The above video is an interesting one featuring Lupe Fiasco - an interesting, well done piece on black skateboarders in NYC, featuring a lil’ cameo by Lupe Fiasco describing his skateboarding anthem, “Kick, Push”. The skaters discuss its impact and relevance on skateboarding since the release and the video also includes footage of some neat tricks, of course!
Mikkey Halsted Freestyle
Ben One “Never Leave My Girl” f/ Shawnna
VIDEO PREMIERE!
Blu & Exile LIVE @ The Henry Fonda Music Box
Above are a few videos of some up and coming artists - CHI-Town’s own Mikkey Halsted ripping a sick freestyle, fellow Chicago artist - Ben One with his first video premiere featuring Shawnna, and a Blu & Exile LIVE performance! Below u can check out a few NEW trax with the highlight including the fly T.I. pictured below on the remix of the next Mariah Carey single, “I’ll Be Loving U Long Time”. I’ve never been thaaat high on Mariah, but I love everything T.I. and this track is definitely a nice one as T.I. (not T.I.P.) rips his verse with his usual lady-friendly swag and fits in over the laid-back DJ Toomp beat nicely. Sry for such a short blurb, but I’ma call it 1 soon. Big ups 2 KG, The Truth, Ray Allen & the Boston Celtics for winning the franchise’s 17th NBA Championship in dominant fashion (hence the Celtic green for 2day’s links.. haha!) Enjoy!
***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]
Producer: Mark Ronson - FULL, Radio Rip, Track off upcoming album, Nas (rumored title)*Tibs Fav.
More NEW Nas for ya ears, but this track featuring more Mark Ronson than Nas, ugh. Remember when Mark Ronson leaked “Stronger” last summer and for a couple days, the full track was out there but with similar shoutouts and his annoying voice over a ton of the track? Well, this is like that, but I guess it’s the only way he can leak it w/o the artist’s consent (he did produce it, however). Idk, I’m not sure how those things work anyway, but I like what I hear from Nas & Busta above, what I can hear at least, and I’m sure the full, CDQ version will hit us soon. Below, check out a couple more hip hop trax f/ Yung Berg and Dem Franchise Boyz (f/ Lloyd) and a couple R&B trax I enjoy from Mario & Junior! I also suggest u get 2 know Keri Hilson a little more with the promo video at the bottom… she’s a very talented artist and writer and her debut album, In A Perfect World… is hitting stores in September! U can learn more about the upcoming album and u may be surprised 2 see where u’ve seen Keri HIlson before…! Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, Track off upcoming album, Seeing Sounds, in stores 06.10 (U.S.) *Tibs Fav.
“Really Amazing…Love Bomb, You Know What,
Sooner Or Later are all instant classics…
Windows is fun as hell…
and everything comes across even better live…
LOVE BOMB IS AMAZING…thats 3 amazings…”
- Lupe Fiasco, describing N*E*R*D’s upcoming album, Seeing Sounds
Don’t just take it from me, take it from Lupe Fiasco as Seeing Sounds is approaching release, enjoy a couple trax off the album! Lupe is dead on about “Love Bomb” as the song conveys an interesting, thought-provoking message over a mellow melody. Pharrell sings it and the song is immediately ear-catching with an attractive chorus and an instant affect lyrically. The lyrics aren’t as straight forward tho as it takes a few listens 2 grasp what Pharrell is sayin’ here. The other full track u can find on GWHH - “Time For Some Action” really displays the group’s unique production and makes for a great opening track for the album.
BELOW, check out the latest from Cleveland rapper, Chip Tha Ripper! The song has been up on his MySpace for a lil bit, but the mp3 is available for DL now! Chip definitely shows some talent in the verses, matching up with a catchy chorus that might be able 2 take off. And I’m a lil late on this (checkin’ our email, haha) but the single from Chicago R&B singer Ben One is out now and it features Shawnna (frequent Ludacris collaborator). It’s a pretty nice track and I like the lyrics above all in that song. Enjoy!
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
Lupe Fiasco Skateboarding Interview - Mariah/T.I. Collabo - MORE
