New Wind for Chicago's Rap Game

Yeah, we got Kanye, 
but 'Ye is a lil "krayzee".  

Yeah, we got Kelly, but....well...yeah, you know.  




And yeah, we got Common, but he's a little...wooden?  



I ain't hating, I'm just saying...

And with all the talent that is lurking out in the Wild 100's, the West Side and even the North Side Avenues, we got peeps in town, and people coming to town to take advantage of a rap and hip hop fan-base that yet to be taken seriously. Let's take a look at a few that are heating up on the radar screen...Chicago's New Wind

Lupe Fiasco :  Shouldn't Lupe be up there with Kanye and the rest? Maybe....  He's got that critical and commercial success from his 1st album "Food and Liquor" to the latest, "Lasers"...songs like "Kick, Push" and "Superstar" are definitely radio-friendly....He's got Grammy, Billboard, BET, and even GQ awards....He's got those Kanye, Jay-Z, & Pharrell connects...He's got a bunch of guest vocals, mixtapes, and even other bands (Japanese Cartoon, All City Chess Club, Child Rebel Soldiers...), plus clothing, philanthropy and other stuff....  He's hard to keep up with!  But Lupe is still "New Wind", making a lot of new moves, that keeps us guessing as to what's next, and that's what an artist is supposed to do.  Now that "Obama is a terrorist" line of thinking has been a bit of a fiasco (pun intended), but if someone doesn't challenge your views, are they really yours?   www.lupefiasco.com

                      

Jyst: Jyst is one of those rappers that have been simmering.  In the game, but hasn't bubbled up to the surface. Assorted tracks here and there, guest vocals, some shows and mixtapes, opening for Travis Porter...but no major heat.  Maybe it's that Dayton, Ohio middle America grip on to his Timberlands that has kept Jyst (pronounced "jyst", not "gist" check out the bio on da website) from making that leap to the big leagues, but then that's good for us.  Jyst just keeps coming with some of everythang!  His latest release is called "Let Me In" --a signal to the frustration of an artist trying to be heard over the noise out there, and he delivers some of everything: thug, club, and radio-ready tracks, with beats to move ya.  He even has a rap relationship song, a la LL Cool J's "I Need Love"; check out "I'm Sorry".  And he still has his original producer Futuristik911, but new management has gotten some new producers too, and Jyst style flexes to meet each one of them.  And that's that "New Wind"...who's thug 24/7?   Hit the club and bounce to dat lead single "Bout to Go Down" with singer Jon Micheals or roll down the street bumpin' "Aint Got Long"...you'll see wassup. Full disclosure: I do know him personally, but Imma need "people" to talk to his "people" soon...www.itsjyst.com                                

The SEO Rapper: Now if you have any idea what SEO stands for, then you are ahead of 98% of folks out there--rap, hiphop, country, and pop--even some tech heads out there.  It stands for "search engine optimization", and it's how Google makes billions and how you go on-line to find out what those new Jordan's or Manolo Blahnik's look like.  But if you don't have the time or desire to learn HTML, XML, or PMP, internet markup languages, then maybe the SEO Rapper can help you out: Chuck Lewis is what happens when hip-hop and tech collide...literally.  He hails out of the Houston, Texas area (home to Mike Jones, Scarface & UGK), but he's not of the O.G. tradition--unless that means "Oh God": Chuck used to do Christian rap, and moved into hi-tech bytes because he was an internet marketer.  Yes, that stuff helps makes all that web stuff work-- the engine behind those cools images, blogs and search results; songs include 'Paid Search 101', 'Design Coding', and 'Link Building 101'.  Check out the funny 'Social Media Rap (Online For Hours)' on youtube.  He's even had to defend his lyrical might against new upstarts like the PPC MC. (Okay...that's 'Pay Per Click', but I know you still don't know what that is...) Catch all of SEO Rapper's tracks on his cd "Lyrical Marketing."

But instead of chicks, stacks and whips (that's women, money and cars), we need-- and especially our young males-- need to hear and learn this language, and this technology: it will be everywhere, because it's already well on it's way.  So another "New Wind" and maybe even a "Future Wind" needs to blow into the Windy City, and get those hip-hop heads learning, rapping --- and making-- a tech paycheck.  

www.seorapper.com

PS: Looking for Stefani Stephens of Elitenment's track "Louie V. Gnarly"   Nice vocals...It's this Chi-town's answer to Nicki Minaj?  Holla!