Category Archives: News

Concert Review: Alex Metric Supports Zedd and Dillion Francis in Chicago

BY TER STAFF

Photo by Allie Foraker

Last night, Alex Metric performed for thousands at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago, IL, while the British DJ/producer supported EDM superstars Zedd and Dillon Francis (and surprise guest Martin Garrix) on their huge North American tour. Starting the party right and kicking off everyone’s Halloween weekend, Metric got everyone on their feet, whether they were an established fan of the legendary London-based producer for years or whether they just became a fan last night.

Chicago was one of the first cities to get to experience Metric’s brand new EP live. The fourth piece of his Ammunition series, Ammunition Pt. 4 is a collective of five huge new records that were designed to get the whole world moving. Whether it’s a house party down the road at the University of Illinois-Chicago or the UIC Pavilion last night, Ammunition Pt. 4  is what every bass head needs in their life right now.

As the crowd (made primarily of UIC students) filled in to find their seats, and you can bet that not one seat was actually sat on throughout the night, everyone was feeling the music to Metric’s blend of Ammunition Pt. 4 and some of his earlier mixes. Metric’s appearance was modest and simple, looking like a laid back everyday guy in his black t-shirt, but his music was far from average.

His music was impossible not to dance to, as his show was dedicated to constant movement of light, sound, and the audience. Metric isn’t just a shadow spinning beats. The arena also played complement to the performance. The music was louder than you could imagine and you could feel the bass vibrating throughout the arena and into your bones in the best way possible, especially during Metric’s own remix of ‘Lean On’, perhaps the highlight of his set.

Whether the crowd was being mesmerized by the trippy visuals in the backdrop, or whether they were swaying their hands in unison side-to-side like waves from Lake Michigan, Metric was like a club’s best bartender, in that his sole job was to keep the party going. And with such being the case, Alex Metric is due for a promotion because the party got off to a great start and made the jobs for Zedd and Dillion Francis that much easier.


Check out Metric’s new EP here, and check out even more music at his official Soundcloud.

Concert Review: Halsey Performs at The Vic Theatre in Chicago

BY JESUS MONTERO

Photo by Jesus Montero/The Early Registration
Photo by Jesus Montero/The Early Registration

On the edge of becoming today’s biggest breakout artist, Halsey brought her Badlands tour to her familiar crowd of Chicago, at The Vic Theatre last night. Originally a one night stop, an additional day was added due to a sold out venue. In just a span of one year, Halsey has exploded into the mainstream limelight and has taken the world by storm, become a voice of this generation.

We first saw Halsey this past summer in support of the Imagine Dragons’ Smoke + Mirrors tour and Halsey then was set for stardom. Since then the young New Jersey artist has had quite the year. Dropping her debut album Badlands, the world has heard how Halsey sounds and they love it. Debuting at number 2 on the charts, right behind The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness, Badlands was well received by critics and fans alike.

Halsey’s growing popularity is well-deserved, it’s also setting her up for many milestones. Just this week alone, Halsey made a major announcement, that she will be ending her tour at the legendary Madison Square Garden. She also announced her collaboration with Justin Bieber on his new song ‘The Feeling’, which is produced by Skrillex and set to debut on his forthcoming album.

With a packed Vic Theatre, filled with insanely loved Halsey fans, Halsey put on a shot so mesmerizing that you had to be there to believe it.

Opening the night was indie pop band, Flor, from Los Angeles. Flor members Zach grace, McKinley Kitts, Kyle Hill and Dylan William warmed up the sold out crowd with their indie pop melodies. Originally from Hood River, Oregon, this young band took a leap of faith and moved to L.A. for a chance at music stardom. With much success in a short time, Flor has released many songs through their Soundcloud and now they are leaving Chicago with new fans. Their setlist included: ‘Get Behind This’, ‘Warm Blood’, ‘Ocean, Gotta Give’, ‘Back Again’, ‘Unsaid’ and ‘Heart’.

Halsey’s set was northing short of mesmerizing. Her fierce delivery was met with sheer passion her live performance. She captivated the audience s they sang word-for-word for every one of Halsey’s songs throughout the night. The Vic Theatre’s dim lighting created a personal feeling that complemented well with Halsey’s special demeanor. Performing a number of records from her debut album, Halsey also featured songs from her Room 93 EP.

