Chi-Def: Black Music Month

www.chicagodefender.com

THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017 11

COVER STORY

Twitter: @_TaylorBennett

Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

The world of Hip Hop is constantly evolving and reinventing new voices of its era—Chicago has become the forefront of fresh new talent.

One of the fresh faces making waves on the music front is Taylor Bennett, a graduate of Urban Prep Academy and entrepreneurial thinker. Building his own record label, publishing and production company, he started Taylor Made—a music company that has released two full length projects thus far, including Broad Shoulders in 2015 and his most recent work, Restoration of An American Idol this Spring.

Similar to his famous older brother, Chance the Rapper, Taylor would put his music out for free download in the beginning, but gradually changed courses to selling his music online.

“It all started when I started working on my last project, Broad Shoulders. I knew that I wanted to keep control of my project. My brother gives away a lot of his music for free, there’s a lot of other people who give their music away for free and I usually was giving my music away as well. However, the producer that I worked with, wrote the music—he had produced half of the project and did not want to give away the project for free,” said Bennett.

Learning the business side of the music industry was very important; from understanding split sheets, copyrights, publishing, point structures and production credits. He received a crash course when he began work on “Broad Shoulders”.

“At first, I refused and I wanted to give it away for free. He told me if I wanted to give it away for free, I need to have a better reason than just that.

My concern at times has been I didn’t want to sign contracts. I didn’t want to be with a label. I didn’t want to have a distribution deal. I didn’t want a publishing deal. Contracts scare me, so I stayed away from them.

My manager, Joseph Cabey, and I got a chance to go through options of what we could actually do and we found a platform called Tune Core.”

The 21-year-old explains, “I used to think that one day after rapping enough, I would just get a record deal for all this money which still could happen but I won’t do it. I’ve passed on them before—I’m carefree, nothing else matters. I think that’s still what a lot of people think—people just want record deals.

Record labels are really just bad news, they’re not run by good people. I have friends who are in the industry, and it’s literally like a cage. You lose control of everything and the worst thing somebody can do is ‘cage an artist’ and their creativity, telling them what they can and can’t do.”

14 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017

right back and I hit up KYLE again and told him I had the track and needed him to do the verse.”

The new album features solid collaborations with Stro and Jordan Bratton on “New York Nights”, Donnie Trumphet, Brandon Fox and Shay Lewis on “Dancing in the Rain”, “Play My Part” featuring Aubree Jenai, along with “Nobody Tell a Name” featuring Raury. Most of “Restoration...” includes some familiar names and new artists from his in-house production company.

Chicago Hip Hop Influences

The Process of Creation “My project Restoration of An American Idol took me one year to complete. It was a different process, and I don’t think I’ve said this in a lot of interviews, but it was a different process because I didn’t work with one producer. I still to this day think that Broad Shoulders is one of my best bodies of work, but with Restoration of An American Idol, I worked with multiple producers. On this last album, I learned a lot of stuff from my good friend Ludlow, who produced Broad Shoulders.

“I met Lil Yachty the year before that, he was a great friend to me—went to a bunch of his shows and we kicked it a couple of times. When I had the track, I hit up KYLE that has the “iSpy” song with Lil Yachty.

KYLE was like ‘Yo, I want you to hop on this track, it’s called “Neon Lights” and I think you would love it.’ I sent it to him and KYLE’s like one of my good friends; we hangout whenever I’m in Los Angeles. Eventually, I sent it to Yachty and told him I really wanted him to do this track. He said, ‘I got you.’ He sent the track

“When I was nine years old, I was watching BET and that song with Faith Evans and Twista was on and I loved it so much. It meant so much to me because I knew Twista was from the Westside of Chicago. So, to be from the same city and to see him doing the things that he does was amazing and now he’s one of my good friends. I visit his studio at least three times a month, and he’s just a great guy,” said Bennett. “He works very closely with Supa Bwe and he’s just a really good guy and musician.

He’s given back to the city so much and I think that’s very important—you don’t always have to give back money. Support your artists, care enough to reach back to see what’s going on and check out their music. Twista does that.”

His Advocacy on Teen Homelessness “When people think about homelessness, they don’t think about homeless kids and they don’t realize it’s a huge epidemic. I had friends that went from sleeping at my house, to sleeping at auntie’s house, to sleeping at friends’ houses which starts this snowball effect. The next thing you know, you’re sleeping on CTA trains. I think that as young adults and Chicagoans, it’s our duty to say these things.” www.chicagodefender.com

Twitter: @GeorgeDaniels

Chicago’s Influence & Tupac’s Impact My parents were both from Louisiana and my mother could barely speak English until she was 20. They had a strong work ethic. They owned 10 restaurants in New York—five in Harlem and five in the Bronx during the 1950’s. When you’re exposed to that type of entrepreneurship—it’s part of your DNA. So, as a young man, being around a Maurice White [EWF] when he was Ramsey Lewis’ drummer; producer Charles Stepney, and musical artists Bo Diddley, Billy Stewart, Fontella Bass, Etta James, Little Walter, and so many more––just from that one building. Throughout the 1960’s there was close to 40 record labels along South Michigan Ave. There was no city in America that had it going on like Chicago did during that time.

I go back to that era where I accidentally wounded up in the music business. To be able to look at it from the inside but realizing also how much of the business had lasting effects on our lives.

My family relocated to Chicago where I graduated from Hirsch High School—I’m hanging out one day, I met a young lady. We started dating, a very nice girl who went to Hyde Park High School. She worked part-time at Chess Records located at 2120 S. Michigan Ave. She was a receptionist there and she sang background vocals. While we dated, she had one more year of school left at high school and I took her to prom while we dated. This sweet young woman was Minnie Riperton.

I wasn’t there during the period of what people knew her as an artist but what a talented young lady!

Minnie grew up in the Woodlawn the community and was my introduction into the music business. I went to Loop College while I began to work part-time at Chess Records.

Here in Chicago, we were fortunate to have the radio station WVON—before it was 1450 AM. Leonard and Phil Chess owned WVON in 1963. The original station was located at 34th and Kedzie—this is where the Good Guys made their names—including Herb Kent, Bill “Butterball” Crane, E. Rodney Jones, Joe Cobb, later Lucky Cordell and “Blues Man” Pervis Spann [later a co-owner]. At the time, it was only a 1000-watt station—the first Black radio station in the country devoted to playing soul music. I remember Berry Gordy used to come down from Detroit to take his records exclusively to the station, himself.

The Beginning of Rap Music’s Impact Tupac had this ability to connect; you have to recognize it just doesn’t happen. It was a process. It’s like preparing gumbo. There are different things that make people special. We are products of our environment. There’s no way around it. You could be born to a drug addict but if you wind up being raised by

a Harvard professor, you likely may end up doing something in that lane. Tupac’s mother being a Black Panther and the social arena that he was placed in as a child did influence him.

The media back then painted the Black Panthers as evil. They scared the hell out of the white system.

When they showed up on the steps of California’s state capitol in Sacramento, rifles-in-hand which was legal to carry we were coming of an age where there were demands that we, as Black Americans, expected from our government.

You have to look at the history of hip hop music it wasn’t called ‘hip hop’ in the beginning—it was called rap music. It was Keith Clinkscales, former publisher of Vibe Magazine, who once told me, hip hop wasn’t just about music—it’s a lifestyle.

Years ago, R&B wasn’t called R&B—it was called ‘race’ music. It was segregated on pop radio so, you might have heard Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley, but you didn’t hear our Soul music. It was Chuck Berry that started Rock and Roll at Chess Records, right here in Chicago. If you listen to Chicago’s music, The Chi Lites and other different groups from that era who were popular during the 1970’s represented Soul music. Before there was original hip hop beats, there was sampling. The classic songs that were sampled existed when these rap artists were kids—they were familiar among us.

It’s so important for us to recognize that we’ve become the story tellers. Back then, rap music was fun music—it was about the emcees. When you recognize where its art form came from, it was raw and natural—the uniqueness of New York was rap. Motown Records has a unique sound in Detroit but Chicago has a signature sound as well. Within a 10-block radius of ‘record row’ on Michigan Ave., from 12th Street to 22nd Street, this is where all this wonderful music came from.

As time went on, Miami had their sound with Luke and bass music. If you went down to New Orleans— they had Master P. which later, Cash Money Records became dominant, similar to the Houston base, RapA-Lot Records. Each label and each city had a different sound—not like today. Unfortunately, you don’t know who is who. The creativity is gone because we’ve allowed too much technology, and not enough original instrumentation.

presents

Chi-Def A SPECIAL EDITION CELEBRATING BLACK MUSIC MONTH

Arts & Entertainment Editor MARY L. DATCHER Contributing writers ANTA NJIE | DUANE POWELL Graphics & Layout Designer PAMELA JONES PODCAST PARTNERSHIP | KNOW1RADIO.COM

Film & Photography | Radical Rebels

CHRISTIAN ALLEN KEITH DAVID NELSON MARLON HULETT ARCEL PIERRE BRUNIOUS, JR. YOSEF MONTOGOMERY CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN KENNEDI COX

JULIA JOHNSON QUE JOHNSON JEREMY REED JESSICA HAMILTON DEVIN GREEN All podcasts programs and video available on www.chicagodefender.com - A Real Times Media Company www.chicagodefender.com

Without genuine songwriting, we’re not telling the stories about what’s really going on. One of the most powerful videos ever made was Self-Destruction. If you go back and google that, you will see all of those young rap artists. It was one of the most positive videos on Jive Records. They took it off the market—it just disappeared. As retailers, we could no longer buy the record to sell. If you put that on today, it will describe what is currently going on in our society. It’s like listening to Marvin Gaye’s, What’s Going On. The results of several socioeconomic and criminal injustices created an environment that allowed us to be self-destructive. It was all reflected in our music. Tupac came up in that era with his mom—seeing this and being exposed to the intellectual side of Black people. In Harlem, there was some incredibly well-educated African Americans and the same in our Chicago community. Everyone intermingled because where else were you going to live, other than with other Black folks?

