![]() Shabazz then took Twista to court for copyright infringement and won the legal right to the Chi-Rock name.ĬHICAGO BREAKERS: The sight of breakdancers contorting on sheets of cardboard, spinning like tops and twisting in Adidas tracksuits typically is associated with New York. The name resurfaced in 2005, when rapper Twista started a record label called Chi-Rock Entertainment. The Molemen, Ill-State Assassins, Legendary Traxster and Ang13 were all members. In its heyday in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the group had more than a dozen chapters around the city. William “Upski” Wimsatt, the local author and hip-hop organizer, first assembled the articles that make up his seminal book “Bomb the Suburbs” as a scrapbook to bring to Chi-Rock meetings. Often compared with the Zulu Nation, the New York hip-hop group founded by Afrika Bambaataa, Chi-Rock Nation became a networking tool for breakdancers, rappers, deejays and graffiti artists, holding meetings and throwing parties throughout Chicago. That mix tape was named after the Chi-Rock Nation, a decentralized, citywide hip-hop organization started in 1985. Each of the three volumes contained tracks by Chicago artists only. The name of the annual event came from a series of street mix tapes that Molemen member PNS (Juvenal Robles) started assembling in 1996. Groove, recorded at Sky Hero Productions in Chicago and released on now- defunct California disco label AVI Records, the dance floor- infected single is the city’s first recorded contribution to hip- hop.ĬHICAGO ROCKS: This phrase is currently the name of an all-city hip-hop concert that the Molemen, a collective of underground hip- hop producers, have organized each year since 2003. ![]() THE FRIENDLY GHOST: According to most hip-hop heads, the first Chicago single pressed to vinyl belongs to Casper, who released the “Groovy Ghost Show” 12-inch in 1980. A freestyle rap battle between the two friends, recorded at the WHPK studio in the early ’90s, has resurfaced on a variety of mix tapes. Eight of the tracks are credited to simply “Kanye,” and some, such as “Sick Thoughts,” include turntable scratches from DJ Nu-Mark, then owner of the now-defunct label and current DJ for Jurassic 5.Īccording to legendary DJ JP Chill of WHPK-FM 88.5, the University of Chicago’s radio station, some of West’s first rhymes were recorded as part of a group called the Go-Getters, which released a modest local hit in the early ’90s called “Oh, Oh, Oh.” At one point, West even battled Common on his way up. West’s early education: According to many local DJs, he earned his first big production credit on an album called “Down to Earth,” the 1996 Correct Records debut from local rapper Grav. Also Chicago-born is Boots Riley, the politically charged rapper who fronts the Oakland group the Coup. ![]() And Shawna, an R&B vocalist and frequent Ludacris collaborator, was part of a local group called Infamous Syndicate. And he hasn’t lost sight of his roots, having collaborated with Chicago-area talent such as Ang13 on the track “Chicagorillas” from his “Fish Market” solo mix tape. Chali 2na (Charles Stewart), the bass-heavy vocalist of L.A.-based rap group Jurassic 5, was born here in 1971. NATIVE SONS AND DAUGHTERS: Kanye West isn’t the only Chicago native who found hip-hop fame elsewhere. Here are some facts that shed light on the lesser-known aspects of Chicago’s hip-hop community. A diverse array of graffiti artists, breakdancers, activists, writers, rappers and producers has existed in Chicago for decades, coming together to form a hip-hop scene that rivals anything on the coasts. Once maligned for being the biggest urban center in the country with the fewest marquee rappers - none for much of the ’80s and ’90s - the Windy City now claims Common and Kanye West as homegrown talent, with buzzed-about local rappers such as Lupe Fiasco expected to soon follow in their footsteps.īut the city’s current crop of MCs didn’t emerge suddenly in a cultural vacuum. It seems as though there has never been more attention, airplay or talent agents focused on Chicago hip-hop music than there is now.
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