If you haven’t heard the name by now, get ready to know the St. Louis and Chicago-affiliated MC, Smino, as the talented rapper has signed his first major record deal, with Interscope Records. Whether you know him from his collaboration with Chance The Rapper or one of his fan favorite solo tracks, Smino is easily one of our favorite emerging rappers. Up until this point, Smino’s rise has been all him, so with a major label backing him up, Smino is about to make some serious noise in the rap game.
Off his forthcoming album, which is scheduled for a fall release, producer oddCouple has released his brand new single. Recruiting the talents of two of the Midwest best emerging MCs, Chicago’s Mick Jenkins and Milwaukee’s WebsterX, oddCouple’s new record ‘Blinded’ is a must listen.
‘Blinded’ is just the first record off oddCouple’s forthcoming LP, and if it’s a good indication of what’s to come, then he has quite the project in the works.
Passenger’s forthcoming album, Young As The Morning Old As The Sea is due out next month on September 23rd, and to get fans excited for the new LP, Passenger has shared the visuals for his new single ‘Everywhere’. Co-produced alongside Chris Vallejo (Empire of the Sun, INXS), Passenger’s new album will certainly be one to pick up when it hits stores and iTunes next month.
And if a new music video and album weren’t enough, you will soon have the chance to catch performances of those tracks live as Passenger will be hitting the road in 2017 on a big headlining tour. The tour kicks off March 7th in Philadelphia, and Passenger will make stops in Chicago, Vancouver, Los Angeles and many more stops throughout North America.
From their forthcoming album, GLA, United Kingdom natives Twin Atlantic have shared the music video for their record, ‘The Chaser’. If you ever wanted to get away from it all and just be someone else for a night, ‘The Chaser’ is a track for you. “All this time I’ve been a chaser trying to wake up in another life. Put the voice in my head to the back of my mind,” Twin Atlantic’s frontman Sam Mctrusty tells fans.
GLA is just around the corner, currently scheduled for a September 9th release via Red Bull Records. You can pre-order the 12-track LP now at www.TwinAtlantic.com.
Danny Brown is officially back, and in anticipation of the release of his forthcoming 15-track LP, Atrocity Exhibition, which will host features from Kendrick Lamar, Earl Sweatshirt, Ab-Soul and more, Danny Brown has releases his brand new single, ‘Pneumonia’. The new Evian Christ-produced record, which can be heard on Atrocity Exhibition, was premiered via Shade 45’s “Sway in the Morning” but it’s available now, ahead of the LP’s release on September 30th.
And if you like what you hear and want to see ‘Pneumonia’ and the rest of Brown’s best records performed live, you’re in luck. Danny Brown will be hitting the road next month for “The Exhibition Tour”, which will hit a number of stops throughout North America (dates below).
August is the month of Jayaire Woods. After the announcement of his forthcoming mixtape, FREETHEFALL, which releases August 31st via Quality Control (Migos, OG Maco), and kicking off his 18-date tour in support of Lil Yatchy, the Chicago MC has released his new record, ‘No Fear’. The track, which can be heard on Woods’ forthcoming tape, is produced by Jordeaux with Woods rapping and singing throughout the entire record.
Minutes ago, rapper and notorious tokers Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa packed the Hollywood Casino Bowl Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, IL. Dubbed “The High Road” Tour, not only did Wiz and Snoop bring two of the biggest weed advocates in music to Chicago (2nd and 3rd to maybe Willie Nelson), but they brought some great supporting acts, including the lovely and talented Jhene Aiko, Kevin Gates, Casey Veggies and DJ Drama. Top to bottom, the crowd was in for a memorable night from the very beginning.
With DJ Drama keeping the crowd live between sets, up first for the night was ‘Backflip’ rapper, Casey Veggies. Originally known for his affiliation with the Tyler The Creator-led collective, Odd Future, Casey has been all about his solo career for quite sometime now, and has been recently enjoying the success of his 2015 debut album, Live & Grow. With features from Dej Loaf, Tyler The Creator, YG, BJ The Chicago Kid and more, Veggies put out an impressive debut last year and tonight he performed a number of his records from his 2015 LP.