Controlling the Narrative As Black people, we had revolutionary type-songs that described our pride back in the day. Even Motown Records, with all of those people in that house, never sounded alike. You come to Chicago and groups like the Impressions, The Chi-Lites, The Dells—nobody sounded alike because the radio wouldn’t play it.

One of the greatest stepper records, Love’s Gonna Last, released in 1978, was receiving airplay but they took it off the air because Jeffrey sounded too much like Marvin Gaye.

The music talked about it. When you come out with a Tupac, what were his influences? His first steps into the music business before he became a lyricist was a dancer. Other artists such as Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and Lupe Fiasco have rattled the social conscious. As a young man myself when I started my first store, people asked, ‘Why are you calling it George’s Music Room?’. The question to ask ourselves is ‘Who are we?’. When Tupac came up, there was Biggie, NWA, Geto Boyz—everybody had their own style. He chose to go in the direction he did—he was similar to Roy Ayers or Curtis Mayfield.

Black music is the story of Black life.

Fresh Faces of Faith….Pg.5

Page 6: Twista

Avery Sunshine…Pg.7 Millennium Moves…Pg.9 Executive Corner…Pg.10 10 Chicago Artists…Pg.13

talks new label, new album release“crook County” and more...

Summer Music Guide…Pg.15 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017 11

As a teenager, Sam Chatman fell in love with music. He spent most of his adolescence in St. Louis but moved to Chicago to attend high school. It was the idea place to soak up the musical diversity of what a big city could offer.

Even though he wasn’t quite old enough, he would hang out in the nightclubs with friends, enjoying the parties.

Later, Chatman gradually began to learn how to DJ, following in the footsteps of his Chicago radio DJ idols—promoting parties and spinning at various venues around town. From the Burning Spear, Perv’s House, Chicago State University to the 50 Yard Line.

At 59, Chatman is highly regarded as one of the leading creators—still going strong. The popularity of Chicago’s homegrown signature style of dancing has grown outside of the Black nightclubs and neighborhood lounges to other major cities—Memphis, Los Angeles, Charlotte and Atlanta.

Before hip hop DJs began giving

‘shout-outs on the mic at the parties, Chatman was ahead of the curve—often bringing his personal microphone to his party sets. During a time when Black music reigned in the second largest city in the U.S.—Chatman was helping to redefine how to party and breaking new music. One of few with the comforts of being on the radio—his style of spinning built a movement that

became known as ‘Steppin’.

Over the years, he’s had his fingerprints on almost everything that has included the dancing phenomena. From the famous, V103 World’s Steppin’ Contest to his annual Capricorn Ball, he has brought both young and old fans to their feet at last year’s Chosen Few House Music Festival, the African Festival and the Festival of Life. Whether he’s spinning The Chi-Lites or Drake, if he loves a song, he will most likely spin it twice.

How did you start out as a DJ? It’s the love of music. As a high school student, I used to have a lot of parties at home. When I graduated from high school, I went one year at a Junior College so my friends were 21 and they would be hanging out at the nightclubs and I would go with them. Even though they were great events, I always felt there was something missing. I always felt I could do a better job playing records.

Soon, I was doing parties all over Chicago. I got a chance to mingle and be good friends with a lot of Chicago entertainers like Marshall from the Chi-Lites.

Did you have different performers play at your parties?

One day, I went to see Curtis Mayfield–-once I started rolling and I had on my CTA uniform, I figured since I had a good job, he may want to work with me. For some reason, Curtis thought I wasn’t big enough so he sent me to Leroy Hudson. That was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. I had Leroy perform at a couple of my events— they were beautiful events.

Then I went to see Jerry ‘Iceman’ Butler because I wanted to book him.

Jerry probably thought the same thing as Curtis also offered me his brother,

14 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017

Billy Butler to perform. The best thing that could’ve happened to me. From there, the parties exploded.

Which DJs did you admire and were influential in your development as a DJ? Definitely, Herb Kent, E. Rodney Jones and Purvis Spann—they were my idols. Even though he was a blues guy, I stole a little something from Big Bill Hill. Richard Pegue was on another level. So, I took something from all of these guys as I was coming up. I would listen to the radio and incorporate their styles with my individual twist.

Herb Kent came to one of my events and saw that I had a large following.

He asked, ‘How do you get all of these people to these events and you’re not on the radio?’ I hung posters from Maywood to Argyle Gardens. Alderman John Stroger at the time, came to me and said, ‘You’re the first DJ that has his own law passed.’ I was confused and he went on to tell me the city council just passed the ‘Sam Chatman law’.

Whereas, people could no longer hang posters on the street signs in the city of Chicago.’ Fortunately, it’s still working until this day. [he smiles] When I talk to some of the familiar House DJs today, they give you much credit and respect on being one of their first mentors.

Most of them were kids in high school when they would spin for me. When I was in my twenties, I recruited some of the best talented DJs in the city and trained them. When the Hot Mix 5 started, there was a young man, Al McCormick, who put Farley Keith on parties.

I would let him play a little bit. Some of the kids from local high schools would pass out the flyers at their schools in exchange for a chance to play at the parties for an hour. That gave them notoriety. I was there when House music started. Most of the DJs who started House, played at my parties. Although, I thought the name ‘House’ music was the stupidest, dumbest thing I’ve ever heard––look at House music today. www.chicagodefender.com

Twitter: @jonmcreynolds

Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Jonathan McReynolds is on a roll with the energy of a Duracell bunny, his tenacity and vision is unique, bringing a refreshing and melodic style of Gospel music to the front of the line.

The 27-year old has an impressive background, earning a BA at Columbia College, becoming an adjunct professor at his alma mater and later acquiring his MBA in Biblical Studies at Moody Theological Seminary in Chicago. In 2015, he established his nonprofit organization, Elihu Nation awarding students in Christian faith with over $9,000 in scholarship awards.

Growing up in the South Shore community, his roots run deep in the church—playing both drums and the piano every Sunday. From creating music in his college dorm room, he has been successful in releasing his breakout album, Life Music (2012) and Life Music: Stage Two (2015) which stayed on the Billboard Gospel charts at #1 for four weeks and achieving McReynolds one Grammy nomination, seven Stellar nominations and one Dove win.

His touring schedule is non-stop, performing on various television and network platforms, traveling abroad and gearing up to release a new live album in early 2018.

Did you always know that music was going to be your calling and how did that really pair with your ministry?

No, not at all. Not even close. If you ask any of my grammar school teachers, music was not what they would’ve expected from me. I was very much a nerd.

An eyeglass-wearing, researching everything, student council, robotic club kind-of-kid. I always had some kind of music going on. I was playing the drums and the organ pretty young and playing at my church every Sunday. That didn’t define me or identify me as I was

affected most recently by India Arie and John Mayer. I went to school for music so we had to study Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. I can’t really trace directly to some artists, plus the fact that I had such a strong church upbringing had an impact. I’m a bit of a rebel anyway.

Although, you are in the category of Gospel, I find your music reaches beyond that category. Do you find your appeal as a younger artist targets the millennials which carries less boundaries?

growing up. I was normally fine with being the leader but moreso on the intellectual side—academically. Music didn’t start stepping to the forefront until about high school.

When you start realizing girls like it and it’s becoming your identity, it makes you different. Music came to the forefront in my last couple years at Whitney Young.

You’ve toured with both Lalah Hathaway and India Arie. What’s influenced your musical selection setting you apart from the traditional Gospel sound?

I’m not sure. You don’t really document it because you don’t expect it to ever be important. Growing up, I listened to whatever music came through the church.

The more I think about it, it affected me more than I realized. It wasn’t the music on the radio. I wasn’t aware of the Gospel music industry or the powerhouses of that time—Fred Hammond, John P. Kee or Bishop Hezekiah Walker. I just knew whatever we sang at my church.

Some of the Christian Contemporary music affected me. My songwriting style and everything that came was

I believe there is only two entities that should worry about genre. That’s the [record] label and the stores.

Everyone should do what they’re called to do. The people that God has chosen, the people that have chosen God and people who are believers in God. Some of them might be in the club—I don’t know who they are. I can’t assume that I’m reaching out to them by staying in one venue. It’s something that God understands. He’s orchestrated his life in that manner.

I realized age and wisdom aren’t always proportional.

You don’t have to be old to understand, and that young people can also be wise. That really spoke to me. It’s an amazing concept for this generation. You don’t always have to experience everything to wisely navigate them if you put wisdom and God at the forefront of your life.

What’s the best advice your mom has given you and continues to give you?

A long time ago, she told me God has preceded me in everything. God does not set me up to fail. We walk onstage, into interviews or situations preparing for the worst even though God never did. He doesn’t prepare for the worse. Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28—He’s not set up for you to fail and now neither should you. My entire life is out of my comfort zone so I have to remember I’m not here to fail. Failure is not waiting for me—success is.

Twitter: @ToddDulaney

When Todd Dulaney left a blossoming career in professional baseball to commit his life in music ministry, he had no idea where this life-altering decision would lead him.

