It’s been an interesting year to be a Travis Scott fan; while La Flame has dropped a handful of slappers featuring top-shelf production and features from notable contemporaries such as Young Thug and Future, the repeated delay of his debut record, Rodeo, has found listeners’ impatience at an all time high. Originally scheduled to hit stores in March, the record was pushed back multiple times before Scott finally confirmed a September 4 release date. While #travishive is rightfully buzzing over the confirmation, average listeners might wonder what makes Rodeo worth the wait. Thus, we’ve compiled a list of five reasons why all hip-hop fans should be chomping at the bit to get their ticket to the rodeo. Hit the jump below to get started!
Atlanta’s Hundo joined forces with the Cleveland production duo Lumière to create the 3 song collaborative EP Understood. The project plays out as a 10 minute mix, including songs featuring Hundo’s vocals and instrumental interludes.
This past weekend, Taylor Swift brought her epic 1989 World Tour to Chicago’s Soldier Field. Selling over 100,000 seats in two nights, Taylor’s Chi-town fans saw performances from Shawn Mendes, Vance Joy, Haim, and of course Swift herself. Last night we checked out the tour for ourselves and it was more than memorable! From the light show and fireworks, to the costume changes, and even a surprise appearance from country music’s Sam Hunt, the concert left us speechless. And while two nights at Soldier Field wasn’t quite enough, as both performances sold out, we took some photos while we enjoyed the music, to help share the night to those who were at Pitchfork, another concert, or perhaps just sitting at home.
Check out our photos from Taylor Swift’s “1989 World Tour” stop at Chicago’s Soldier Field below (and check out our review here)!
Taylor Swift’s marquee and household name is the reason she sold-out back-to-back nights at Chicago’s Soldier Field, the biggest venue in Chicago. Talented opening acts, amazing costumes, beautiful light shows, pyrotechnics, and surprise guests aside, the 1989 World Tour is successful (from a numbers standpoint) because of who T-Swift is as a pop star. But all that extra stuff, the things that make her concerts memorable and well after the tickets are long gone, those are the things that make her live performance special, which ensure that those same fans that went through the gates tonight are the ones that will sit on their computer while they await for the next tour’s tickets to go on-sale. The only problem? As word-of-mouth spreads and fans who are ready to see Taylor for their second, third, or fourth time are joined by those who heard of Swift’s epic performances from a friend and want to see first hand, there won’t be enough room and Soldier Field may need to prepare to book a third night for the next time Swift comes to the Windy City. Having just experienced my first Taylor Swift concert, I am certain that it won’t be my last, as the ‘Bad Blood’ singer puts on a tour that matches her massive record sales, wide influence, and her elite status as a modern pop icon.
Here at The Early Registration we like to pride ourselves on our music knowledge. To stay polished on our musical expertise, our new feature is a little game of musical “6 Degrees”. For those who are unfamiliar, six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone in the world is connected by six or fewer steps, so we are now taking the liberty of connecting musicians whom you would never think could be connected, in exactly six steps. This week our 6˚ piece is dedicated to Lollapalooza amazing lineup, which is coming to Chicago in just a couple of weeks. To keep things interesting we challenged ourself to connect one Lollapalooza headliner (Sam Smith) to another Lollapalooza headliner (Paul McCartney). The twist is can we do this using only other artists from Lollapalooza’s lineup this year? Find out below!
Trey Songz and R. Kelly, The-Dream and The Weeknd, Usher and Chris Brown. There are an unbelievable amount of artists whose similarities to other artists within their genre have sparked the great debate about “who is better” for as long as music has had a place in our culture. Perhaps the genre most afflicted by this phenomenon is R&B. Why? Who knows. It could be because the sheer amount of artists in this genre and its sub-genres that get airtime on pop radio. It could be because their music occupies the same headspace and covers extremely streamlined topics. Or it could be because they sound so ridiculously similar that people are upset that they have to look up a song before they can determine which person’s vocal chords are gracing their ears. I can only hope that last reason is what the least amount of people agree with.
Mike Posner is currently on the road, traveling across the United States with a few friends while he makes stops in a number of cities for surprise pop-up shows, for crowds of just a couple hundred people. Last night, Posner brought this tour of intimate performances to Chicago’s Lincoln Park, which holds some of the best views of the Chitown skyline. Introduced by his friend and co-writer, Adam Friedman, Mike performed his new EP, The Truth, as well as his catalog of hits (‘Cooler Than Me’, ‘Please Don’t Go’) and even some unheard music from his forthcoming sophomore album. The scenery was beautiful, as Posner and some of his most dedicated fans hung out just before dusk, playing music and sharing laughs.
Check out our photos from Mike Posner’s “Ninja Show” tour stop in Chicago’s Lincoln Park below.
Andy Grammer is music’s easiest guy to root for, and that just may be an understatement. Today you can’t turn on the radio without hearing Grammer’s single ‘Honey, I’m Good.’, and while a lot artists may see their commercial success come almost overnight, Andy Grammer, who is one of the nicest guys in the industry, has truly worked his way up the charts. Sharing stories about studying music and learning to fail in college, to his version of “grad school” where he would pay rent by performing on the street 6 to 10 hours a day, we sat down with the ‘Keep Your Head Up’ singer to talk about his come up, temptations, his next album, and blurring the lines between “pop music” and other genres. Before his studio debut and self-titled album, which brought his first successful singles like ‘Fine By Me’ and ‘Keep Your Head Up’, Andy would sell his demo CDs for $5 on the street to Santa Monica tourists, only to have those same people come up to him half a decade later with those same CDs, while Andy is touring the country in promotion of his latest album and performing a single that reached the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 list. Hard work really does pay off.
Milwaukee’sSummerfest 2015, the World’s Largest Music Festival, came to a close on Sunday night and we had a great time all festival long. Looking back, trying to pick out one favorite moment from the festival was near impossible, so we compiled a list of some of our favorite moments. From Kendrick Lamar’s Marcus Amphitheater performance to seeing legends like Neil Young and Kansas in the same night, Summerfest provided something for everyone.
Check out our favorite moments from Summerfest 2015 below.
Last week we interviewed Jon Bellion and DJ White Shadow, as part of their new partnership with W Hotels (check out the full conversation here). After sitting down with the two talented artists, we were invited to Jon’s show later that night at the Bottom Loungein Chicago. Bellion killed it and we got some great shots while he rocked the Chitown crowd!
Check out our photos below, as we sent our photographer Jesus Montero to capture some of the night’s best moments.
The Early Registration 