In anticipation of the Chicago festival’s expansion in 2016, Spring Awakening, Chicago’s premiere EDM festival, has announced that it will be moving from Soldier Field to the historic Jackson Park. Taking place this year from June 10th through the 12th, Spring Awakening is sure to be better than ever this time around. Jackson Park, which is located behind Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, is not only a bigger location but it is easily accessible and will provide for a beautiful scenery.
A limited amount of pre-sale tickets for the festival are available now at Spring Awakening’s official website and definitely stay tuned as we will share the official lineup when it drops.
Check out Spring Awakening’s video announcement below.
Jhene Aiko is officially back, and this time with Los Angeles based artist, Gallant. After the release of Jhene’s new record ‘B’s & H’s’ last week, this time the Souled Out singer provided vocals along side Gallant, for his new track ‘Skipping Stones’. Just a couple days away from Gallant’s two-track digital release this Friday (February 5th), ‘Skipping Stones’ is a great collaboration from Aiko and the exciting emerging singer.
Last weekend we caught Alessia Cara’s sold out Chicago stop on her Know-It-All Tour. With a packed crowd at The Metro, just across from Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field, the night was set to be a memorable one. And despite worry that the show may get cancelled due to an illness that forced Alessia to postpone the previous night’s show, the show went on and Alessia found her voice and delivered! Saturday we posted some of our favorite photos from the show, and today we have our video recap of the awesome performance, shot by our photographer Dan Garcia.
Check out our video recap from Alessia Cara’s Chicago stop on her Know-It-All Tour below.
Alessia Cara’s catchy record ‘Here’ is not only the Canadian singer’s smash #1 single, but it is also one of the best records released last year, a song that speaks to a different crowd than most Top 40 hits, but yet is surprisingly relatable to many. One person that can relate to ‘Here’ is Logic, Cara’s Def Jam labelmate and a rapper who hasn’t been afraid to admit that he likes to stay home and kick it instead of poppin’ bottles in the club. So it’s only right that Logic hopped on ‘Here’ for an awesome Def Jam remix of the hit record, and it totally works!
Listen to Alessia Cara and Logic’s ‘Here’ remix below and check out our photos of Alessia’s recent Chicago performance here (no pun intended).
Yesterday rapper Daye Jack celebrated Black History Month with the release of his music video, for his powerful Black Lives Matter inspired record, ‘Hands Up’. Joined by Run The Jewel’s Killer Mike, the visuals for Jack’s record (which was originally released months ago) are as powerful and moving as the track itself. The music video is directed by David Gallardo and incorporates real footage and images from the new era of the civil rights movement in America. Already this is an early pick for one of our favorite videos of the new year.
Watch Daye Jack’s video for ‘Hands Up’ below and download the record now on iTunes.
It’s about time that Republican politicians and candidates stick to a select (almost non-existent) number of conservative musicians when making selections for their rally music. Whether it’s Bruce Springsteen shutting down republications for playing his patriot hits, or whether it’s the Dropkick Murphys telling Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker “we literally hate you”, time and time again Republicans look silly for using music from (often liberal) big name musicians without their permission. This time it is Donald Trump under fire, as the Republican candidate for President used a couple of Adele records (‘Rolling in the Deep’ and ‘Skyfall’), and now Adele is speaking out.
As reported by Entertainment Weekly, a spokesperson for the ‘Here’ single released an official statement noting “Adele has not given permission for her music to be used” by Trump, or for any political campaign. So while Adele isn’t going to be joining the stage with Vampire Weekend and Bernie Sanders any time soon, she definitely hasn’t endorsed Donald Trump. And trust us, she definitely doesn’t need his free publicity either.
It hasn’t been long since Canadian rapper Jazz Cartier blessed fans with his acclaimed 2014 project, Marauding In Paradise. Lucky for those same fans though, the rapper’s forthcoming album isn’t long away, as Cartier shared the tracklist for his next LP today. Produced entirely by Lantz, and with an expected release in February, Cartier’s next project will feature his previously released tracks ‘Opera’, ‘Tales’ and ‘Stick & Move’, as well 13 additional records. If his new tracks and last project are a good indication of what to expect from this album, this certainly won’t be an album to sleep on, and it just may be one of the better projects of the year.