One evening, visiting Pastor Smokie Norful’s church shook something awake in him that had been dormant outside of baseball and he wanted to pursue that renewed feeling.

Taking a leap in faith, he changed courses in his career—making a commitment in Christ and reigniting his love for music. He released his first indie Gospel project, Pulling Me Through (2011), building up steam among music lovers and last year’s release of A Worshipper’s Heart [Live] (2016) on Light Records/ eOne Entertainment launched his career on another level. The Maywood native earned his first Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Album. Lately, Dulaney has been busy on the road performing and taking on other interests such as acting.

Happily married and the father of three children with a baby on the way, The Chicago Defender had a chance to talk with one of the fresh faces of Gospel music. www.chicagodefender.com

Who has been the most influential of those artists for you in building your own lane here in Chicago?

I grew up around the house, and my father would always play the Tommies. I never knew it would mean anything to me in my life. My whole career was pursuing baseball but my dad, every Sunday morning, would play the Tommies. I ended up recording one of the Tommies’ songs, written by Percy Bady. I never knew that it was shaping me or that I was listening to them for what would come later on for me that singing Gospel music.

You were a professional baseball player, in making that transition from professional sports to becoming a musician and full-time artist, did you find it difficult?

My whole my life all I wanted to do was to become a professional athlete, that was the epitome of greatness. Once I got drafted by the New York Mets, this was it. I got my whole life ahead of me to make millions of dollars, but one off season, I came home here in Chicago and Smokie Norful had started a church. I went to his church to develop a relationship in my faith. From there, I saw this guy was singing and traveling. I fell in love with music ministry. When it was time to go back for baseball, I wanted to do music ministry. That was my shift.

What are some of the things you apply to being an incredibly disciplined musician? Some of the best athletes are very discipline, focused and driven in goal setting? Do you apply the same philosophy in music?

I don’t like to feel or see someone out working me.

It makes something rise up inside me. If I find another person in the music business, grinding a little harder than me—I have to work a little harder. I think it’s a shame that an artist wants or expect people to work so hard on their careers and they don’t put forth the effort on their own stuff.

Continued on page 14 5 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017 11

the Word up! magazine. Today, you got The Source and all of that but back then Word Up! magazine was your visual blueprint of how things were. There were certain hip hop stations in Chicago—if it wasn’t for WHPK and WNUR, the college stations in the city—I wouldn’t be up on the music. I had an early education on hip hop and for me back then, it was just about what type of artist I was becoming.

Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

When Carl Mitchell first broke on the scene, his amazing lightning speed style of rap, spitting rhymes in precision—earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest rapper on earth in his youth. He knew this was a natural gift, working hard to define and build a signature style that is unrivaled to this day.

Originally known as Tung Twista, the Collins High School graduate was one of the first rap artists to be signed to an outside record company in the early 1990’s. With his first album, Runnin’ Off at da Mouth released in 1992, it would become the first in a long illustrious music career that has sealed his work with the likes of Jay-Z, Mariah Carey and Chicago’s own Do or Die, Kanye West and the Legendary Traxster.

His new project, Crook County, is a collaborative fusion of some of Chicago’s own stellar talent such as Jeremih, The Boy Illinois, Blac Youngsta and Vic Spencer, along with production from familiar names. Having a successful relationship with Atlantic Records over the last decade produced some of hip hop’s most classic albums including Adrenaline Rush, Kamikaze, The Day After, and The Perfect Storm—later returning to indie status with the release of his ninth studio album, Dark Horse.

Today everybody can share the same rap style and just be different with their look or their swag but back then it was about being totally different. MC Shan was nothing like Big Daddy Kane; Big Daddy Kane was nothing like Heavy D and Heavy D was nothing like the next person—everybody was different. I wanted to be different, how can I fit in with my rap style?

I didn’t perceive that it would turn into what it is today. When I started it was just about ‘I want to make a rap style that sounds different from everybody else and so that’s the only thing I concentrated on—being different.

When you look at how far you’ve come to influence other people and other groups by creating a signature sound—how does that make you feel?

It feels good. Right now, I have an understanding that I’m in the middle stage of what’s about to happen, meaning I don’t think everybody has fully understood where it comes from. We’re building up to that question, ‘Where did this style come from?’

One day it’s going to be a big topic and people will get into the specifics of who made what style and who was the first and that’s when the entire beauty of rap will show.

As a native Chicagoan—growing up on the Westside, is it hard to separate what goes down on the streets apart from the art you create?

That’s a question that was harder to answer when I was younger. Now, I’m older so it’s a little easier now, but back then it was hard. It’s a challenge that most young artists face today. In their mind, they’re hot because of the things that they’re doing. They fear that if they stop doing it or show any other side of their personality or anything different, they may not be hot anymore. That’s one of the biggest challenges when you’re younger. For me, I was able to navigate with the music. My favorite artist is Rakim. One of the first things that comes to my mind is this dude is almost considered the dopest rapper ever, and he didn’t curse? I think to myself, if he got the ability to do that, that’s when you start to dig a little deeper. I’m a role model now and people are paying attention.

When you’re away from the studio, and the shows—what creates peace of mind?

Being happy with yourself, what you’re doing and how you treat others; not lying to yourself. Just really being happy with your place in whatever it may be.

People always ask me, what does it take to get to this level? I’ll tell them to try to be a ‘good artist’, whether you’re a male or female artist. But also practice being a stand-up man or a stand-up woman to the best of your ability—that’s the first step of becoming a great artist.

Who were some of the producers you worked with on “Crook County”?

Twitter: @TWISTAgmg Instagram: @TWISTAgmg

When did you realized that you had this gift at such an early age to rap and to spit lyrics with rapid speed?

Back then, it was more about my image of what I thought rap and hip hop was. The first thing that pops in my head are movies like “Crush Groove” and

What inspires you? Everyone has their inspiration, or their time where they feel this person has influenced them throughout their

14 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017

The first thing that comes to mind is the desire to be great and the love I have for music. For some people, I don’t think they understand how deep my love for music is. I think some artists search for an answer that may not be a concrete one. Sometimes, the answer is ‘I love the sh*t out of music.’ I’m in the studio—working on it, just vibing to a new beat, making a new song—the whole energy of what music is. I love doing it, then I look at it as something that can heal—it can also be a time machine.

I’m comfortable in my skin, I feel good about what I do. When I look at what everybody’s doing I understand lyricism, hip hop and the history of it—the whole emotion of it. I took a little piece of this person and that person here and there. LL Cool J was one of my favorite rappers and Scarface. Scarface, has that deep voice and my voice is light—I can get away with biting him. So, that’s the art.

There’s a lot of new and young producers. I worked the most with YF Beatz and this other producer called Zenzan Beats, who produces for a lot of the young cats from Chicago. Also my guy, Sunny Woods, who is a DJ and engineer. He engineers for me and helped me orchestrate some of the producers.

With the new project, it’s me bridging the gap with the young sound from Chicago, but these guys do it with harder edged music. I chose to do it with more hip-hop elements. So with this project, you get what Twista sounds like blended with the young guys but not necessarily the mainstream music that you hear young cats are doing. It’s a different sound; Twista and Mick Jenkins or Twista and Vic Spencer. If you’re up on the Chicago sound you’d like to hear what that sounds like so I’m happy about the project.

His record label, GMG Entertainment has partnered with EMPIRE to release the platinum recording artist’s tenth full-length album—dropping the first single, “Baddest” featuring Cap 1, produced by Zaytoven. In anticipation for the July 7th street release, Twista sat down and had a candid and honest conversation with The Chicago Defender about the next chapter in his musical career.

career or throughout their personal life. What inspires Twista?

www.chicagodefender.com

Twitter and Instagram: @AverySunshine

Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Avery Sunshine is the epitome of unfiltered Soul music. When you close your eyes and listen to her voice resonate throughout her songs, it transports you to a time where music was unapologetically ‘Black’, music created from the roots of our African ancestors beating from the bottom of their soul. The collaboration with her writing, producing partner and now-husband, Dana Johnson, not only seals their matrimonial commitment to each other but doesn’t lose its chemistry.

Growing up a few miles outside of Philadelphia, Denise Nicole White began her musical journey as a young pianist—playing in the church and studying classical music by the time she was 11. Word of her extensive repertoire of music and vocal range spread throughout the church community, often being hired by various churches across several denominations.

we get married—no, it really evolved on its own.

It’s divine.

Does it frighten you to work so closely to someone, yet at the same time you both creatively sync? You’ve known each other for long while; are you fearful that magic will be lost?

It’s a fleeting thought. This is so different than what I expected it to be as far as our relationship.

I’ve been married before—you know in your heart when it’s not right. You know in your heart when it is right.

I think that’s how we knew we needed to be together. It was not a fight to try to do it. None of this was hard—challenging? Yes. That’s what life

She left home to attend Spelman College in Atlanta where she started as a music major, but graduated with a BA in philosophy. Throughout the years, her transformation from Denise Nicole White steadily built into the familiar R&B powerhouse of Avery Sunshine; a stage name she adopted and debuted with her first self-titled album in 2010.

Chicago has such a rich tradition of Soul, Jazz, Blues and Gospel music that has influenced music worldwide. Who are some of the key artists that stand out for you from Chicago?

There are many. He’s not from Chicago, but his roots are Chicago—God rest his soul, Maurice White [Earth Wind and Fire]. He wrote a book called, Keep Your Head to the Sky. It actually helped me through this album. His Chicago roots are a huge part of who he is, his music and his creativity. It was ironic when I was reading his book and Chicago popped up, ‘I should’ve known’. It’s something about Chicago and he’s from Memphis.

