Chicago Hip Hop

Yessir. The Second City has been much maligned when it comes to its perceived dearth of rap talent. My personal theory is that the negative perception of the city's hip hop scene is based on the fact that there were never any recognizable "crews" that hailed from Chicago. New York had Bad Boy and Rock-a-fella, the dirty had Cash Money, and the West Coast had Death Row, among others. Hell, even Minneapolis has Rhymesayers. To my knowledge, Chicago has never had any of that. However, hip hop is alive and well around here, and I've divided the scene into four groups. Please, please, feel free to point out notable rappers that I've missed, as I'm sure there will be many.

The Locals
There are a number of hip hop acts around Chicago that have signed national recording deals but are really only well known locally. In this group I'd place The Cool Kids, Million Dollar Mano, He Say She Say, Mic Terror, Hollywood Holt, Rhymefest, Typical Cats, and Diverse. The first five acts represent a new movement in local hip hop that has been embraced by the indie scene. The Cool Kids are at the forefront of this group that has supplanted acts like Typical Cats and Rhymefest locally. These guys have a decidedly old school style that is pretty enjoyable. Million Dollar Mano and He Say She Say go a little more electronic with things, and could be classified as something other than hip hop. Here's Hollywood Holt's somewhat ridiculous video for "Throw a Kit":



Diverse is a recent find of mine. His flow is tremendous, like Mos Def on crack. Additionally, his debut album, One AM, features numerous tracks produced by RJD2 and Prefuse 73, two of my favorite DJs. Released in 2003, the album is a must have for serious hip hop fans.

The Veterans
Two rappers are primarily thought of when music fans think of "classic" Chicago hip hop: Common and Twista. Common is the introspective rapper with the meaningful lyrics that critics and rap snobs love. Twista is the party rap all star with the motor mouth. I love em both. Common's Resurrection is a seminal rap album of the early '90s. But his recent releases are solid too. 2008's Universal Mind Control is very good, and there are some pop rap highlights to go with the deeper stuff. Twista's been around almost as long: Adrenaline Rush and Mobstability are classics, and 2004's Kamikaze was a serious comeback for a rapper who had become less known for his own albums and more of a guest artists on other people's tracks.

The Newcomer
Lupe Fiasco emerged on the scene in 2006 as the skateboard riding youngin with Food and Liquor, a tremendous album. Lupe has only gotten more famous since then: I saw him do a set in a parking lot in the Loop for Columbia College's graduation celebration in early 2007 with only his local rapper friends to help him; at Lolla 2008 he came onstage in a full white suit with a choir, a horn section, and numerous guest appearances. 2007's The Cool was a solid follow up to Food and Liquor. Now Lupe's got his own record label. He's officially arrived as a major player in the rap game.



The Face of the Franchise
In terms of pop culture, Kanye West is more famous than all of these guys put together. Everyone knows his story by now: renowned beat maker gets a shot at rapping, hits it big with Through the Wire and The College Dropout, proceeds to become a pop culture icon, go a little crazy, express his hatred for George Bush, and generally be around way too much. What sometimes gets lost in his public persona is the fact that Kanye is a hell of a rapper. He comes up with extremely clever lyrics, has a slick delivery, and can still drop a killer beat. His recent foray into singing with autotune aside, this man's work has been stellar. Of course, Lupe and Kanye wouldn't be nearly as famous without help from Jay-Z, which kind of cheapens their Chicago street cred. But overall, the hip hop scene in Chicago is alive and well, and I urge everyone to give it a shot.

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