Following Veggies opening performance, the beautiful Jhene Aiko took stage for her Chicago fans. Your favorite rapper’s favorite guest singer, Jhene Aiko has laid down some memorable vocals for everyone from Childish Gambino and Big Sean to Drake, Omarion and many more. Most recently Aiko teamed up with Sean to form their duo, Twenty88, which came with an 8-track EP that released earlier this year. Don’t be under the impression though that Aiko only works best complementing the best rappers in the game, as her solo records are perhaps her best work. Tonight Aiko performed some of her best records, including ‘The Worst’ and ‘To Love & Die’, as well as other tracks from her debut EP, Sail Out, and her 2014 debut album, Souled Out. Aiko provides a nice change of pace from the rappers that takeover the tour’s lineup, but still provides a sound that rap fans across the board can enjoy.
Next up was ‘Really Really’ and ‘2 Phones’ rapper Kevin Gates, who brought performances from his 2015 debut, ISLAH’. Gates brought street rap straight from Louisana to Chicago tonight, and it was more than well received. With Snoop and Wiz’s headlining performance just minutes away, the crowd was ready to turn up the tempo and Gates got the amphitheatre off their seats.
And before fans had the opportunity to catch their breath after Gates turned up performance, it was time for Snoop Dogg to great his Windy City fans. Opening the solo portion of his set, Snoop Dogg started things on the highest note possible by blessing fans with performances of his classic records, including ‘Gin & Juice’ and ‘Nuthin’ But a G Thang’. And before you knew it, was time for Wiz to join Snoop on stage. If you’d expect two weed advocates like Snoop and Wiz to put on a slow paced and mellow performance together, you’d be greatly mistaken as the two performed together with especially high energy (no pun intended). While Snoop and Wiz both have casual and laid back personalities on-stage and off, their performance tonight was far from mellow, and gave fans everything they wanted and more.
Check out our photos from tonight’s stop on Merry Jane’s “The High Road” Tour below.
Off her forthcoming second studio LP, The Altar, singer BANKS has released her visuals for her addictive new single, ‘Gemini Feed’. Speaking on the music video, BANKS describes the visuals as “(her) thirst for balance.”
Right now, fans can purchase both ‘Gemini Feed’ and The Altar‘s record, ‘F*** with Myself’, ahead of the albums official release on September 30th, 2016. And if you like what you hear (and you will), you can pre-order The Altar now on iTunes.
Releasing later this month, Vince Staples has just announced his newest project and the highly anticipated followup to his critically acclaimed double-LP, Summertime ’06. Titled, Prima Donna, the project will be Staples’ newest EP, will release August 26th via Blacksmith/ARTium/Def Jam. With exclusive production from No I.D., DJ Dahi and James Blake, this will be one hell of an EP.
And fans won’t only have the music itself to get excited for, as Prima Donna will be accompanied by a short film by Staples, which is directed by Nabil (Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Bruno Mars).
After a hiatus in 2015, Common’s Chicago music festival AAHH! Festis returning to the Windy City’s Union Park, and this week the legendary rapper shared some names from the festival’s initial lineup. Teasing fans before the full lineup drops, Common told fans on Instagram that Odd Future’s The Internet, as well as Chicago’s own Jeremih, Sir The Baptist and Tink will all perform on the second day of the two-day festival (September 24-25). In 2014 the festival saw some huge performances from Kanye West, Common, Lupe Fiasco, Twista, Vince Staples, Jennifer Hudson and many more, so this year is already getting off to a great start.
AAHH! Fest isn’t just a great music festival either, as it’s also Common’s dedication to bringing education programs and jobs to Chicago, by raising funds to support the Common Ground Foundation and Donda’s House, the charitable organizations of Common, Kanye West and Rhymefest.
Get your tickets now at AAHHFest.com and check out our photos from 2014’s AAHH! Fest below.
The Early Registration 