Chicago
Chicago Mayor Gets Sued For Allegedly Curving White Reporters
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Chicago Tribune / Getty Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot is now learning just how much she can trigger her opponents as her office is hit with a lawsuit over her decision to only grant one-on-one interviews with journalists of color last week. This decision was spurred by her noticing the overwhelming whiteness of the press corps, and wanting to install a change in time for the two-year anniversary of her inauguration. Lightfoot explained her decision in a Twitter thread last week, noting that it would only be for the day marking the anniversary. Thomas Catenacci, national reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation filed the lawsuit in federal this past Thursday. “Preventing journalists from doing our jobs in such a blatantly discriminatory way is wrong ...
Marshmello, ILLENIUM, More Top Diversified Lollapalooza Lineup
Lollapalooza is set to turn 30 this year in stunning fashion. It’s been a whirlwind of a week for the Chicago based festival. After a surprising report suggested the City of Chicago gave Lollapalooza the green light to host their 2021 edition “at near-to or full capacity” a mere three days ago, organizers C3 Presents have now dropped a massive lineup that appears to corroborate the news. As is typically the case, Lollapalooza’s bookings span the decades and defy a bias towards any particular genre, from Foo Fighters to Journey, and Miley Cyrus to Tyler The Creator. For dance music, Marshmello and ILLENIUM find themselves near the top of the bill with the trifecta of Alison Wonderland, SLANDER, and Steve Aoki a couple lines further down. In the heart of the...
Pride In The Park Chicago Announces 2021 Lineup With Tiësto, Gryffin, More
Adding to the exciting event announcements over this past month, Pride In The Park Chicago will return for a second year with a compelling musical lineup. Pride In The Park first debuted as a one-day event in 2019. It will now return as a limited capacity, two-day ticketed fest on Saturday, June 26th and Sunday, June 27th at the historic Grant Park, home to Lollapalooza. The event will feature a wide array of musical artists, with The Queen of Funk and ten-time Grammy winner Chaka Khan headlining. Electronic music lovers should be drawn in by the other headliners, superstars Gryffin and Tiësto. Sprucing up the lineup is Australian singer-songwriter Betty Who, who performed at Pride In The Park’s inaugural edition. Other noteworthy artists incl...
Lollapalooza 2021 is a Go—And at “Near-To Or Full-Capacity”
As restrictions on large gathering continue to lift across the nation, it’s safe to say that music festivals as officially back. The latest major festival brand to make its comeback after a year devoid of live music is Chicago’s iconic Lollapalooza, which is set to return to Grant Park from July 29th to August 1st. Variety reports that the city of Chicago gave the fest the green-light “at near-to or full-capacity,” according to industry insiders. The news arrives after Lollapalooza founder and Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell expressed optimism for the festival’s 2021 iteration back in March 2020, when he hinted at the event after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. “I hold in my hands my license to party,” Farrell said ...
Spring Awakening Returns to Downtown Chicago With a New Look and Stellar Talent
Chicago’s Spring Awakening Music Festival is re-emerging in 2021 with some new twists, yet similarly stellar talent. The long-running electronic music festival is returning to Chicago’s Addams/Medill Park, its previous home from 2016 through 2018. In 2019, the festival moved outside the downtown area to the Chicagoland suburb of Hoffman Estates. While the festival is returning to its prior home much to the delight of Chicagoans, it is doing so with a new image. Branded Spring Awakening Autumn Equinox, the two-day event will take place in the first weekend of October. React Presents—the festival’s promoter—promises even more novelty to look forward to. “We are thrilled to bring an eclectic mix of artists together this October in Chicago and celebrate the return of li...
Mother Nature Shows & Proves That Chicago Will Always Have Something To Say
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Nicci Briann / N. Briann Chicago has long cemented its place as a hub of some of Hip-Hop’s brightest and best artists, and the pride of residents of the Windy City shines through their bars and beats. Adding on to an already strong tradition is Mother Nature, a duo with a focus on lyrics but also sisterhood, securing foundations within their hometown and promising to always have something to say within their music. The Early Grind Mother Nature consists of rappers Klevah and TRUTH, with both in strong possession of distinctive rhyme styles and equally razor-sharp lyrical ability. Over the course of four projects, Mother Nature has uniquely shifted their sound with each release, culminating in the ear-pleasing collection of records on their latest full-len...
