More trax (some that I missed again from the weekend), but now I’m all caught up. Truthfully, most of them is in one ear, out the other while I was multitasking and lookin’ for a cool pic of T.I. (and found one where he’s sporting the same mini goatee that I’ve been rockin’… jyea!) “On Top Of The World” is from Paper Trail and this “RMX” has an added verse from B.O.B. The song in general is growing on me and it’s definitely worth the preview/DL 2 check out the new verse (that is at the beginning also). Other than that, nothin’ really caught me on 1st listen other then some of Mic Terror’s clever lines about what he would do if he were God. That’s a solid track from the Chicago rapper for sure! There’s also some videos below featuring Mickey Factz, The Cool Kids, Lupe Fiasco, & Common! Enjoy!
Definitely the busiest weekend in awhile for me (and I’ll eventually have a post dedicated to a part of the reason why.. stay tuned) so allow me 2 catch up and post some loose ends from the weekend. We’ll start with some heavy heat from the Chi, with the video premiere of the summer smash “Universal Mind Control” by Common f/ Pharrell. As is the song, the video has a very futuristic, predominantly bright white setting and makes for quite the unique watch compared 2 ur everyday video. Hopin’ for more news on Common’s album soon; can’t wait! Down below, the first 2 trax are “Swagga Like Us” RMXs featuring a bevy of Chicago artists. I like Mikkey Halsted’s verse on the “Swagga Like Chi” version the most, but our boy S-Preme steals the show with his 3rd verse in “The Super Duper Song”. Try if you can catch every Chicago rapper he gives love 2 with his clever play on all of their names. Straight up ridiculous. And finally, we got some NEW Ludacris & T-Pain and R&B f/ Sterling Simms, Avant, Christina Milian, & Casely as well as Lupe Fiasco talking 2 MTV. Enjoy!
I’d also suggest the illVibes Love Lockdown RMX called “Love Rolex” for a nice change of pace on the original. Big ups 2 illVibes for the love as well.
My brief hiatus is finally over, (haha, been mad busy the last couple days, sry!) and as I’m sure many ppl know by now, our hometown Chicago Bulls made it official last nite, making hometown prince Derrick Rose the number 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft! As u can imagine, I’m beyond excited for Rose (nice suit btw, Derrick) in Chicago and the entire city is buzzing about the homecoming of the best Chicago high school player in years! Yes, it’s off-topic but as big basketball and Chicago fans, it is quite an exciting day for us and an exciting weekend as well with the Crosstown Rivalry starting up again as well as the Taste Of Chicago (see below.) And Chicago remains the theme for this post as I gotcha all caught up on the latest music from some of Chicago’s finest MCs (props 2 FSD & Boogz!) NEW, unreleased (quite possibly records from years ago, however) music featuring Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West (pre-accident), Rhymefest, Mikkey Halsted, Bump J as well as Chicago’s finest R&B group, One Chance! A bunch of Tibs Favs 2 be had below, as the listener can really see the talent of Lupe & Kanye at such a young stage in their careers with the below trax. Also make sure 2 get the A-Trak / LUPE version of “Me & My Sneakers” in the post below.. straight up ridiculous! I threw up a lil’ Kidz In The Hall video as well as they just completed a tour out in Europe! Below that, MORE NEW music featuring some of the mainstream artists with Usher covering One Chance, Nas, Joe Budden, and maybe my favorite track outta that bunch, Gym Class Heroes collaborating w/ The Dream! Plenty 2 DL and plenty 2 like, so check it all out below! Enjoy!
Above are a couple Chicago tidbits with the hilarious rap battle between the famous managers of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox - Lou Piniella and Ozzie Guillen. Both are funny for their own reasons and a quick view of that 30 second commercial spot that’s been airing here will simply show u how. (Cubs lose 2day but still up 3-1 in the season series!). Also, it warrants mentioning that the world’s largest food festival starts 2day - the 28th annual Taste Of Chicago! The festival features food from the various, unique restaurants around Chicago, dipping into all forms of ethnicity, and also includes many outdoor activities. The one most relevant 2 u Chicagoland readers is the musical performers each day of the Taste (June 27th-July 6th) and the notable ones include Estelle on July 2nd, Joss Stone on July 1st, and Stevie Wonder 2morrow on June 28th! So if u are planning on going 2 the Taste, but don’t know which day yet, maybe one of those would be a good time for ya! It’s a good time for everyone and a good time 2 vacation 2 Chicago! And maybe you’ll see us there!