Since then, the mother of two has been on a roll releasing the following albums—The Sun Room (2014), and recently, Twenty Sixty Four in late April of this year.

What was the inspiration behind producing Twenty Sixty Four?

The albums kind of make themselves, which is why we write from our hearts—Dana and me.

We looked at all of the songs that we had and said, ‘Wow, this is our relationship.’ One of the last songs we wrote was Twenty Sixty Four, the name of the album. It really is about our relationship. Dana proposed to me last year.

After I called everybody I could, I asked God, ‘If you could give me until 2064 with this incredible person, this man—I promised I would say my prayers every night, I’ll stop eating carbs, I will stop cussing—I would be perfect—that sums up our story. The songs on the album, between the “Ice Cream” song, which is our wedding song, to “Used Car”, which is a song about divorcees, is our relationship.

My mother says, ‘Ain’t nothing wrong with a used car, just make sure it’s certified pre-owned.’ (she laughs) Everything has to do with me and Dana and our experiences. That’s how this came about. We didn’t go into the album thinking it was about our desire to never be married again, then www.chicagodefender.com

I would be that. Not that I didn’t think I was amazing—of course I think I’m amazing, but an artist? That’s Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston—that’s different—that’s a different sort of thing. Starting out, it was Dana who said ‘Hey, you outta try this. You should really do it.’ I said, ‘Man, okay...whatever.’

By the time, this third album came through I said, ‘Okay, shoot, absolutely that’s what I am.

I’m owning it.’ As a matter of fact, I’m feeling good about it. Let’s put some strings on this, some horns and attract other writers. This is what I do.

is, but not hard.

What’s the creative difference you’ve noticed from your first album, Avery Sunshine, compared to your second release, to Twenty Sixty Four?

Less fearful, which would translate to much more confidence. I’m much more comfortable allowing the process to dictate my moods. I know this is so strange, but there’s a delicate balance while you allow the process to guide.You still have to create it in such a way that we have to decide on where we want to be. Being clear about what I want to do and where I wanted to be but allowing the process to get me there.

Not getting in the way of the process, learning to not compare what I do with what someone else is doing or how I look compared to someone else.

I never wanted to be an artist, I never thought

I don’t think I knew until four or five years ago that I have relatives in Chicago. Of course, there’s many others, but in particular, Maurice has been my muse throughout the time we’ve been working on this project.

You are a working mom with a daughter and son, how do your kids inspire you?

That look in their eyes when I come home. That’s it. What they are saying, what they’re not saying— that look. We had to leave before my daughter got her first car. She’s seventeen and we had left on April 19. My mother took her to pick her car on April 20. She helps my mother with everything along with her brother. We have an amazing family unit and support system. She picked me up from the airport. That was my first time seeing my baby drive by herself. It was definitely a rite of passage for me and I saw the look in her eyes and her brother’s eyes. He grabbed my suitcases and threw it in the back and she was in the driver’s seat. It was surreal—just surreal.

THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017 7 11

Facebook: The Blues Kids Camp Blues

is the father

of rock and roll and

Fernando Jones

is the

purveyor of its legacy.

Chicago has become the hub of blues music, nurturing Black musicians that uprooted from their Southern homes to migrate up North to find a better way.

Blues legends like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf to Willie Dixon brought their southern roots to Chicago, along with artists such as KoKo Taylor, Otis Clay and today’s living legend, Buddy Guy. It is a musical form that has transcended across cultural and racial lines over the last century, and continues to motivate a new generation of musicians.

As the Founder and Executive Director of The Blues Kids Foundation,

Fernando Jones, a long-time musician, created the nonprofit organization to teach youth about the history of blues music. He has traveled around the world with his signature Fernando Jones’ Blues Kids Camp—a free camp open to kids and their parents.

Throughout his personal journey as a musician, he’s played with some of the industry’s most iconic artists, taking life-long lessons along the way and passing them on to hundreds of students that have learned the blues in his camps.

How did music help nurture you growing up?

Well it all goes back to my family’s living room at 55 E. 60th Street as a little boy. I was three or four-years old watching my big brother Greg play the keyboard, the bass, the guitar, and the

drums—all that kind of stuff. He would bring his friends over and he had a buddy, Moscow, who played a sharp looking guitar. From there, I was hooked on the fender guitar since childhood. My other brother Marvin was a sharp dresser so I am a product of my household environment. That’s how I got into music—my brothers would say ‘don’t touch my equipment’ and like most little brothers, I did it anyway. [he laughs] Why is it important to pass on the knowledge of the Blues and its rich history to young people?

I think that it’s something that has been lost. It’s something that I’ve tried to do with the kids that come through my blues camp. I’m not grooming them to be blues artists; I want them to be great human beings and if they want to study the blues—even if it’s for this small part in their life––okay. If it’s only one summer, I want them to be able to look back in a time when they were 30 years old; when their life was innocent, and we’ll be a part of that.

We know that Blues music is for everyone who loves the art form but why aren’t more African-American youth embracing Blues music as opposed to other groups?

The misinformation is that Blacks do not play or like the blues. You have adults between the ages of 22 and 70 who are playing the blues right now in the clubs. They may not necessarily be playing the high-profile clubs that are considered to be the blues clubs in Chicago or the blues clubs in New York. Not many Black people have looked compared to other races for other groups to validate who they are.

There’s a Black guy right now getting his harmonica ready to play and you may never hear about him because he doesn’t have to be validated by playing in one of these larger clubs.

If a parent wants their child involved with The Blues Kids camp, what are the details? Is there a fee and must participants be musically gifted to attend?

14 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017

This year, the camp is July 9th through July 14th at Columbia College and my camp is free for student musicians who want to be there. We do what we can to place beginners, intermediate and advanced players. We also have a ‘Blues Mama’ and a ‘Blues Daddy’ component of the camp where the parents and guardians of the children studying the blues can have fun to. If they come, it’ll cost them nothing and they can participate.

On that Monday, we’re scheduled to have a fish fry. The parents are going to open up for the kids. Tuesday, we have something happening, Wednesday we play at Reggie’s Rock Club; on Thursday, we’ll be at the Hard Rock Cafe and on Friday I have a white party. I figured if I watch the rappers, I can learn from them. [he laughs] I saw P Diddy had him a nice little white party since I’ll never get invited, I created my own and now everyone can come.

What other cities will the Fernando Jones’ Blues Kid Camp travel to?

Before the Chicago camp kicks off, we have a Blues camp in St. Louis at the National Blues Museum; Martin University in Indianapolis and at Tennessee State University in Nashville.

We end our Blues camp in Tokyo, Japan and in London, England later this summer.

www.chicagodefender.com

Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR As a small child, William Gilbert Dalton was surrounded by music in his home; with his musician father belting out soulful tunes on his piano and his sister taking their father’s lead. His earlier memories of copying Michael Jackson’s dance moves as a toddler planted the seed at an early age of the true definition of what world-class showmanship personifies.

Throughout his youth, he will came to experience cultural differences––throughout his academic learning, attending school between the suburbs and Chicago, but eventually graduated from Mt. Caramel High School. At the encouragement of his parents, he attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where his passion for creating music and becoming an artist would become a full-time commitment, primarily influenced by Master P. music videos and later his neighborhood hero, Bump J. His fans know him as The Boy Illinois and for the past few years, he has built a strong following on the Chicago indie circuit with several releases, taking him on the tour with Lupe Fiasco. Just recently, he has entered into a distribution partnership with rap label powerhouse Priority Records for his new single, “Dancing Like Diddy”.

How did you start out in music?

I was born in music. My dad was a musician.

He plays the piano, sings and he had a band early on. My sister under him, also sings, and plays the piano. When I was young, they had videos of me in

Twitter: @TheBoyIllinois and Instagram

my underwear singing Al Jarreau and I was 3 years old. Earth Wind and Fire, Sade and others we listened to on the weekend cleaning the house. I came up in the church and began singing in the choir as well, where I worked my way up to being a lead singer. Puberty hit and my voice changed and I couldn’t sing that way anymore.

Who influenced you coming up in music other than your family? This was something I can do as a profession without the possibility of having a day time job?

It was probably Bump J who really made me want to go forward. I was in high school. I was living over East so he was a very big influence coming up in that neighborhood. Just seeing the wave, how everybody was super influential. The energy he brought to the city. I really want to do this and I could do this full time.

What part of Bump J’s musical influence rubbed off on you?

Somebody from the community doing something like signing with Atlantic Records was big. Being able to go out and touch somebody and say, ‘what’s up’ and then seeing them as one of the biggest up and coming artists—working with people like Kanye West.

This is possible. It was just an infectious energy.

Continued on page 14

Anta Njie CONTRIBUTING WRITER When The Chicago Academy for the Arts (ChiArts) opened its doors in 2009, there was no warning that one their students would become a major recording artist before they graduated.

Ravyn Lenae climbed her way into some of the most coveted musical arenas. Securing a record deal with Atlantic Records, she released her debut fulllength album, Midnight Moonlight, featured on Rolling Stone Magazine’s ‘10 New Artists You Need To Know: March 2017’. Not typical of a high school senior, but Lenae hopes the world is ready because she is just getting started.

Hailing from Southside of Chicago, Lenae has been musically motivated sincet an early age. Beginning with guitar, piano and voice lessons guided by her grandmother, she says she was exposed to music throughout her childhood.