Consequence’s Under the Tracks Plays Five Degrees of Chicago on Vans’ Channel 66
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-13T17:28:16+00:00“>May 13, 2021 | 1:28pm ET Consequence is back with a new edition of our bi-weekly show on Vans’ Channel 66, Under the Tracks. Airing May 17th, the latest episode will find host NNAMDÏ play a game of Five Degrees of Chicago with a pair of very special guests. This week’s Under the Tracks comes under the theme of “Worlds Collide,” where NNAMDÏ and guest DJs Post Animal and Grapetooth’s Chris Bailoni will each spin a 45-minute playlist spotlighting Chicago’s vast interconnected music scene. Each set will highlight songs by “people who have collabed with people who have collabed with people;” think of it like the Kevin Bacon game, only with Chicago music. Post ...
Lyrical Lemonade x SPKRBX’s Summer Smash Festival Returns To Chicago This Summer
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Summer Smash Festival 2019 / Summer Smash Festival Slowly but surely, music festivals are roaring back this year with some exciting events already announced. Adding to the growing tally, Lyrical Lemonade and SPKRBX’s Summer Smash Festival will make its return to Chicago with a three-day event featuring some of Hip-Hop music’s established giants alongside rising stars. This summer in the Windy City, fans will be able to take in a full weekend of hits, slaps, anthems, and chants with headliners A$AP Rocky, Lil Baby, and Lil Uzi Vert all commanding and closing the stages respectively between Friday and Sunday. On Friday, August 20, the A$AP Mob honcho will share the stage with Swae Lee, Lil Skies, Yung Bans, Mulatto, and more. On Saturday, August 21, Lil Bab...
Nigerian faces 10 years in jail for obtaining U.S. citizenship using fake identity
The United States authorities have charged 48-year old Modestus Nwagubwu Ifemembi to court over fraudulent claims he provided to obtain the US citizenship 10 years back. Ifemembi, who secured his US citizenship in 2001, has worked as a Federal providers’ officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for seven years. According to a report by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Ifemembi, originally of Nigeria, was arrested in Maryland on Wednesday, April 7, 2020, on a federal charge that he obtained U.S. citizenship under a false name. It added that he made false statements to acquire U.S. citizenship, in addition to employment with USCIS. The report disclosed that Ifemembi was charged under the false name of Karl Nwabugwu Odike Ifemembi. His arrest followed investigatio...
Consequence’s Under the Tracks on Vans’ Channel 66 Goes Skate Punk on New Episode
Consequence’s bi-weekly livestream program Under the Tracks rides back to Vans’ Channel 66 on April 5th. This week, Host NNAMDÏ welcomes guests Pete Wilson of Pete Wilson & The Rooks and Cafe Racer to carve out the history of Chicago’s skate music scene. Each artist will put together a unique 45-minute DJ set that drops in on the punk, hardcore, and garage sounds that have soundtracked The Second City’s skate culture throughout the decades. A visual artist in addition to being the vocalist and guitarist for The Rooks, Pete Wilson brings the sublime sensibilities of recent videos like “Look at the Skull in My Face” to his group’s experimental rock sounds. Together with his fellow bandmates drummer Corin and bassist Kevo, his group’s focus on the weird and overlooked align...
Michael Mann’s Thief: James Caan and James Belushi Return to Chicago 40 Years Later
Neon lights across Wabash. Coffee and donuts by the Adler. Midnight blues on Lincoln Ave. Car light chats in the West Loop. The streets are wet. The night is blue. The men are dangerous. This is the world of Michael Mann’s Thief. Inspired by Frank Hohimer’s 1975 true crime book The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar, the feature film debut of the Chicago veteran is a bridge between two times: a boiling point for ’70s crime thrillers and a fever dream of the ’80s to come. In 1980, Mann knew exactly where he was going when he set out to play in his hometown. From the prescient use of Tangerine Dream to the lone wolf archetype he gave to James Caan, Thief serves as a blueprint for everything that defines his CV. A CV, mind you, that would not only go on to define the ’80s but recalib...
Consequence’s Under the Tracks on Vans’ Channel 66 Celebrates Chicago Indie Labels
On March 22nd, Consequence’s bi-weekly livestream program Under the Tracks returns with a brand new edition on Vans’ Channel 66. Host NNAMDÏ is back at House of Vans Chicago with an episode focusing on the city’s accomplished indie labels. Joining in this week to present their own unique 45-minute DJ sets and chat about The Second City’s record output are journalist Britt Julious and Alexander Fruchter, known in local hip-hop circles as DJ RTC. Julious currently serves as the music critic for The Chicago Tribune, as well as editorial director of Cancer Wellness magazine. She previously edited Vice’s THUMP, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Esquire, ELLE, Women’s Health, and Bon Appetit, among other publications. Her work was recognized in 2019 when she recei...
