a dark & somber mood like it has for Kanye so far.
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11:52:11 pm on October 21, 2008 |
Jugrnaut Chicago
Today was a fun day if you’re a fan of either MURS or Naledge from Kidz in the Hall, because they each made an appearance this afternoon at Jugrnaut, a streetwear store located on Dearborn & Congress.
MURS is a hip-hop artist from Los Angeles, where he’s built up a HUGE underground following for the past couple years. He’s released a plethora of albums, has a crazy set of hair, and doesn’t mind his fans downloading his albums. What’s not to like about this dude?
As for Naledge, he’s a local hip-hop artist that calls Chicago his home. Alongside Double-0, they form the hip-hop group, Kidz in the Hall. They’re fairly new to the hip-hop scene, having debuted in 2006, but they’ve already built up a considerable underground buzz since bursting onto the map.
Both MURS & Naledge were at Jugrnaut today for a simple meet-and-greet, where fans could speak with either artist, get their autograph, and take a picture with either of them as well. The meet-and-greet lasted from 4:30-6:30, where after they were done, both proceeded to Abbey Pub later in the night to perform together.
Both dudes were approachable & friendly, and didn’t mind chopping it up with you for a minute. For all hip-hop heads, it was definitely a can’t-miss event (Double-0 ended up showing up too).
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03:58:26 pm on October 20, 2008 |
.. heading towards Sonotheque
… as the title alludes to, I made my way to Sonotheque this past weekend to check out some DJ’s that I’ve been clamoring to hear live and in person. The lineup was SUPPOSED to be Madlib, J Rocc & Karreim Riggins alongside Joe Bryl (local DJ) but unfortunately, Madlib had to pull out of his appearance at the very last minute due to ‘personal circumstances’, as I was explained to by the owner.
Not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed not to be able to see/listen to Madlib spin on the turntables but J Rocc & Karreim Riggins made up for it, and then some.
A quick background on the three guest individuals: both Madlib & J Rocc are DJ/hip-hop producer’s from California while Karreim Riggins is a jazz drummer & hip-hop producer from Detroit. Each have worked with the best in the hip-hop industry (Common, J Dilla, The Roots, etc.) .. I could go on but needless to say, their resumes are impeccable.
The night was solid. The crowd was pretty diverse, which I always like about Sonotheque. There’s never a set ‘group’ of people that dominate the place; it’s always an eclectic mix of people. The local scene within Chicago always appreciates listening to good music, regardless of genre (for the most part). I actually asked (out of curiosity) some people if they’ve ever heard of either J Rocc and/or Karreim Riggins, and for the most part, the answer was no. But they ALL said that they thought they were incredible ..
.. which I then responded, damn right.
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11:41:32 pm on October 14, 2008 |
For those that like to stay up on the local hip-hop scene within Chicago, things are really going to be kicking into high gear in a few days.
Yello Fever, which is a DJ trio consisting of Skyler, Jobot & Kid Color, will be performing at Angels & Kings on Thursday night. Needless to say, they are some dope local DJ’s that really tear it up with their mash-ups & remixes.
Also on Thursday night, another local DJ by the name of Willy Joy will be spinning at Debonair Social Club.
All of these fellas are still relatively new to the hip-hop/DJ scene. Most of them have been around for a few years and are still building up their fan-bases within the city of Chicago. Slowly but surely, though, they’re beginning to make a name for themselves.
Should be a wild early start to the weekend …
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10:46:57 pm on October 13, 2008 |
… it’s pretty crazy to see how much the hip-hop community within Chicago has grown exponentially over the past few years to the point it’s literally taking over. I say this because nearly everyday I browse different hip-hop sites and there always seems to be news on an artist or DJ from “the ‘Go.”
For example, a few days ago I ran across a YouTube video of GLC (local artist) off his single, ‘I Ain’t Even On Yet’, and given the irony of the title, the video was posted on every hip-hop site I could think of.
If you’re not really a ‘hip-hop head’, I doubt his name will ring a bell. But that’s the catch ..
.. just five years ago, the hip-hop scene within Chicago was still tiny compared to other U.S. cities around the nation. Someone that’s not really well-known like GLC wouldn’t even get that type of coverage.
Now? It seems like there’s news on a Chicago artist everyday.
My how times have changed.
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01:13:16 pm on October 7, 2008 |
Well, isn’t this interesting?
Kanye West debuted the video to his first song, ‘Love Lockdown’, on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Pretty savvy marketing by ‘Ye I must say, but also pretty sad that neither MTV or BET debuted the video themselves.
Also, the two speak about Kanye’s late mother, Dr. Donda West. I thought that was pretty cool. Click here to check out the rest of the story (Kanye even compliments on Ellen’s style!) …
… and here’s the video.
Enjoy.
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05:55:34 pm on October 6, 2008 |
Slow day but I managed to come across Common’s new music video for ‘Universal Mind Control’ w/ Pharrell, posted on okayplayer. Unfortunately, Pharrell doesn’t make an appearance in the video. Instead, there’s a robot in his place. Regardless, the vid is dope.
Common’s new album comes out November 11th.
