Words by Alex Gleckman (@agleckman) If you were at St. Alfred Saturday morning, you may have seen, among other things, the blood on the streets, the seizure in the front of the line, the homeless man interacting all too intimately with a tree. Not to mention the police serving and protecting, and over a hundred…
Category: Features
FSD Feature: What (The Hell) Happened To The Third Verse?
Words by Marisol “Pinqy Ring” Vélez (@PinqyRing) There’s always going to be the “Great Hip-Hop Debate.” You know it: Is Hip-Hop dead? What is “real” Hip-Hop? Is what’s on the radio right now ever going to satiate the purists palate? Isn’t Hip-Hop evolving? What’s so wrong with change? Regardless of that (seemingly endless) discourse, my qualm lies…
FSD Feature: Spenzo: Coming of Age
Interview by Bryant Bowens (@arete88) Chicago’s youngest in charge, Spenzo, has been picking up a tremendous amount of press ever since the release of his viral hit “Go In,” which reached 60k views on YouTube in less than a month. The buzz around the 16-year-old rhymesayer is growing so rapidly that multiple labels have lined up…
FSD Feature: Katie Got Bandz: Drillville
Photos by Marc Moran Interview by Leland Bonner (@LelandBFresh) In a rap world that’s largely dominated by males, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a strong push from the females. But with more and more ladies stepping up to the mic and giving their male counterparts a run for their money, it’s difficult to…
FSD Feature: Da Internz: Higher Learning
Hip-Hop is often criticized for sounding redundant. Producers find the sound of the moment, gravitate towards it, then use it and abuse it. Sounds come and go in this fickle industry — one day you’re here, baby, and then you’re gone. Exempt from this category, however, are Chicago production duo Da Internz. Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B —…
FSD Feature: Fatboi Fresh’s Five Elements Of Rap
Words by Fatboi Fresh (@BigWizIzDead) Two years ago, Mikkey Halsted asked me if I knew what the five elements of hip hop were, and I was immediately embarrassed by my lack of knowledge of the five pillars. I mean, it was after all, the thing that I’ve practically based the last 11 years of my…
FSD Feature: Chella H: Freaky Tales
Interview by Bryant Bowens (@Arete88) We can all agree that Chicago has the hip-hop world’s attention right now. It’s all eyes on us — word to Pac. The voices of the men who contribute to this movement are finally being heard on a national level — but what about the ladies? Well, if you’ve been…
FSD Feature: Segregation Nation [Part I]
Words by Marisol “Pinqy Ring” Vélez (@PinqyRing) If a newcomer were to maneuver through Chicago in its entirety, they would notice a trend that has been apparent to Chicagoans for decades: Segregation. In a city with over 200 neighborhoods, the separation of sides spans as far back as the 19th century. A study performed by the…
FSD Feature: Yung Berg vs. Christian Ward
The trajectory of Yung Berg’s career reads like movie script. After first linking up with Infared Music Group (the home of L.E.P. Bogus Boys) as a child rapper named Iceberg; he would go on to sign with DMX’s Bloodline Records during the height of X’s career. In fact, a 15-year-old Berg can be seen playing…
FSD Feature: Bo Deal: Bo Knows
Words by Arête (@arete88) Chicago’s hip-hop scene is finally getting some much-needed notoriety outside of Cook County. While every artist is contributing their fair share, some artists have been going above and beyond the call of duty. Recently, we sat down with one of the most celebrated artists in the city, Brick Squad Monopoly’s own…