In a recent interview with Clique, The College Dropout himself, Kanye West, revealed that he is set to receive an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on May 11th this year. Speaking on the arts, West told Clique “I was a gifted artist since age five and won national competitions and went to art school. I’m actually getting an honorary doctorate on May (11th) from the (School of the) Art Institute of Chicago.” From attending Chicago State University and the American Academy of Art before his eventual dropout (which paved the way for his debut album), this summer Mr. West will join his late mother by soon becoming Dr. West (although an honorary doctor of course). Check out the full interview below.
Last night DJ Oreo (DJ for Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa) brought his OREOFEST experience to Reggie’s Music Joint in Chicago. And pretty much the whole city was in attendance, as Oreo brought out some of the biggest emerging names in Chicago rap music. OREOFEST saw performances by Katie Got Bandz, Alex Wiley, Z-Money, Lil Herb, Bandman Kevi, Leather Corduroys (SAVEMONEY), Ego, Cago Leek, MoBo The Great and more! Check out our photos below as The Early Registration’s Jesus Montero was there to capture some of the night’s best moments.
Listen to Joey Bada$$ new Flying Lotus produced track ‘Perception VS Reality’, released less than a couple of months after Joey’s debut album B4.Da.$$ (check out review here). In perception you would assume this track would be a great collaboration, and it reality… it still is a pretty awesome collab, which premiered earlier this week on BBC Radio 1. Check it out for yourself below.
Last night OVO Sound‘s PARTYNEXTDOOR brought his North American tour (which closes tonight in Minneapolis) to The Rave in Milwaukee, WI. Performing a number of tracks from his self titled project and its PARTYNEXTDOOR 2 sequel, PND brought his R&B party to the sold-out crowd. Check out our photos below as The Early Registration’s Dan Garcia was there to catch the best moments of the night, and if you’re overseas you can still catch PND’s European leg of the tour (which kicks March 24th in Oslo).
Listen to Kendrick Lamar’s new To Pimp a Butterfly track ‘King Kunta’. ‘King Kunta’ is produced by Sounwave and has been described as having a movie-like quality by the likes of Pharrell, Peter Rosenberg and more. To Pimp A Butterfly drops on March 23rd, so get ready and pre-order it now on iTunes. Stream ‘King Kunta’ here while you still can.
Last night Milwaukee rapper WebsterX, threw a send odd to SXSW at Fire on Water in Milwaukee with his “New Age Narcissism Road Trip” show. Performing some new music, as well as tracks from his Desperate Youth project, WebsterX got the Milwaukee crowd hype before his travels to Austin. Check out our photos of the ‘doomsday’ rapper’s performance below, and if you’ll be in Texas for SXSW this month, you can catch WebsterX at Jack White’s Third Man Records Showcase and the Gravitas Recordings & Banjos to Beats’ Air Up There Showcase (details below).
Check out REVOLT‘s in-studio footage of the making of Kanye West’s So Help Me God track ‘All Day‘. In what was just one of the many sessions where Kanye worked on the track, as he had been working on the track since last summer (and perhaps still is), and Diddy even makes a brief appearance to give feedback. Watch the video below.
After teasing fans for months via Twitter, Death Grips’ label Harvest has officially announced that the powers that b will finally come out on March 17. You can pre-order the vinyl edition of the album here, where after pre-ordering you’ll be able to download the group’s previously released single ‘Inanimate Sensation’.
Watch the video for the single released back in December below:
Two big name rappers with Chicago roots, Chance the Rapper and Ludacris (Oak Park, IL), surprised Chicago Public Schools students this week with a surprise appearance at Alcott College Prep, for the “Get Schooled, Get Connected” program. So far the program has been very successful, which helps connect youth across the country with online educational resources to help with their high school to college transition. It is always great to see Chance give back to the community, as this is just one of many events that Chance the Rapper has hosted or attended to give back to the Chicago youth. Check out some photos below, as friend of the site Jesus Montero was there to capture some of the best moments from the event.
Although it was believed that the Rich Gang rappers (Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan) were still on good terms, despite the news that Rich Homie Quan was stepping away from Rich Gang, there may be trouble in paradise. During a recent stop on Thugger and Travis Scott’s Rodeo Tour, Young Thug stopped to talk to his fans about Rich Homie Quan “Bitch Homie Quan”, as Thug called him. Check out the video below for yourself, but things may really be falling apart for Birdman (stay tuned for more details).
The Early Registration 