“I think it was the actions of one of my vocal teachers—Mr. Powell—who had me compose a song for the very first time on the piano. That was the moment where I realized I wanted this for a career,” Lenae reveals. Having a music career is only a fraction of what her hard work has granted her. Her rapid rise to success has charged her to challenge herself vocally and lyrically, always remaining conscious of those who have helped her along the way, creating a network of support that has held her up throughout this process.

“All of my support came from my peers at school and my two best friends Jacob and Leigha, who were www.chicagodefender.com

at all of my first shows. When no one would come to my shows, they were in the crowd,” she said.

From empty venues to sold out tours, Lenae has become a fan favorite across the globe with her juxtaposed and authentic sound. Deliberately using beats that are intricate and “busy” in cohesion with her soft and melodic voice tone, Lenae strives to take listeners into a state of dreaming with her music. Her main producer, Monte Booker, who has generated monumental attention for his talent across countless online platforms, and is responsible for producing her critically acclaimed project Moon Shoes, Lenae’s first album on Atlantic Records, can also pose artistic and at times—scary challenges. The ChiArts senior, says she it happens when creating something new. “The beats are challenging because it’s hard to find that pocket where I fit, if that makes sense. But Monte gets me 100 percent so when we create it’s really fast and easy,” she explains.

The challenge has only begun for Lenae, as she moves forward with the production of her second album, still in its early stages.

Lenae admits she’s always down to try new things with her music. “I’m still exploring myself and figuring out who I am as a woman, and it’s the same process for me musically so that’s cool; to be able to explore myself, my voice and my music at the same time.”

Set to go on tour next year, her goal is to capture who she is through her music and communicate a

message for all of her listeners, making clear that the joy she finds in making music is deeply rooted in a personal connection with her audience and fanbase overall. Smiling...

Twitter: @ravynlenae and Instagram

THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017 11

Twitter: @TyMoneySBMG Instagram: @TyMoneySBMG

by Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

by Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR The streets of Chicago can take you in, chew you up and spit you out without any remorse. There are many stories shared of young men whose lives have changed either for the better or worse.

Ty Money has walked through most of his young adult life relying on the streets as extended refuge—hustling and trying to survive. The love of his family never far but like many youth, the streets can have a stronger influence.

Having served one-year at the Vienna Correctional Center, he was released in 2013. On the ride back home, his mother played the mixtape he completed before going inside.

Sharing that moment with his mother and listening to his music—he realized his true refuge was music—not the streets.

In the last couple of years, his Cinco De Money mixtapes have become a hot commodity on the streets— attracting the attention of national publications and hip-hop fans. Since his first mixtape dropped, his producer partners have expanded to a reputable group of familiar names that include Rio Mac, YF, Honorable C-Note, ChaseTheMoney and Hearon Trackz.

The latest Cinco De Money 3 mixtape features the recently Bump J’s first recorded release since being released from prison.

What made you decide music was aprofession you wanted pursue fulltime?

Music runs in my family. Everybody in my family does music so it was a ‘no brainer’ for me. Marvo is my big cousin.

Everybody knows how to rap or sing.

My dad would have DJ equipment everywhere so I would hear music all day.

Throughout this time, you were incarnated, was there a moment that given a second chance—you would not return to the street life?

Yes, when I was in segregation for 24 hours locked down—I knew it. I 14 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017

didn’t want to live like this. Running the streets, you could end up two ways— the grave or jail. I didn’t want to do or go through this. I knew I had a talent and the people I was locked up with also knew I had a talent. They told me I needed to get out and focus on my talent. All that time I had to sit and think, I realized who I was and what I could do.

What formula works for you to create a buzz without going through the traditional process of radio airplay?

I think it’s pure talent. A lot of people feel they have to ‘do this’ or ‘do that’.

I was always the type that sat back, minded my own business, stayed in the studio and kept working on my craft. I don’t like doing shows. I’m a studio body, I like the studio first. I want to make sure I’m ready for all of that.

There’s people out here who probably have 20 songs and they’re doing shows. Eventually, they’re going to run out of songs. I’m not going to run out, I want to make sure I’m ready.

When did you start getting calls from people outside of Chicago about your music?

We went to London with Mos Def. That really opened my eyes--it was the first time I met Drake, Chance the Rapper—they were all wondering, ‘Who’s this guy from Chicago with Mos Def? Why are you with Mos Def, how did that happen?’ I mess with a lot of Muslim brothers [FOI] and they pull a lot of strings. They introduced me to Nick Cannon and Mos Def’s brother as well. They didn’t have to, but they did anyway.

What new projects are you working on now?

I’m working on a project with the Honorable C-Note, front and back together. I’m thinking about releasing Cinco De Money—one, two and three

Continue on page 14

Before House music was declared a separate genre

by Black and brown club kids partying in the late 1970’s, a young skinny, African-American teen witnessed thousands of disco records as an usher at White Sox park. The largest vinyl bonfire and biggest publicity stunt from a local Chicago radio disc jockey declared his dislike for the music that was perceived ‘over kill’ for most of white America.

Not moved by the roaring antics of the crowd, Vince Lawrence quietly grabbed a pile of undamaged records and brought them home. Little did he know, he would be a part of transitioning the narrative from soulful disco beats and its B-sides into a commercial movement that would net billions of dollars over four decades later.

Staying in Roseland with his mom, Lawrence would often visit with his father who was a DJ and member of Dogs of War Record Pool. Trips to the pool meetings would be some of his most memorable times––meeting his dad’s friends and discussing the music business.

Lawrence is the owner of Slang Music Group, a music production house that specializes in commercial, project development from major corporations to boutique music labels.

His name and his legacy precede him, securing a place in music history by co-producing and distributing, “On and On”, the first commercially recorded House record in 1984.

Recently, he shared a shining moment along with former creative producer and partner, Jesse Saunders, when they were recognized by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Specials Events (DCASE) with the Lifetime Achievement award on May 27 at Chicago’s House Party at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

The Chicago Defender was invited to Slang Music recording studio for a one-on-one conversation with Lawrence.

What was your first break into the music business?

I worked, saved my money and bought my first synthesizer. From there I started a band. Herb Kent had the Stay Up and Punk Out radio show on WVON. I would tune in religiously and knew I wanted to make music that encapsulated the parties that we were going to.

The punk band was called ‘Z Factor’. For my graduation present, my

dad got me some studio time. We recorded this record called “Fast Cars”.

My dad took it around to the local radio stations, and it received some rotation on WGCI. As a band, we played at a place on the Northside called Tuts—later it became the Avalon. I was 16 years old and I was reprimanded to the dressing room because I wasn’t old enough to be at the bar with our band headlining the event.

I was making other music and would visit the teen clubs. One night I took my music to Jesse Saunders, who was spinning at the Playground.

He said, ‘We can make better records than this.’ We started hanging out and Jesse was a popular DJ; all the girls thought he was cute. If I could get him in my band, he’ll be my ‘Mick Jagger’. [he laughs] Jesse joined Z Factor and we made a bunch of records at that point. We were off to the races.

Was the record, “On and On” an accidental hit for you and Jesse?

We were waiting on my dad to put out a record called “Fantasy”. We had pulled in Screamin’ Rachel to sing the song. We thought it would blend in so many cultures with just her. We were waiting and it had been a month being impatient as teenagers. Jesse had just bought a four-track cassette deck. Jesse needed some beat tracks so that he could play other popular mainstream records—R &B, Soul etc. at The Playground. We recorded four beat tracks that he made on one side and another crazy beat called, “On & On”. One thing lead to another and that record took off like wildfire.

You’ve had a great deal of success throughout the years as a producer but you’ve had bigger success becoming a music production house for advertising agencies. What was your first entry into this field?

Bill Daniels was a partner in Equinox, a Black owned advertising agency on Michigan Ave. He asked me about making a commercial for teens.

He said, ‘If you can come down to my office and you can show me that you have the ability to communicate effectively with teens, I may have a proposition for you.’ I said, ‘Great’. I offered him to come to my office. They came to my loft studio at North Ave. and California, where we were throwing a rave in the basement. They were stunned at all of the kids dancing and dancing to my music.

From there, we created a song for an Ameritech commercial. That was

Continue on page 14 www.chicagodefender.com

The sanctuary of music often lies in the cradle of the melody. The melody is the first note that can carry the rest of the orchestration, blending each instrument, building structure and sealing the song with a strong chorus. Jazz music is built around melodies and complex orchestrations that magically align our ears to our own interpretation without losing a beat.

The Baylor Project is a unique fusion of Jazz, Gospel and Soul by husband and wife duo, Jean and Marcus Baylor. Both have consistent track records in music, with Jean being apart of the R&B duo, Zhané, and Marcus, a former member of the Yellowjackets.

With major record company homes far behind them, they created their own independent label, ‘Be A Light’, shortly after the couple married in 2007.

The first album, Testimony: My Story, was followed by a holiday EP, Light Up the World—both projects were a beginning to creative independence in the indie world.

Working as One Released in February, The Baylor Project debuted number one on iTunes Jazz Charts and number eight on Billboard Jazz charts. The response has been a phenomenal new chapter in the Baylor’s lives.

“Not long after we got married, we started working on music together. Marcus was playing around on his drum machine. We put out two indie projects and they weren’t Jazz at all,” said Jean. “Marcus was more on the production element so then he had an idea and said we should do a jazz album. He wanted to play the drums; that is what he loves more between playing and producing. He says, ‘Let’s do something to feature you on vocals and myself on drums to be creatively free.’ I thought it was a dumb idea. [she laughs] You gotta be honest.”

They often laugh and joke with each other and to listen them, they are best friends. The two have similar backgrounds, with both growing up in the church.