***Scroll down below for 2day’s NEW MUSIC f/ a Lupe Fiasco/GemStones collaboration & MORE! Our editorial will be on top all day! Give it a read ;)***
(Originally published 06.10.08 @ 6:28AM)
GWHH are now the officially proclaimed Hip Hop Examiners for the city of Chicago. We Pioneers are on the forefront of a new wave of change. Not only could I reference the Obama campaign, the rise of Gas prices, the rebirth of Hip Hop, but no; what I speak on is the wave of knowledge and information. People all over the country will change how they receive their daily information about…well Life. What I’m referring to is what will be another “home” of ours, called the Examiner.com. We will still be grindin’ with GWHH of course, but now we will also update periodically on:
as the city of Chicago’s Hip Hop Examiners! The Examiner is kind of like a newspaper, but online. What makes it so unique are the Examiners themselves. The site will cover every major city, with “Examiners” providing the people their knowledge about their certain region & specialty. Examiners are people who specialize in a certain field, and share their knowledge with the world. For example, there will be Political, Film, Entertainment, Beer, Gardening, and etc. etc. Examiners for every major city! We are Chicago’s Hip Hop Examiners. For the Examiner we will try to keep it strictly Chicago, so we reach out to the Chicago community to send us any underground, mainstream, art related, event related, Chicago Hip Hop and R&B content for our consideration to post on the Examiner - Chicago. Although the site is in it’s Beta stages; it will soon run full throttle expanding to 60 + cities with much more exposure than GWHH has right now. We here believe that it will change how the country gets its daily information. We strongly recommend for artists, fans, and promoters to reach out to our new Examiner email address at GWHHExaminer@gmail.com with undeniable Chicago Hip Hop and R&B content. It promises great exposure for the city of Chicago. Help us help the city!
So without further adieu, check our first post on the Examiner here, and make sure to subscribe to our page & visit us daily like you do here at GWHH. We will keep you updated with new Examiner information; it’s stages of completion along with its world premiere launch date, and any other important GWHH news!
Big Warm Thank You to all our viewers for the support & love on our past, current, & future endeavors from all of us here at GWHH! [Max G]
For our first post on Examiner.com, we felt it necessary to share our thoughts on what Chicago means to hip hop and how Chicago is a reflected in the artist’s work. While Chicago has always been represented in hip hop through the years by long-time legends like Common and Twista, it has been overshadowed through hip hop’s rise to the mainstream public by other cities like New York City, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. In fact, the city was not considered a prominent hip hop center until the past few years, in large part due to the mainstream success of Chicago native, Kanye West, who is without a doubt the hottest MC in the game today. But before we discuss the specific impact of Chicago hip hop artists, the characteristics of Chicago hip hop must first be defined. Chicago hip hop is a unique, fresh contribution to the genre through the artist’s experiences being poured out through intricate, metaphoric lyrics, usually at such a break-neck pace that creates a trademark fast flow (like twisting your words with the syllables), all spit over jazzy beats, which are partly inspired by the city’s strong jazz influence. Chicago’s energetic culture rubs off on the sound and character of the artist and what makes the most successful artists from the Go even more unique is the mentality and experiences that growing up in the city creates, which is displayed in the artist’s work. In Chicago, nothing is handed to you; you have to go out, make your own moves, earn respect, pay your dues, until the point where your talent, your skills cannot be denied. The hard work the artist puts in will gain exposure and connections one way or the other and then the sky’s the limit. These artists stay true to themselves and their city and do so in their own way, by not conforming to industry standards just to blow up and get paid, rather being themselves as an artist and a person.
The last statement rings true in the city’s biggest rap stars - Kanye West, Common, Twista, & Lupe Fiasco. Kanye… do we even have to say anything? He made a name for himself for being so different, so outlandish, so passionate… and we can go on. Common… throughout the years he has stayed within himself as an artist, allowed himself to grow and express his experiences through intelligent, conscious lyrics that have put him on the short list of hip hop’s all-time greatest lyricists. Twista… he gained attention because of his undeniable talent of rapping at such a high pace, earning Guiness World Record status. And perhaps the newest, freshest face to come out of Chicago, Lupe Fiasco… spitting conscious lyrics on worldwide issues in such a fresh, never before seen fashion while humbly gaining attention for him and his label of artists. And that’s not to mention other notable names doing their thing throughout the years with artists like Rhymefest and GemStones on the cusp of mainstream success, artists like The Cool Kids and Kidz In The Hall with Chicago ties, holding down the underground sound of hip hop in general, and many other names past and present that dip into various sub-genres of hip hop like Do Or Die, Crucial Conflict, Da Brat, Shawnna, Yung Berg, Bump J, The Legendary Traxster, GLC, Really Doe, Mikkey Halsted, Psychodrama, Qualo, & Bullet just to name a few.
