Category Archives: Features

Why Bay Area Rappers Like G-Eazy and Lil B Win at the Internet

BY DAN GARCIA

G-Eazy
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

In 2015, if you are a rapper and you have zero internet presence, you won’t make it, its that simple. YouTube, Vevo, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook… these are just a few things a rapper needs for relevancy. So it is no surprise that some rappers owe a great debt to the Internet and certainly some rappers more than others have utilized the world wide web to build their fan base. Of course there are others, but when I think of rappers that truly win at the Internet, I think of artists like Lil B, G-Eazy and Watsky, for a number of different reasons. And what do these rappers all have in common? Coincidentally (or perhaps not) they all are from the Bay Area.

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Music’s Top Critics Don’t Agree with Most of the Grammy’s Top Album Picks

BY DAN GARCIA

Grammys

In the past few hours the winners were released for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and already a lot of disagreement is surrounding some of the picks. While music is subjective in many ways, you of course can never make everyone happy. However, this year seems to be especially bad. Personally, I did not agree with almost all albums that were given a Grammy this year, so I was curious to see what the top critics in music thought.

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Photos: Riff Raff, WebsterX and Chanel West Coast Perform at The Rave in Milwaukee

BY TER STAFF

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

Last night Riff Raff made a stop in Milwaukee on his current tour with Chanel West CoastPerforming for a hyped crowd at The Rave, Milwaukee’s own WebsterX kicked things off for his hometown with a set that included a number of tracks from his debut project Desperate Youth, as well as his newest single ‘doomsday’. Following WebsterX’s performance, Young Money’s Chanel West Coast gave fans a bunch of new music, as everyone prepared for an entertaining set from the Neon Icon, aka Drake’s last new friend, aka Jody Highroller, Riff Raff. Check out our photos below, as The Early Registration was there to catch some of the best moments from last night.

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Six Degrees: Best Rap Performance Grammy Nominees Lecrae to Eminem

BY DAN GARCIA

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

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 by songs and features, who you would never think could be connected. This week our  piece is in honor of the upcoming 57th Annual Grammy Awards, where we will connect the two most opposite nominees for this year’s “Best Rap Performance” category, Christian rapper Lecrae and of course the always controversial Eminem. To spice things up, we will also include the other rappers in the category (Childish Gambino, Drake, Kendrick Lamar), all in just six steps.

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Photos: Logic & Michael Christmas Perform at The Rave in Milwaukee

BY TER STAFF

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

Last night Logic and Michael Christmas made a stop in Milwaukee for the Under Pressure World TourPerforming for a sold out crowd at The Rave, Michael Christmas got the crowd hype (returning to Milwaukee for his first time since 2013). Following a half-hour set by DJ Rhetorik, Logic came on to close the night with a number of songs from his Under Pressure album, as well as a collection of his mixtape tracks for his day-one fans. Check out our photos below, as The Early Registration was there to catch some of the best moments from last night.

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The Top 10 Releases of January 2015

BY MATT MONROE / DAN GARCIA / VIKASH DASSTRENT KESLINS

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

This year, January was jam packed with great releases from a variety of artists. Some came to us as a surprise, others beating expectations, and some just simply getting it right. Check out some of the best releases the month of January had to offer.

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Six Degrees: Lil B to Lana Del Rey

BY DAN GARCIA

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

You would think since Lil B and Lana Del Rey are so different, that the two could never be connected. Wrong. 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 by songs and features, who you would never think could be connected. Check out first piece below!

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Our Picks for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards

BY DAN GARCIA

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

The 57th Annual Grammy Awards are just around the corner, and because (especially in the hip-hop world) things may not go as we hope, we want to submit our picks now. But we won’t be suggesting WHO WILL bring home the most prestigious awards in music but rather WHO SHOULD. Check out our picks below of what artists and albums should win at the Grammys this year.

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The Top 7 Chicago Artists to Watch For in 2015

BY MICHAEL TRISTANI

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

It seems like every other year, one or two cities has a flock of young, new artists that all blow up simultaneously and take over the game. In 2012 it was New York with A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, etc. and Los Angeles, with the powerhouse that was TDE with releases of Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, Ab-Soul’s Control System, and Schoolboy Q’s Habits & Contradictions. 2013 wasn’t the same, which was just a year full of big hitter releases from Kanye, A$AP Rocky, Drake and J.Cole, to name a few. In 2014, it was Atlanta. With the unstoppable force that was Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, Rae Sremmurd, Peewee Longway, etc. However, in 2015 you can expect the next city in the cycle to be Chicago. Everyone had a taste of the fresh raw talent from the Windy City in 2013 with the breakout releases of Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap and Vic Mensa’s Innanetape. While both of them have been working on their upcoming, much-anticipated releases, 2014 was a relatively quiet year for Chicago. With many of these artists on the list bubbling beneath the surface, expect many of these artists on this list to breakout and have a huge year.

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Interview | Bizzy Crook

Bizzy Crook

PHOTOS AND STORY BY DAN GARCIA

“Used to ask for a verse, they said $500. Now they want to do a record, n*gga f*ck your budget”, raps Miami-native Bizzy Crook on the title track for his newest mixtape No Hard Feelings. While these lines may come off as vengeful and a contradiction to his “no hard feelings” mentality, it really isn’t. Rather Bizzy Crook, like all great rappers should (but who often don’t), raps about his real life and true experiences, to a more personal level than most rappers ever touch. Whether he is writing about rappers who wanted to charge for a verse who later had a change of heart when Bizzy began to create a buzz, or even the darker moments of his life when he used to battle suicidal thoughts, Bizzy Crook keeps things authentic. And his name is no coincidence, as Bizzy stays busy as well, now touring with Wale as part of the MMG rapper’s Simply Nothing Tour. Fortunately though he was able to sit down with us after he rocked the crowd on his Milwaukee stop of the tour, to talk about his No Hard Feelings project, working with artists and producers like Pharrell, Nelly and Boi-1da, Chicago influences and more.

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