“We are pastor’s kids,” says Marcus. “I started playing drums at church at the age of 2. Jean was singing in the angel’s choir and got her tail beat by her mom when she acted up. [he laughs] I’m the youngest of nine so my dad was the pastor. I watched my cousin play drums. I was always taught playing drums was a special gift from God. I became the church drummer around the age of 5. One thing about church music that I loved, the mothers made sure you didn’t get too wild or played too loud. My mom would give me that look while I played the dedication. Playing at the tent revivals, choirs and being dedicated—that’s what really created the discipline. You also get the love and passion,” he said.

Marcus, a native of Ferguson, Missouri—a suburb outside of St. Louis, which was the center of racial unrest when Michael Brown lost his life in police custody in 2015. Decades of tension between the predominately Black community and majority white police department led to days and nights of protests and rioting.

“I heard a quote–– ‘If you want to know what African American people are going through, check out the music of that time period.’ I feel like that in some www.chicagodefender.com

kind of way; our music and sound reflect what we’re dealing with as a people. On our new album, there’s a lot of healing.” He says from the song “Again”, which deals with healing to “Laughing and Move On” when emotions stir up and aggravate you—sometimes you have to put a smile on your face.

“I’ve always repped St. Louis; from day one since I’ve left. In terms of Ferguson, it’s tough because I still have family that lives in Ferguson. It’s a major part of me and that’s where I grew up.”

Jean grew up some 20 minutes outside of Philadelphia. She says, “Growing up, we had one public high school, one private high school and a couple of elementary schools. I lived on the side where all the Black folks lived, and although it was a predominately white town—it was still a nice town to live in.

She left home to attend Temple University on a Division 1 scholarship to play Lacrosse and later pursue her life dream of singing professionally.

The New Music Model A great deal has changed since Marcus was a drummer for the Jazz group, Yellowjackets, and Jean was one part of the popular R&B duo, Zhané.

The dichotomy of how records are recorded and marketed was a new learning curve, with new technology dominating the industry. Finding a record company to support their music projects was challenging.

“We were looking at labels but it wasn’t working out. Marcus and I are a lot alike in a lot of ways, our birthdays are six years and a day apart. We’re persistent people, we’re not tripping if somebody isn’t ready to do something. We will find a ‘yes’. Yes is us creating it and doing it—then we’ll do it. That’s the beauty of growing up and figuring out who you are.

‘Be A Light’ is our record label,” said Jean.

She said it was challenging to adjust to new recording techniques in the studio.

“It was moving from the old analog system to everything being digitized. That was kind of traumatic.

We didn’t get the memo right away. (she laughs) We realized that on the first record.” Moving forward, Jean said, “everything became digitize and it changed the way people function on a day to day level with music.”

On The Baylor Project, they decided to not have the album available for streaming because of very small percentage pay-outs to the creators. Although, the album is available on all formats for download.

Jean admits, howvever, that the choice is no longer in the hands of the major record companies. “Now it’s consumer driven, where they decide what they want.

We decided not to stream this particular album. Everything is so consumer driven—they can decide to buy one or two singles or nothing. They can listen to Spotify and as an artist, you may get 7 cents a song.

That’s not sustainable financially.”

From the very beginning of the album’s intro, “Block Party”, which is a cross between church inspired signature sounds, to the elevated drum solo by Marcus, to the beautiful vocals of Jean––it was a labor of love.

“The way we paid for this record, we paid for it out of our pockets but we also did a crowdfunding campaign through Indie Gogo. We needed funds to record the project but it was also about marketing.” The crowd funding project went viral, which helped the Baylors focus on creating the image and packaging for the album. They enlisted the help of photographer, Deneka Peniston. Marcus says Jean worked closely with Deneka on scouting locations for the day-long photo shoot for the album. “I just showed up and picked out my clothes,” he said.

Jean says this was part of translating the final vision of the project outside of the studio—scouting out locations for the shoot. “I gave her the concept and we found the sight. We knew we wanted to do it in the church. Danika just took it and ran with it. This album has been our biggest stride as independent artists.”

THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017 11

K

solid fanbase.

K’Valentine is no stranger to the rap game. Having grown up between the South Suburbs of Chicago and finishing high school in Minnesota, she’s influenced by her love for Whitney Houston, Sarah McLaughlin, Stevie Wonder, Tupac and Eminem.

by Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR From the very beginning of Hip Hop music, young women have thrown their hat in the ring of a predominately male arena. From Roxanne Shante to Nicki Minaj, the list over the last three decades have been dominated by successful artists such as Salt N Pepa, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill to Chicago’s own Da Brat, Shawna and now Dreezy. Each artist holding their own ground—creating a unique style and being signed to major record labels.

The digital age has changed how major labels are forced to do business and gives more leverage to independent artists competing and building a

Chicago is a town that embraces hip hop with rich musical roots but may not always have the resources to help artists rise to the next level in the music business. What has been your motivation in not staying discouraged?

Just the belief that I have in myself— in my faith and my craft. But I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea and think that I haven’t been discouraged. I just dropped my very first indie album Here For a Reason and I have a song on it called “Higher Power”. The song is about being discouraged within the industry and just the type of people I’ve had to encounter on my journey.

Some people I still have to encounter, so when I do have those moments, if I’m feeling discouraged, I just put it into the music. When I began writing poetry,

it was always when I was feeling down, so when I do have those moments I write more, so it kind of helps me.

In today’s digital landscape where fans can download an artist’s song from their mobile devices or laptops, you went ‘old school’ and pressed up vinyl. Did you want to inspire DJ and the die-hard vinyl collectors?

Yeah, it’s a combination. I wanted the DJs to be able to have some, but I feel like it’s still hip-hop lovers who love vinyl. I just got off tour with Talib Kweli and Styles P. Although the album wasn’t out for most of the tour, our merchandise was selling out.

You went on tour with Talib Kweli. How was that experience to tour with one of the most respected hip hop lyricist in the game?

Whenever an artist that I admire comes out to Chicago, I try to make it out to the show and that’s what I did when I heard he was going to be here. I went to the show and I had a friend who had a friend who was working backstage. I got the opportunity to

by Mary L. Datcher ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR The industry’s most highly sought-after artists are artists that come from Chicago’s roughest neighborhoods.

The saving grace of music, sports and academic achievement have transformed young lives; taking them out of an environment that has fallen to unemployment, closed schools and economic disparity, the streets become their mentor.

But sometimes, the best music has to come out of the darkest places in order to see the light.

Antonio Valentino King, better known to hip hop fans as one of Chicago’s most controversial rap artists, is 600Breezy. He first broke onto the scene when one of his closest friends, LA Capone, was shot and murdered in September 2013. It triggered the Washington Park native to record and release his first single, “Don’t Get 14 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017

Smoked”, creating a viral frenzy accumulating 4.4 million YouTube views.

King is not one who holds his tongue and has blatantly called out artists on their lack of creative ingenuity and talent. The 24-year-old father of two is open and honest with people when discussing his gang affiliation and runins with the law. He doesn’t pull back, but as this star rises in the music business—working with heavy hitters such as Drake—he realizes that the weight he carries is bigger than him.

On June 2, Breezy headed back to Waterloo, Iowa for a court date in connection to a 2012 charge of drug possession. Although currently on probation, he was bound to be in parole violation according to the courts. He was immediately sentenced to ten years, but on a call from jail, the Chicago native made it clear to KollegeKidd.com

he would serve one year with legal support from fellow artist, Drake.

The day before this unfortunate outcome, Breezy and his manager, Rita Lee came by The Chicago Defender for an in-depth interview—promoting his new single, “Lou Rawls” distributed through EMPIRE. He was tired from traveling but excited with the prospects of what the future held for him and his family.

Tell us about how you got into the rap game.

I knew how to rap for a long time, but I got into rap seriously when my friend LA Capone got killed. He was on his way to meet T.I., who was about to sign him. Unfortunately, he was killed the week before he had his meeting

stand next to him, I told him how much I loved him and then I told him that I rap. He asked where could he go to listen to my music and I directed him to my website and I told him he could give me his phone number and I could text him my music links. Talib gave me his phone number and told me about a private party he was having at the Hard Rock, where he invited me to come through and played my music. He like what he heard and two weeks later, we were working on my mixtape “Million Dollar Baby”.

Did you feel like being a female was a hindrance or an advantage?

I think it’s both sometimes. Being a female, there’s an advantage because initially it may get you in the door to get somebody’s time and attention but sometimes they don’t take you serious.

It depends on the person you’re interacting with as well. There’s way more male hip hop artists than there are women. So, if I show up to someone’s show or someone’s office, I’m going to stand out because I am a female.

Twitter: @Itskvalentine Instagram: @Itskvalentine

Twitter: @600Breezy Instagram: @600Breezy with T.I. coming out of a studio here in Chicago. You know with Chicago rap, everybody’s dissing everybody’s dead homies, so they were dissing him crazy—other rappers.

I made a song called “Don’t Get Smoked” and it was just me following in their path, but I got extra disrespectful.

I was disrespectful to the point where I still look at the song like ‘Damn, I didn’t have to do that.’ From there, I don’t know…I just got a bright light. I no longer continued to be disrespectful—I just made music. I’ve been in the rap game for about two and a half years and I’ve been going strong.

Do you think the buzz from rap artists like Chief Keef has played a major role on people recognizing your music?

It did play a big part with Chief Keef because he’s 300 and we’re 600.

