Photos by: Dartise (Additional photos: GWHH's Chris Shields & Scott Shniderman at New Era)
Last week, we threw our first of more events to come at the New Era Chicago flagship store downtown - a FREE show, nay! Experience.
Gemstones headlined "Elephant In The Room LIVE!" - the first time he performed tracks from his new mixtape (a must-DL), which included remixes of Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" and Fun's "We Are Young". Additionally, Gem performed many verses a capella style, to really drive home his eye-opening messages of building a relationship with God as well as the ills of society and the music industry. It's quite frankly the first, and only hip hip show we've all been to, that began with a blessing and ended with everyone joining hands in prayer. Yup, literally everyone. It was a powerful series of moments to say the least.
Adding to the experience was the live art during Gemstones' performance from Janeen. You can see her creation in the photos - a painting entitled "Gemstones" that was inspired by the words he was intensely delivering to the packed store. We'll have our own, in-depth video covering it all coming soon, but for now, get a glimpse of what went down with the amazing photos above and a bonus guerilla-style video of Gemstones performing "Crazy" below.
New Era & Gowhere Present: Gemstones "Elephant In The Room" LIVE with Janeen's Art
Gemstones & Janeen's Art
Fri, 2012-12-14 19:00
New Era Flagship Store (207 S. State St.)
Chicago
event producer New Era & Gowhere Hip Hop
event sponsor
For the first time ever, Gemstones will be performing tracks from his newest mixtape 'Elephant In The Room' LIVE at the New Era Flagship Store in downtown Chicago!
Powered by New Era & Gowhere, come out for a night filled with fun giveaways, Shade 45's DJ Averi Minor on the 1s & 2s, live art from Janeen Kern, and a performance from Gemstones! (with more announcements to come!)
Oh, and did we mention it's...
FREE.99!
Hope to see you there and come on by and meet our team!
Last week at New Era's downtown flagship store in Chicago, we sat down with Big Boijust before getting an exclusive listen to his upcoming album, 'Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors'!
In a collaborative video with our friends at Rap Genius, GY312 talks to Big Boi about how personal the album is to him - find out how the title is derived from the ATL emcee's grandma. We also get a genuine reaction from Big Boi about the creative GIF-style artwork for the album, the fun behind his bowling name (yup, Big Boi bowls in a league every Wednesday with his studio mates), and last but not least, a lyric from "In The A" is officially verified for Rap Genius. Catch the line in a slick graphic in the video and then hear the song for yourself here.
Lastly, catch a glimpse of the listening party itself with footage of the happenings at New Era, including a sneak peak at how the album monumentally starts off at the very end of the video. Other tracks to look out for: the fast-paced flows on the B.o.B collab "Shoes For Running", another Sleepy Brown feature that connects in "The Thickets", and (released earlier today) "She Hates Me" featuring Kid Cudi. The album has an impressive variety of sounds and I can't wait to sit down with it myself on December 11th.
One last shoutout to Rap Genius and GY312 as the groove maker just moved to NYC this weekend to build with RG. Follow 'em both closely for more major moves to come. Groove!
The Chicago flagship store for New Era just recently celebrated their 1-year anniversary as the downtown store opened its doors for a private party, complete with a mix of barbeque, cupcakes, giveaways, a DJ, and a showcase of their consistently new and fresh gear. Above is a collection of photos from New Era and an Emmy-Award winning photographer and videographer, Dartise. We enjoyed the event together with artist Janeen Kern as well. She'll be a part of an event we're presenting with New Era's Chicago store next month! Stay tuned for more details...!
