Chicago and React Presents “Freaky Deaky” music festival is returning to Toyota Park this year for another Halloween Weekend of great music. With performances from DJ Snake, Tiesto, Lil Dicky, Disclosure, Travis Scott, DJ Khaled, Schoolboy Q, Desiigner and many many more, there is no better way to celebrate Halloween.
And if the scary good lineup wasn’t enough, not only has Freaky Deaky released its full 2016 schedule for this year, but it has also released its lineup of official after parties, which include headlining shows from Disclosure, DJ Snake, DJ Khaled, Snails, Tiesto and more. Whether you’ll be heading straight from Toyota Park, or if you can’t make it out to the festival this year, you will not want to miss out on these after parties.
Check out the full schedule and official after parties below, and we’ll see you at Freaky Deaky!
Recruiting fellow Chicago artists Vic Mensa, Joey Purp and Knox Fortune, KAMI has released his new music video for his record ‘Home Movies’, the first track from his forthcoming debut album, which is currently set for an early 2017 release. KAMI, who is in the SAVEMONEY rap duo Leather Corduroys with Purp, definitely is debuting a brand new sound on his solo project, and the Andre Muir directed visuals match the quality of the rest of the record.
With a talented crew around him and the skills of his own for an exciting solo career, get ready to hear a lot more from the emerging Chicago artist.
We have said it before, no one is better at what they do than “Nardwuar the Human Serviette”. His interviews are not only informative and entertaining, but he will bring out information in an artist that even their closest friends and relatives don’t know. His research is top notch, and with every classic Nardwuar interview comes a new artist who is blown away by the Canadian native’s skills. Everyone from Drake to Pharrell and more have been left more than impressed.
And for sometime, Nardwuar and Kanye West fans alike have prayed that the two would one day meet for an exclusive interview. The type of information and gifts that Nardwuar could pull out for Kanye are almost unimaginable. And that day may finally come, as a recent post by Kanye West’s producer and engineer Mike Dean, seems to suggest that Nardwuar and Kanye met today (or are meeting today) during Kanye’s Vancouver stop on the Saint Pablo Tour (where Nardwuar is from).
While Dean doesn’t directly confirm that an interview took place, or is taking place, he posted a photo with Nardwuar on Instagram minutes ago, backstage at the Rogers Arena. This seems to suggest that the interview we have all been waiting for has finally took place!
After making headlines for twerking to Fetty Wap’s ‘Trap Queen’ backstage at TIDAL X: 1015, Nicki Minaj called in to Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club to talk a number of topics, from meeting Lauryn Hill, emerging female MCs, mumble rap and more. But one especially exciting piece of information that came out of the interview is that Nicki has a collaboration with Fetty Wap that will be coming out soon.
When talking about new artists, Minaj told Charlamagne and company, “I love (Fetty’s) melodies, I love Fetty. I did something with Fetty that’s going to come out soon, that I think is super dope.”
While Nicki didn’t reveal the exact details, a classic Nicki verse and a Fetty Wap melody could easily be a hit, so definitely stay tuned.
Check out Nicki’s full interview with The Breakfast Club below.
Chicago own, Common, is one busy man. From filming movies, putting on music festivals for his hometown, and of course recording music, Common is constantly working. And since his 2014 LP, Nobody’s Smiling, fans have been patiently awaiting for what Common had cooked up next.
But fans won’t have to wait too much longer, as Common has announced the release date for his upcoming 11th studio album, Black America Again. In just a few weeks, fans can download the new politically conscious project on November 4th, released by ARTium and Def Jam Records. And for his ATL fans, Common will pay a special visit to Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA on 10/24, to talk to students about important issues that the MC addresses on his new album.
Listen to the title track with Stevie Wonder from Black America Again below and pre-order the LP now.
Off his forthcoming studio album, Starboy, the highly anticipated follow up to his second studio LP, Beauty Behind The Madness, The Weeknd has released the visuals for the upcoming album’s second single, ‘False Alarm’.
The first person shooter inspired music video is directed by writer/director Ilya Naishuller (“Hardcore Henry”) and produced by Clarissa Troop, and has action filled scenes that match the tempo of the record. Starboy is just around the corner, expected for a November 25th release, and you can pre-order the LP now on multiple platforms.
Fans have been patiently waiting for more music from GOOD Music rapper Big Sean, ever since 2015 LP Dark Sky Paradise. And while Sean treated fans with a collaborative EP with the lovely and talented Jhene Aiko, with Twenty88, earlier this year, Big Sean is back with his new record ‘Light It Up’. And even though Sean is one of the best feature rappers in the game right now, the Detroit native recruited the talents of 2 Chainz for the new record.
Don’t get too excited however. ‘Light It Up’ is part of the original soundtrack for Kevin Hart’s new film, “What Now?”, so it may be longer than we’d like until Sean blesses fans with a follow up to Dark Sky Paradise.
On a drizzly Fall evening, on a stage in the heart of Chicago’s West loop, a fire raged, scorching the edges of each beat, burning through the lyrics of Capitol Music Group recording artist, NF.
For those who might imagine a hip-hop Christian artist to be dull, dry or lame, think again. For it is precisely the current of his melody, the spiritual context of his lyrical content if you will, that delivers an ailing heart so strong as to saturate and soothe simultaneously.