Halsey’s set list for the night included: ‘Gasoline’, ‘Hold Me Down’, ‘Castle’, ‘Strange Love’, ‘Haunting’, ‘Roman Holiday’, ‘Control’, ‘Drive’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Is There Somewhere’, ‘Colors’, ‘Hurricane’, ‘New Americana’, ‘Young God’, and ‘Young Die’ for her encore.

Only time can tell how big Halsey will get with her unique sound and personality. One driving factor in Halsey’s success is her incredibly passionate fan base. Many fans relate to Halsey for her real and troubling material in her songs. A true voice to this generation, Halsey speaks for many that are captivated by her music.


Check out more photos (by Jesus Montero/The Early Registration) below and see if Halsey is coming to a city near you here.

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Watch the Chilling Visuals for Lawrence Rothman’s “Oz v. Eden”

BY TER STAFF

Even with Halloween just days away, we promise you will not see anything else like Lawrence Rothman’s music video for ‘Oz v. Eden’, a record which will be available everywhere on November 6th. With additional backup vocals from Charli XCX, the California artist’s new record is expected on his forthcoming album, which you can look out for in 2016 and will feature Angel Olsen, Kim Gordon and Ariel Pink. The new visuals are chilling, freaky, shouldn’t be watched alone and amazing all at once!

Watch the visuals for ‘Oz v. Eden’ below.

Continue reading Watch the Chilling Visuals for Lawrence Rothman’s “Oz v. Eden”

Watch Kendrick Lamar’s New 8-Minute Music Video for “These Walls”

BY TER STAFF

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

Days after catching Kendrick Lamar’s headlining performance at the WGCI Big Jam 2015 (check out our photos here), we know have the TDE rapper’s new music video, for his To Pimp a Butterfly record, ‘These Walls’ ft. Bilal, Thundercat and Anna Wise. This one is closer to a short film though than it is a music video, as the visuals come in at just over eight minutes long! So as you can expect, this is not a video that you want to miss on as it is one of the best tracks off TPAB, which will surely find itself on a ton of year end lists within the next couple months.

Watch the official music video for ‘These Walls’ below, and if you’re late to the party you can get To Pimp a Butterfly now on iTunes.

Continue reading Watch Kendrick Lamar’s New 8-Minute Music Video for “These Walls”

New Music: Alessia Cara – “Wild Things”

BY TER STAFF

alessiacara

Just a few months ago we interviewed the young and talented, Alessia Cara. Among many things we talked about her then forthcoming EP, Four Pink Walls (check out our review here). While we were instantly excited for her debut project, we couldn’t have guessed that the ‘Here’ singer’s debut album would already come this year. Titled, Know-It-All, Alessia will be competing with the likes of One Direction and Justin Bieber with a November 13th release for her debut album. Don’t expect her to compete in terms of sales, but you shouldn’t be surprised if the singer’s debut is the best project to drop that Friday.

In anticipation of her big release, Alessia has shared the album’s new single, ‘Wild Things’. A record she has performed live a number of times on her press circuit for Four Pink Walls, ‘Wild Things’ is another great record from the Canadian singer , in addition to the five tracks she shared to fans with her EP.

Stream ‘Wild Things’ below and pre-order Know-It-All now!

Continue reading New Music: Alessia Cara – “Wild Things”

Photos: WGCI Big Jam (Kendrick Lamar, Future, Vic Mensa, Rae Sremmurd, Meek Mill & More)

BY DAN GARCIA

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

Last night could not have gone any better if you were a rap fan in Chicago, as the WGCI Big Jam delivered! Bringing the biggest lineup in rap to the Windy City, the United Center saw some amazing performances from Chicago’s Vic Mensa, Twista, Do Or Die, Crucial Conflict and Lil Durk, as well as sets from Monica, Bryshere Y. Gray (Hakeem from Empire), Omarion, Rae Sremmurd, Meek Mill, Future and Kendrick Lamar. The night was full of dancing, surprises, and most importantly some great live music! From seeing records like ‘Feel That’, ‘Overnight Celebrity’ and ‘No Type’ performed live, to watching Future and Kendrick kill their headlining sets, the Big Jam will certainly have trouble topping itself in 2016.

Check out our photos of the Big Jam below.

