DePaul Music Business Organization hosts its 4th annual Black History Month Concert at Bookclub Chicago.
As the overhead lights dim and people begin to fill the room, DePaul graduate and independent artist Bril, or Bril.0_0, takes the stage of Bookclub Chicago.
This is the first year that DePaul Music Business Organization’s (DMBO) Black History Month Concert“The Playlist” has been held in a true venue.
Bril.0_0 first became interested in music in middle school, when he learned how to play flute in band class. However, it was only in high school, after taking a music production class, when his passion for creating music was truly born.
“I was 16, and all of that kind of just turned into me making my own music and then finally getting to a point where it’s like, all right, I want to put some of this out and now … we’re here,” said Bril.0_0.
In the audience, among many friends from DMBO and DePaul coming to support DMBO’s Black History Month concert, is also Bril.0_0’s mother. Although Bril.0_0’s music pulls inspiration from many different genres such as house and rap, he said that the older music his mother would play growing up has been one of the biggest influences on his music taste and style.
“She would just play so much, like, old R&B when I was growing up,” said Bril.0_0, referencing artists such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Sade. “She has great taste, yeah, I guess a lot of my music taste comes from old stuff my mom was listening to.”
In his sophomore year of college, after looking for clubs within DePaul’s community, Bril.0_0 joined DMBO.
“The Black History Month show was the first DMBO event that I ever went to, like, when they threw their first version of this,” said Bril.0_0, describing how much it has meant to see how much DMBO has grown since he first became involved. “Seeing it go from that to now, like, the people who came into our club are getting in contact with people who have real venues, and they’re actual artists getting to be on stage from DePaul, is pretty awesome.”
This marks the fourth year DMBO hosts “The Playlist,” originated by a previous Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) chair of the club.
“She wanted to do a house show specifically highlighting Black artists and Black voices and just uplifting all of that stuff in celebration of Black History Month,” said current Co-President Via Epstein. “We’ve just kind of been following her lead and the path that she set four years ago.”
Before moving to Bookclub, “The Playlist” performed at apartment-style venues or student-owned venues. “Every single year that we’ve done the show, the crowd’s just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger,” said current Co-President Adrian Kelly.
Kelly emphasizes the importance of hosting this kind of event at DePaul.
“Especially with DePaul being a PWI, it’s really important that we get people of color and marginalized communities voices out there,” said Kelly. “[With] Chicago being the most segregated city in America, I think that a lot of talent goes undiscovered in those marginalized communities.”
For these concert performances, DMBO board members search for 10 candidates that they’ve had their eyes on – whether they performed at a DePaul show or in the community. After compiling a large list, they then reach out to potential performers to see who’s available.
“All of these smaller artists book back to back a lot, so a lot of the time, availability is a huge issue,” described Kelly.
“It was super cool,” said rapper Femi Ishola, who had performed right after Bril.0_0. He says that getting to perform in DMBO’s Black History Month show was cool not only because it gave him an opportunity to get on stage in front of a crowd, but also because of how much he appreciates the event’s focus on highlighting Black artists from around Chicago.
“It was a Black History Month themed, you know, not just any old show. It was a show that’s very intentional with curating the lineup … and, yeah, I felt like we was really just showing Black excellence for real,” said Ishola.
Ishola, who is from Chicago’s North Side, was first introduced to making music by a friend named Max, whom he went to school with, who had also been rapping. After being invited to the studio by Max one day to record, Ishola immediately connected to music, describing how he felt it was something that just came very naturally to him.
“I was like, damn, this is low-key super accessible and easy. Like, what do you mean, all I got to do is just write up some lyrics and come in there and rap?” said Ishola, who was profiled by 14 East in 2024.
Throughout the past few years, Ishola’s career and music has been growing, as he collaborated with Chicago rapper and DePaul instructor Femdot (profiled by 14 East in 2016), on their 2025 track, “bring me dat.”
As 2025 shifted into 2026, Ishola had mapped out what he was looking for in the new year, deciding his goal was to perform at least one show every month. DMBO’s Black History Event show has not only helped him pursue this goal, but he says the experience of meeting all of the other artists who were performing was also incredibly cool.
“It was very fun, very interesting, to hear music that I wouldn’t typically hear,” said Ishola. “First of all, every single one of those people on that bill, I’m definitely going to reach out to make some type of collab.”
For Ishola, this show was more than just an event for the small community of DePaul – it was a “catalyst” for different types of new music to be made. A combination of styles and genres that represent the voices of Chicago’s unique music scene.
DMBO has come a long way from its origins, and the larger their network grows from each show, the brighter their future.
“Our name and our reputation expands around, and people start recognizing us for the values that we share,” said Kelly.
The co-presidents encourage all students to look for ways to support the indie music industry– both at DePaul and in the larger Chicago community.
“Go support your local artists, local venues and independent venues,” said Epstein.
Header Image by Connor McCallion.
Be First to Comment