When the genre of hip hop was in such a downward spiral that some of its greats were calling it ‘dead’, it was Chicago that was the central reason for its resurrection. To quote from our exclusive interview with Chicago rapper GemStones, “When hip hop was on life support, I believe Chicago is the reason the plug didn’t get pulled.” We cannot agree more with that statement because of the impact of guys like Kanye, Common, and Lupe on not only Chicago but other artists outside Chicago who kept doing things their own way and keeping a positive and meaningful perspective in hip hop. The way they were doing it, expressing themselves as an artist and a person through fresh lyrics that connect to the people really brought some freshness back to hip hop, when it was sorely needed since people were tiring of the bling, rims, etc. that defined hip hop in the early part of the decade. In the process of what we believe was saving hip hop, these artists paid respect and homage to the city that helped develop them as an artist and as a person. They know Chicago helped form them into the person and artist we see today and with pride and passion, they recorded Chicago anthems that evoke some of the similar emotions in Chicago’s citizens and their fans. And you can download these anthems below! Yes, we know there are many more songs dedicated to the city of Chicago, but it is these three artists that we feel helped progress hip hop and Chicago the most. (Max G. also added some videos that were shot in Chicago and evoke the same sense of hometown pride!) These songs never get old… CHI-Town UP! Enjoy! [Sgt. Tibs]
Pimpin’ is a major part of the city, so we got them pimp songs right below! Also if interested read about Chicago’s most infamous pimp, Don “Magic” Juan HERE.
I had 2 roll thru this awesome post by Max G. with some recent trax f/ Chicago’s The Cool Kids & Teejay that I’ve been meaning 2 post. It’s nothin’ but more heat from our hometown so simply DL above and below! Enjoy!
HAH! Who says this ain’t a CHI-Town thing?? Btw… GO CUBS GO!
Check out the latest mixtape from another rising Chicago hip hop artist - Bump J! You might remember Bump J from the 2004 Kanye West produced hit “Move Around”, well, since then Bump J has yet 2 blow up, but he’s still well on his way. Overall the mixtape is def solid and worth a DL below, although nothin’ matches “Move Around”, haha. Bump J reps it hard, but he still comes with some nice, clever lines. My fav. track of the whole mixtape is “So In Love”. Anyway, DL the latest of another one of Chi-Town’s up and comers! Enjoy!
NOTE: My uploads are literally going up by .001% and then stalling - so frustrating, so I just borrowed a link. Sry for that and the delay.
01. Dinner Time
02. Bad Influence
03. Roof Back
04. I Can Handle That *Tibs Fav.
05. The Real Is Back
06. No New Niggaz
07. My World *Tibs Fav.
08. Chevy Fresh Out
09. It’s The Chief *Tibs Fav.
10. Put You Up On Game f/ Shawnna & Teddy Kane *Tibs Fav.
11. So In Love f/ Miesha *Tibs Fav.
12. We Rockin’ N Rollin’ f/ Teddy Kane
13. Shine *Tibs Fav.
14. Sly Polaroid - Deep In The Streets
3 NEW T.I. Trax - MORE Loose Ends
but still up 3-1 in the season series!). Also, it warrants mentioning that the world’s largest food festival starts 2day - the 28th annual Taste Of Chicago! The festival features food from the various, unique restaurants around Chicago, dipping into all forms of ethnicity, and also includes many outdoor activities. The one most relevant 2 u Chicagoland readers is the musical performers each day of the Taste (June 27th-July 6th) and the notable ones include Estelle on July 2nd, Joss Stone on July 1st, and Stevie Wonder 2morrow on June 28th! So if u are planning on going 2 the Taste, but don’t know which day yet, maybe one of those would be a good time for ya! It’s a good time for everyone and a good time 2 vacation 2 Chicago! And maybe you’ll see us there! 