Continue reading Photos: WGCI Big Jam (Kendrick Lamar, Future, Vic Mensa, Rae Sremmurd, Meek Mill & More)

Photos: Mac Miller Brings The GO:OD AM Tour to Indianapolis

BY TER STAFF

Photo by Khalid Ali/The Early Registration
Photo by Khalid Ali/The Early Registration

Last night, Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller brought The GO:OD AM Tour to the Egyptian Room at the Old National Centre in Indianapolis. Miller was joined by his GO:OD AM tourmates GoldLink, Odd Future’s Domo Genesis and The Come-Up. Mac performed a number of his hits, including his hit single and college favorite, ‘Donald Trump’, as well as number of tracks from his new LP, GO:OD AM, of which his 2015 tour get its name. While Miller maintains a lot of his fan base from his early mixtapes, his music has continued to develop throughout his latest full length projects and his stage presence is no different. Simply put, Mac kills it on stage!

Check out our photos below (and our photos from Mac’s Madison tour stop here) and make sure you get your tickets for The GO:OD AM tour before they are all sold out!

Continue reading Photos: Mac Miller Brings The GO:OD AM Tour to Indianapolis

10 Songs We Need to Hear at the WGCI Big Jam

BY TER STAFF

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

The WGCI Big Jam is only days away, as your favorite rappers are headed to the United Center for the Windy City’s biggest rap show of the year. With scheduled performances from Kendrick Lamar, Future, Meek Mill, Omarion, Rae Sremmurd, Lil Durk, Dej Loaf, Monica, Twista, Do or Die, Chicago’s own Vic Mensa and many more, you need to be at the house that Michael Jordan built this weekend. And like any great music fan, we have already started to think about the songs that we absolutely NEED to hear this Sunday.

Hit the jump and check out our list of the 10 songs that we need to hear at the WGCI Big Jam, and if you haven’t yet, get your tickets now while you still can!

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Rapper Rhymefest Sheds Light on Autism in Rap: Exploitation of Chief Keef

BY TER STAFF

Photo by Jesus Montero/The Early Registration
Photo by Jesus Montero/The Early Registration

Autism is a rarely talked about subject in the rap world. Although studies show that nearly 1 in 68 have some form of autism in the U.S., you don’t hear about a rapper with Asperger’s or a bipolar disorder, for example. And while some have debated whether their favorite rapper may suffer from autism or not (Kanye West and Travis Scott, to name a couple), rapper Rhymefest has shed some light on the issue in relation to Chicago’s own, drill rapper Chief Keef.

Although others before have speculated whether Chief Keef may suffer from autism, Rhymefest is fully convinced and has issue with how Keef is used by many in the music industry. “He’s exploited,” said Rhymefest. “I think many rappers these days have afflictions, such as Asperger’s, bipolar disorder, or autism. They need advocates, but we turn it into entertainment. The media is turning autism into entertainment.”

Rhymefest continued to say, “When I look at Chief Keef, I clearly see someone who has autism. Look at the way his face is structured, or his insensitivity to violence. He needs an advocate. But someone put him out there and exploited that child.”

Despite a slight controversy from a J. Cole lyric, where he rapped “I’m artistic, you niggas is autistic, retarded”, autism is almost never talked about in rap music, and Rhymefest certainly has a point. Should someone step in and speak up for rappers who have have autism, and as an result are exploited? Or should everyone just step back and let rappers like Chief Keef (who may or may not have a form of autism) speak for themselves, even if they are being exploited or promoting a bad message when doing so?

TDE Rapper Jay Rock Releases Music Video for “The Ways”

BY TER STAFF

Courtesy of Break On a Cloud

Every rapper from Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) has a very nostalgic vibe to them. And in his new music video, for his record ‘The Ways’, rapper Jay Rock is taking us back to the BET Uncut era of rap videos. Full of strippers, fat asses, and throwing singles, Jay Rock’s new visuals definitely have an influence from ratchet rap videos, circa Ludacris’ ‘P-Poppin”. From Jay Rock’s sophomore LP, 90059, ‘The Ways’ will definitely take you back and is another great record from TDE’s most underrated artist.

Watch Jay Rock’s music video for ‘The Ways’ below.

Continue reading TDE Rapper Jay Rock Releases Music Video for “The Ways”