Nathan Feuerstein, known to the sold-out crowd as NF, delivered a powerful combination of grit, guts and in-your-face raw emotion Wednesday night at The Bottom Lounge. His incredibly satiating elixir of lyrics, which spring from his reservoir of pain he says, catapulted the hip-hop artist to the Top 10 Billboard Albums position in April 2016 with Therapy Session in the royal company of the likes of Beyonce and Prince.
The ballad-style rhythmic flow of Fleurie opened the show, and the two performed their hit ‘Mansion,’ in a smooth duet that moved the crowd:
Fleurie: “What’s reality with all these questions, feels like I missed my alarm and slept in…broken legs but I chase perfection. These walls are my blank expression, my mind is a home I’m trapped in and it’s lonely inside this mansion.”
NF: “Yo, my mind is a house with walls, covered in lyrics, they’re all over the place…that’s where I write when I’m in a bad place and I need to release and let out the version of NF you don’t wanna see. I put holes in the walls with both of my fists til they bleed, you might get a glimpse of how I cope with all this anger in me. I’m a keep the door shut, and keep the lyrics inside.”
Fueled by the anger and anguish of his mother’s fatal drug overdose in 2009, the Michigan born rapper strikes a universal chord with fans dealing with their own demons: depression, rejection, loss, pain and the residuals of existing in an imperfect world.
“He speaks from his pain, but his message is hope,” says Barbara Marrero who brought her 23-year-old niece, Marisa, to the show. “We need more of that.”
In ‘How Could You Leave Us,’ NF channels his pain into a hardcore anthem, laced in soulful melodies that tell the story of the grief over the loss of his mother:
“Yo, I don’t know what it’s like to be addicted to pills, but I do know what it’s like to be a witness, it kills…..they say pain is a prison, let me outta my cell….how could you leave us, why would you leave us…music is the only place where I can go and speak to you….I know you gone but I can still feel you.”
“He’s amazing, just expressing his feelings the way he does,” says Marisa Marrero. “I can just relate. He’s so inspiring.”
Indeed, if the standing room only crowd is any indication, the message and music is resonating. And not just teens and young adults but elementary-aged kids who are hoisted on their father’s shoulders near the back of the venue to get a better glimpse of the hip-hop phenomenon.
In “Grinding ft Marty”, NF gets the crowd amped with his dedication to the game, his relentless hustle to the top, not giving into distraction, doubt or competition:
NF: “Anybody sleep on me, better do something with your eyelids….I hear a lot of whining, I don’t hear a lot of rhyming…this industry ain’t nothing but a box, but I ain’t gone climb in it…you put me in a room full of rappers, come back in 5 minutes, I’m a be the only one still alive, with a note on my chest saying, ‘I did it’….I run with the Son of God…what is you running for?”
NF: “I’m out here grinding”
Crowd: “Okay, Okay, Okay”
“I listen to his music too,” says Angel Vega, a former Christian DJ who brought his 18-year- old son, Jordan, to the show. “It’s a positive message. It’s Christian. They’re the sort of lyrics that are needed instead of the garbage we listen to about sex, drugs and degrading women.”
Vega is a part of the wall-to- wall crowd, a wide swath of varied colors and ages.They are draped in NF t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats, yelling in unison to NF’s ‘Therapy Session,’ which tackles domestic abuse, hate, suicide and family dysfunction:
“This girl at a show, looked me in the face and told me her life’s full of drama, said her Daddy’s abusive, apparently he likes to beat on her mama. I got so angry inside, I wanted to tell her to give me his number, but what you gone do with it, right? You gone hit ‘em up and he’ll start hitting her harder? That’s real. These kids, they come to my shows with tears in they eyes. Imagine someone looking at you and saying your music’s the reason that they are alive?”
In as much as the 25-year- old’s music is creating a lyrical therapy session, the process is also helping him, he says at the end of ‘Therapy Session.’
“I write about the things I’m actually dealing with..this is real for me…I’m not confused about who gave me the gift. God gave the gift and he gave me the ability to do this and he also gave me this as an outlet and that’s what music is for me. When I feel something, whether it’s anger, a passion about something, a frustration. This is where I go. This is real for me. I need this. This is a therapy for me.”
With a huge lineup of the biggest artists in music, from pop superstars like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, the most exciting emerging artists like Alessia Cara and Daya, ’90s pop legends with Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, rappers like G-Eazy and Pitbull and some of the biggest names in EDM with The Chainsmokers and Martin Garrix, the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball is the best it’s ever been in 2016.
Kicking off November 29th in Dallas, TX, and making stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and more, until the tour concludes December 18th in Miami, the Jingle Ball is the can’t miss event of the year, so stay tuned at iHeartRadio’s official website for information on how you can get your tickets before they are all gone.
And to get you excited for the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Presents by Capitol One, we have compiled our list of our 20 most anticipated artists for the big show, in no particular order.
iHeartRadio is bringing back their “Jingle Ball Tour” in 2016 and this year it’s the biggest it’s ever been! Hitting stops in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atanta, Washington D.C., Miami, Minneapolis and more, iHeartRadio is bringing some of music’s biggest artists to a city near you.
Fans catching one of the tours multiple dates will be treated with performances from Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Ellie Goulding, Bruno Mars, the Backstreet Boys, The Chainsmokers, Shawn Mendes, Diplo, Pitbull, Martin Garrix, Alessia Cara, Niall Horan, Daya, Meghan Trainor and many more, and you can get ticket information at the links below.
Check out the Jingle Ball dates, locations, and full lineups now!
The Early Registration 