We’re all cool to the point that he used to hang on our block too. He was in our music videos and you can catch us in some of his old videos. We’re cool and we’re all friends. We all praise some of the same people that died because we all have mutual connections that definitely played a big part. After Chief Keef rolled out, it made Reese, Durk and Fredo bigger.

Continued on page 14 www.chicagodefender.com

10 CHICAGO ARTISTS WHO CHANGED modest, do it on my own terms mentality defied many industry standards, shattered stereotypes and paved the way for a new wave of hip hop culture that even had the likes of Prince singing his praises.

Chaka Khan By: Duane Powell Contributing Writer

Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones is by far the most prolific producer, arranger and conductor in the history of music. With a career spanning almost 70 years, he’s responsible for some of the biggest hits in the world of pop, soul, jazz and film with artists including Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Lesley Gore and Michael Jackson–– and that’s seriously about one percent of the many legendary artists he’s worked with. He was the first African American to become VP for a white major record label. He’s the first African American to serve as musical director and conductor of the Academy Awards, the first African American to be nominated for Best Original Song and was the first African American to be nominated twice within the same year for an Academy Award for Best Score. He’s also the record holder for the most Grammy nominations at 79. To list all of he’s done in the world of music, TV, film. media and activism, we’d be writing a book. No one has accomplished all this.

Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock is one of the most respected, influential and versatile pianists and composers in the world; with 14 Grammy awards and countless other awards under his belt. Classically trained at age 7, he would go on to take the world of modern jazz by storm in the early 60’s at Blue Note Records. While playing with Miles Davis in the late 60’s into the 70’s, he became one of the first notable electric piano players in jazz. Further exploring electric sounds, he is considered one of the founding fathers of the jazz fusion and jazz funk genres. Many of his compositions have been covered or sampled heavily. His explorations in sound have influenced other pianists and producers well into the 21st Century especially producers in the world of electronica like Flying Lotus.

Muddy Waters

Known as the Father of Chicago Blues, Muddy Waters’ influence exceeds the genre. His use of amplification is cited as the “technological missing link between Delta Blues and Rock ‘N’ Roll”, having introduced Europe to the blues played with an electric guitar. That influence was so great that the iconic rock band as well as the popular magazine named themselves after Muddy Waters song “Rollin’ Stone”. The six time Grammy winner would go on to be the greatest influence on many artists in rock n roll, including AC/DC, Van Morrison and Eric Clapton.

Kanye West

The Southside native is one of the most accomplished and critically acclaimed artists of the 21st Century. This acclaim has led him to be one of the biggest selling artist of all time. His experimental approach to hip hop music coupled with his not so

www.chicagodefender.com

Known as the Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan broke barriers in the 70’s with her fiery personality, provocative outfits and her siren like voice. She shattered myths about women’s roles, confidence and sexuality making her a hero amongst feminists. The ten Grammy winner has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide and was ranked at number 17 in VH1’s original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock N’ Roll. Artists including Mary J. Blige and Erykah Badu list her as their biggest influence.

Thomas A. Dorsey/Mahalia Jackson

While musical director at Pilgrim Baptist Church, Thomas A. Dorsey crafted a new sound drawing from his roots in jazz and rhythm and blues combining it with Christian praise music creating what became known as black gospel music. He discovered 17-year-old Mahalia Jackson, gospel’s first superstar, and their 14-year relationship spawned some of the most classic songs and moments in gospel and black music history––most notably, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”. Martin Luther King, Jr. cited this as his favorite song. Their work influenced generations of singers; most notably a young Aretha Franklin.

Nat King Cole

The Bronzeville native set the standard as a crossover jazz artist into the pop world. He recorded more than 150 singles that reached the Pop, R&B, and Country charts, and has yet to be matched by any other artist on Capitol’s roster; including Frank Sinatra. His approach to ballads made him the quintessential crooner that went onto inspire artists for generations most notably Marvin Gaye and John Legend.

He also was one of the first African Americans to host a national TV variety show.

Minnie Riperton

The Chicago born songbird with the five-octave range. In her early career as a session singer in girl groups at Chess Records, she provided vocals on several hits for the label backing artists including Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf and Fontella Bass. As the featured female vocalist for the cult followed psychedelic band Rotary Connection and into her solo career, she’s the first singer to incorporate the whistle register into the world of soul / R&B, paving the way for the likes of Mariah Carey, Chante Moore, Shanice Wilson and many other singers for generations. In hip hop, majority of A Tribe Called Quest’s most classic songs contain samples from her catalog.

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield is one of the most influential singers, musicians and composers of all time. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame and one of the few who’s a double inductee in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame (as solo artist and with his group The Impressions). With his various record labels, he launched the careers of many Chicago and soul music legends including Donny Hathaway, The Staple Singers, The Five Stairsteps, The Jones Girls and Linda Clifford. His message music with songs including “People Get Ready”, “Moving

On Up” and “Keep Pushing” led to him being credited for introducing social consciousness into black music, paving the way for many of his peers, most notably Marvin Gaye with “What’s Going On”. This influence carried on for generations, inspiring conscious hip hop some decades later.

R. Kelly

Simply put, R. Kelly is one of the most successful R&B artists for a quarter of a century. Combining modern day street songs with gospel and classic soul of artists that inspired him, including Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke, Kelly changed the way generations approached the world of black music. He became the standard. Even artists before him, including Ronald Isley and Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band, adapted his approach as a way to reignite their careers. His influence is undeniable.

THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017 11

EX ECU TI V E COR NER

Vince Lawrence my first television commercial. I was in charge of casting, along with writing the copy for the spot and we created the music.

That became part of our business.

We grew into video gaming in a similar manner. Later, a DJ friend of mine, DJ Pele Fresh asked if I could make music for the Oprah Winfrey Show. Our company grew from one interest to another.

But at the end of the day, I just wanted to be in the studio. I wanted to be in the studio so much—it was also making us broke.

How did you save your company from going bankrupt?

We bought a great deal of equipment to cut down on the costs. We cut a deal to rent this little inexpensive studio room on a monthly basis. I told the studio owner, ‘By the way, the gear you have in there--I don’t need any of that.’

At 23, I owned my studio inside of the Chicago Recording Studio complex.

My next door neighbor was R. Kelly. He and I would sit near the pop machine at 3am in the morning and discuss the fact that our production teams had fallen asleep and we were driven to make music and to keep going. Robert and I became fast friends at that point. I went to produce dance and house remixes of “I Wish”, “Ignition” and a few other songs for him.

By working with artists like Rob, I started learning about the mainstream record business and that’s how we got into artist development.

continued from page10

Sometimes people get stuck in the same lane especially in the House music community. How do you maintain staying fresh with your company?

It’s been about the love for creativity.

I just go where that is. I found the opportunity to be creative in music. I then found another opportunity to be creative helping other people make music.

I grabbed my friend Marshall Jefferson and said we could make music together.

My friend Byron Stingily stayed up the hall from me in college. I asked him to come and sing on my records. Ten City turned into one of the biggest house bands. I’ve been inclusive and willing to work with people. If people are trying to be creative and they can celebrate that creativity wholeheartedly, innovation is a byproduct of that.

How do you set aside quality time for your family as a husband and father?

Well, that’s a struggle. But, I have to say that I can’t take credit for creating that balance. My wife, Tara, does that and actually creates balance. I really try to take weekends off to spend with my family. My son is three and he’s always in the studio with me. For the most part, my mom raised me. I know from experience, what things I missed by having my father present on a daily basis—I suspected those things but I’m learning firsthand with London. I just want to be a great dad—I want to be excellent at that.

Fresh Faces in Faith:

TODD DULANEY

CONTINUED FROM PG. 5 What does fatherhood mean to you, as a father and as a son?

My father is the greatest man that’ll I’ll ever know. He passed on but I never knew how great of a man he was until I had my own family. Everything that I saw in him, I would look at some of the decisions he made on behalf of our house, wondering if they were the best decisions.

That all changed when I became the head of my own house. So, now I have respect for anyone who’s a father—any type of a father. Standing there and playing a role—my respect for that man is so high—now that I know these decisions were not easy.

What kind of advice did Pastor Smokie Norful give you on both ministry and surviving in the music business?

One thing was patience. He would harp on me during the early years of ministry with him. He said, I was moving too fast but I told him, ‘I think I could do it.’ That was the one thing he instilled in me. He said, ‘You have to wait till it’s God’s time for you to shine.’ I learned that from him, watching everything unfold and enjoying the process of it. I’m learning to enjoy the day-to-day because when it’s over—it’s over. You spend all of this time trying to make it and you’ve made it. The hard work is part of the ‘making it’.

14 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017

HE got game: continued from page 12 It’s definitely beyond the glitz and glamour. I got a big opportunity with this music. I didn’t want to do it before, but now I want to do it because of the places it’s taking me. I’ve been on private jets, in mansions and around nice cars. I feed my family with the money I’m making off of it—there’s residuals coming from it. It’s not about putting on these chains to be flashy or let me get these cars or whatever—I’m using this as a way out.

Who are some of your favorite musical influences from Chicago?

I can’t even sit here and say that I know too many lyrical Chicago artists. I mean, Psycho Drama, Cap 1— it’s a few people I can name that can rap from Chicago. I don’t like the new Kanye, I like the old Kanye—College Dropout Kanye. Some Chicago artists are disappointing to me—GLC can spit.

Artists need to step it up man—it’s kind of messed up that they only know Chicago for Chief Keef. I’m changing that, I’m changing that now.

Have major record companies approached you about a deal?

