14 Beats is a weekly playlist and music commentary series curated by Associate Editor Aneesah Shealey Yo! What’s good, Chicago? Welcome to 14 Beats, a..
It is no secret that Black women have made their mark on music in 2020, especially in rap. I have never seen such a year..
Halloween 2019. After a raucous midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a packed Music Box Theatre (remember those days?), my dehydrated, sobered..
Rap took over the 2010s. Nearly every genre, from pop to jazz, embraced instruments like the hi-hat and 808 drums. The nation was introduced to..
This is a man’s world and hip hop is typically regarded as a young man’s game. Since hip hop’s start in the 1970s as an..
“Everybody wanted ‘Yandhi’/Then Jesus Christ did the laundry,” Kanye West raps on his long-awaited album, Jesus is King. In September of last year, West was..
“I’m not just a rapper,” Femdot said to me. “I’m not just a scientist,” Femi said to me. Femi Adigun would sit next to me..
Oil paint smears across the canvas, bringing to life an image of Chance The Rapper Justin Bevente, a 21-year-old from the Chicago suburbs, devotes much..