Last night singer Alessia Cara performed for a sold-out crowd at The Metro in Chicago. Despite canceling her tour performance the night below, as well as a couple radio appearances earlier in the day, Alessia fought off the loss of her voice and was able to still give a memorable performance. Still hitting all the notes that the ‘Here’ singer hits throughout her recordings, you could hardly tell that Cara lost her voice less than 24-hours before.
Opening the night for the Windy City crowd was rapper Leaf. One of the most entertaining female rapper/singers out there, Leaf kept the crowd entertained and definitely set the mood for the rest of the night. The new emerging queen of New York, Leaf is certainly an artist to watch in 2016.
Next up was singer Craig Stickland, a member of Alessia’s band but a man with a sound of his own. With his guitar in hand, and the screams of the crowd guiding him on, the highlight of Stickland’s set came when the sold-out crowdspontaneously brought out their cell phone lights to set the mood for one of Stickland’s slower records, a first on this tour Stickland told the crowd.
Following Stickland and Leaf was singer Kevin Garrett, a critical favorite when it comes to emerging artists in the new year. An indie pop musician out of Pittsburg, PA, Garrett performed a few tracks from his acclaimed 2015 EP, Mellow Drama, which was released in April of last year. Garrett’s electronic sounds and soothing vocals foreshadow Garrett’s eventual takeover of his share of the indie pop world.
After three great opening performances, the crowd could not wait for Alessia’s headlining set. You could tell that the standing room crowd was at the edge of their seat, so to speak of course, anxious about Alessia’s appearance for the night. The crowd was well aware that Cara was forced to cancel the night before, so when she finally hit the stage, Chicago felt more than lucky. And throughout the show, you could not have guessed that Cara’s beautiful voice wasn’t at it’s absolute best. Even at 90%, 95%, wherever she was last night, Cara’s vocals carried through The Metro like no other artist could. Throughout the night she performed some of her best records, off her 2014 Four Pink Walls EP and her debut album, Know-It-All, where the North American tour gets its name. Highlights of her set included her softer ballads, her energetic performance of ‘Seventeen’, and of course her performance of her #1 hit single, ‘Here’.
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Check out our photos from Alessia Cara’s Know-It-All tour below.
It took just one single for Zayn Malik to seperate his sound from that of his former group, One Direction. While the rest of his former band are just now figuring out what’s next, Malik, now simply under the name “ZAYN”, has a head start on his solo career. His new record and visuals ‘PILLOWTALK’ are not only something that 1D would never get a green light from the label to put out, but it’s a great and seductive first record, and a window into what we can expect for Zayn’s new sound.
And not only is the record itself hot, but the music video to go with it is steamy as well. Directed by Bouha Kazmi, Zayn co-stars in the video across from rumored girlfriend, model Gigi Hadid. While the kiss the two share will definitely keep people talking, it’s the music itself that makes this track special.
J. Cole’s “Forest Hills Drive” Tour was easily one of our favorite tours, if not our favorite tour, of 2014. With opening performances from Dreamville, Jeremih, YG and Big Sean, and an amazing headlining set from J. Cole himself, the lineup was stacked top to bottom. And while live albums before were normally reserved for huge rock tours, J. Cole again decided to not play by the normal rules of music, and we couldn’t be more thankful.
Performing his entire 2014 Forest Hills Drive LP, including a little bonus during the ‘Intermission’ track, J. Cole’s new live album will make you feel like you were right there in the audience. And if you missed Cole’s acclaimed tour, don’t worry, because you can get your butt to Tennessee this summer and catch Cole’s headlining performance at Bonnaroo, which will surely be one of the most talked about performances from the 4-day festival.
Download Forest Hills Drive: Live from Fayetteville, NChere and check out our photos from the “Forest Hills Drive” Tour below!
The Early Registration 