Labels have been coming for me since I dropped my first song. I had somebody misrepresenting me, and I lost a lot of looks, but then I kind of fell back on the rapping and came back strong. I just did my listening session

Breezy 600

for my last project in New York at Quad Studios—packed it out. I had Bad Boy and Sony Music—people there who are interested in me. But, I’m not looking for no deal, because I’m independent. I see all of my money right now, I’m with EMPIRE through distribution. I’d rather just stay independent and just make all of my own money; like Chance the Rapper.

Are you working on new music to release similar to “Lou Rawls”?

Yes, more positive singles like “Lou Rawls” with good visions, good songs and good music. I’m working, I can’t even say what’s going to come out in the next few months because these last few months have been crazy. I never expected half of the things that’s been going on for me. To make Drake’s album––just to be on the awards with him, on private jets, and riding nice cars, I’m seeing a better lifestyle. So in the next few months somebody might want to bring me the best deal.

When everything is said and done— what matters most in your life?

My kids are number one. Everything I do, I do for them and my mom. It’s just family—family is important to me.

My grandma saw me on the Billboard Awards and called me crying tears, screaming at the top of her lungs. I didn’t even win an award, I was just there but I’m her baby. Family is the most important thing to me.

millennial moves

The Boy Illinois Is it important to stay independent so long before you decided to consider major label distribution?

Definitely because that wave came in during a time where streaming is so prevelant and at time where you can reach your audience very easily.

People just naturally hold out because they see the power they have. Out of that you can create a bigger reward. The offer goes up and the anty goes up. Once folks saw that Chance got in, they thought, ‘I’m going to try to do the same thing’.

Once it started with Keef, everybody kind of cringed when he signed with Interscope Records because he could’ve done this himself. I may not do a complete deal, but I might do X, Y, and Z

ty money

as a collectible. I still distribute physical product because I’m old school.

What inspires you? Is it family, other musicians or is it yourself?

It’s probably myself. I’ve always been the type

continued from page 9

differently.

What does Black music mean to you?

It means a lot. I’m very big on paying homage to the elders before me because if it wasn’t for them, there wouldn’t be ‘The Boy Illinois’. We take from the music of the past to create what we have today. Music is vibration and they were putting out a better vibration back then. Since then, the vibration has been lowered over the years; especially live instrumentation.

I have the Taste of Chicago coming up on July 5. There, we’ll be performing with a live band, tap dancing and good stuff coming. It’s very important to know and study your history because it makes you better in whatever craft you pursue.

continued from page 10 of person that wear a mask. It’s motivation for me.

They told me a long time ago, I wasn’t going to make it, I was weak or never going to make noise.

They never played me on the radio. Now, my record with Bump J is being spun every day. All of this was motivation for me. It’s like the fifth-round draft pick that went on to win the Super Bowl. www.chicagodefender.com

JUNE

DuSable Museum 2017 Sounds of History Jazz Series Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2017 Tribute to Eartha Kitt, Dinah Washington, Natalie Cole & Anita Baker Starring Terisa Griffin | 6pm-9pm www.dusablemuseum.org The Original Women of House Lunchtime Mix Date: Monday, June 26, 2017, 12noon2pm Location: Daley Center Plaza Hosted by Toni Shelton feat.

DJs Lora Branch, First Lady and Celeste Alexander The Baylor Project @ The Promontory Date: Saturday, June 24, 2017 Location: The Promontory Notable acts: The Baylor Project www.promontorychicago.com Mamby on the Beach Date: June 24-25, 2017 Location: Oakwood Beach Notable acts: BJ the Chicago Kid, Ravyn Lenae, Saba, etc. www.mambybeach.com Common @ Ravinia Date: Saturday, June 24, 2017 Location: Ravinia Pavillion Notable acts: Common www.ravinia.org House Club Tour Date: Wednesday, June 28, 2017 Location: The Promontory Notable acts: Ronda Flowers, Dana Divine, Robert Koko Walker www.promontorychicago.com Eric Roberson @ City Winery Date: June 30-July 1, 2017 Location: City Winery Notable acts: Eric Roberson www.citywinery.com

JULY

Chosen Few DJs House Music Festival Date: July 1-2, 2017 Location: Jackson Park Notable acts: Chosen Few DJs, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, CeCe Peniston International Festival of Life Date: Saturday, July 1-Tuesday, July 4, 2017 Location: Union Park Notable acts: Capleton & The Prophecy Band, Darius Brooks,The Tommies, Lyfe Jennings, Al Hudson & One Way www.internationalfestivaloflife.com Good Vibes Music Fest Date: Sunday, July 2, 2017 Location: 360 N. Broadway Street, Aurora, Illinois Notable acts: Ginuwine, Dru Hill, Jon B, and Mya

www.chicagodefender.com

Taste of Chicago Date: July 5-9, 2017 Location: Grant Park Notable acts: The Boy Illinois, O’Jays and more. www.cityofchicago.org

V103 3rd Annual Summer Block Party Date: July 22, 2017 Location: Huntington Bank Pavilion Notable acts: Jill Scott, BBD, Nelly & Kelly Rowland, and SWV. www.v103.iheart.com

WGCI’s Summer Jam Date: Saturday, July 8 Location: United Center Notable acts: Jeezy, Yo Gotti, Jeremiah, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne www.wgci.com

The Art of Rap Tour Date: Saturday, July 22, 2017 Location: The Chicago Theater Notable acts: DMX, Rakim, Crucial Conflict, Ghostface Killa, Raekwon, and KRS-One www.thechicagotheatre.com

Buddy Guy and Booker T. Jones Date: Thursday, July 6, 2017 Location: Ravinia www.ravinia.org

Taste of Gospel Date: Saturday, July 22, 2017 Location: Washington Park, 5100 S. Cottage Grove Notable acts: Charles Jenkins, LXW Chicago, Stars of Heaven

Steppin’ Tribute to Herb Kent Summerdance - Sponsored by DCASE Date: Thursday, July 6, 2017 Location: Grant Park’s Spirit of Music Garden DJ Eric ‘ET’ Taylor and Majestic Gents 6pm-9pm House Music Summerdance Sponsored by DCASE Date: Friday, July 7, 2017 - 6pm-9pm Location: Grant Park’s Spirit of Music Garden DJ Steve ‘Miggedy’ Maestro Johnny Gill and Angie Stone Date: Saturday, July 8, 2017 Location: Country Club Hills Theater Chante Moore @ The Promontory Date: July 13, 2017 Location: The Promontory Pitchfork Music Festival 2017 @ Union Park Date: July 14-16, 2017 Notable acts: Tribe Called Quest, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Solange www.pictchfork.com/festival Diana Ross Date: Saturday, July 15, 2017 Location: The Venue, Horseshoe Casino Hammond, IN www.caesars.com/horseshoe-hammond The 14th Annual Silver Room Sound System Block Party Date: Saturday, July 15, 2017 12noon-10pm Location: Harper Court, Downtown Hyde Park www.silverroomblockparty.com Jagged Edge and Raheem DeVaughn Date: Saturday, July 15, 2017 Location: Country Club Hills Theater

Harper Court Summer Music Series Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2017 Location: 5235 S. Harper Court Notable acts: Res & DJ Joe College Rahsaan Patterson @ City Winery Date: July 30, 2017 Location: City Winery Notable acts: Rahsaan Patterson www.citywinery.com/chicago

AUGUST

Lollapalooza @Grant Park Date: August 3-6, 2017 Notable acts: Chance the Rapper, Big Sean, Rae Sremmurd, Wiz Khalifa, Migos and more. www.lollapalooza.com The Isley Brothers Date: Friday, August 4, 2017 Location: The Venue, Horseshoe Casino Hammond, IN www.caesars.com/horseshoe-hammond Rachelle Ferrell @ City Winery Date: August 4-5, 2017 Location: City Winery Notable acts: Rachelle Ferrell www.citywinery.com/chicago

WAR and Average White Band Date: August 12, 2017 Location: Country Club Hills Theater www.cchtheater.com Country Club Hills Jazz Fest Date: Saturday, August 19, 2017 Location: Country Club Hills Theater Notable acts: Ramsey Lewis, Gerald Albright, Peter White Mr. Lee’s Birthday Bash & Blues Festival Date: Saturday, August 26, 2017 Location: Country Club Hills Theater Notable acts: Bobby Rush, Denise LaSalle, Latimore, Enchantment

SEPTEMBER

Gladys Knight and Michael Bolton Date: Friday, September 1, 2017 Location: Ravinia www.ravinia.org African Festival of Arts Date: September 1-4, 2017 Location: Washington Park www.aihusa.org North Coast Music Festival Date: September 1-4, 2017 Location: Union Park Notable acts: Gucci Mane, Damian Marley, The Cool Kids www.northcoastfestival.com Aretha Franklin @ Ravinia Date: Sunday, September 3, 2017 Location: Ravinia Pavilion Notable acts: Aretha Franklin https://www.ravinia.org/ShowDetails/Index?id=1355 Avery Sunshine @ City Winery Date: September 20-21, 2017 Location: City Winery Notable acts: Avery Sunshine http://www.citywinery.com/chicago/avery-sunshine-9-20-17.html

House Music| Summerdance Sponsored by DCASE Date: Friday, August 11, 2017 - 6pm-9pm Location: Grant Park’s Spirit of Music Garden Notable Acts: Tyree Cooper Santana Date: August 11-12, 2017 Location: Ravinia www.ravinia.org

Guy and Blackstreet Date: Saturday, July 22, 2017 Location: Country Club Hills Theater

THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017 15

16 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • June 2017

www.chicagodefender.com