When most think of the Chicago hip-hop scene it’s not usually a good thing. “Chiraq, Drillinois” is what they call it right? Rappers like Chief Keef and Lil Reese make songs supporting gun violence and warning others not to bother them. These two, and many other rappers use lyrics to threaten other local rappers, and many believe they contribute to rising murder rates.
Contradicting this recent trend are three local rappers by the names of: Chance the Rapper, King Louie, and Noname Gypsy.They are changing the stereotype of Chicago rap and are three of the best local rappers in the game right now.
Before we get into the semantics of these artists, please allow me to tell you a little bit about myself. I enjoy the Chicago rap scene and I don’t hate artists that promote Chicago gun violence. I’m just in search of something more. I’m relatively young so I wasn’t around for the golden years of rappers like Tupac and Biggy Smalls. So through my generation, I’m looking for artists that are saving the name of hip-hop.
Chance The Rapper
Chance The Rapper isn’t one of those rappers you just fall in love with from the jump. Don’t get me wrong, he is great, maybe even one of the best. But at first I was a little caught off guard. First I listened to “Brain Cells” released in 2011, which is a song about how he’s already messed up so there’s no need to worry anymore. After hearing the jazzy tones of “Brain Cells” I clicked a rather popular song named “Hey Ma.” Respectively, I downloaded it onto my iPod 20 minutes later.
After getting used to his almost teasing voice, I began to appreciate it along with his clever lyrics. These songs were taken from his freshman mixtape, 10 Day, along with others such as “Family”, “Juke Juke”, and “Prom Night”. In April of 2013, he dropped his second mixtape, Acid Rap, which received a lot of praise for its feel-good music resembling artists all the way from Lil Wayne to Michael Jackson. In one track “Paranoia”, he actually talks about how he hates Chicago gun violence, and he’s scared for himself and his loved ones. Chance is scheduled to perform at Lollapalooza later this summer and has already sold out two of his own shows. He’s surely buzzing, we’re just waiting for him to pop.
King Louie
King Louie is a lot of people’s favorite rapper from Chicago. His smooth voice that just blends with the beat makes it easy for you. King Louie’s music surrounds the concept of having fun and partying it up. Songs like “Pop Out” and “Cuffing Season” show that he isn’t really an in-depth lyricist, though he does know how to party. Certain listeners, like me for example, are grateful for King Louie because he’s a great get away for people who don’t want to hear moody, deep music all the time.
He easily triggers the infamous head nod of a lot of hip-hop listeners with every song he drops. He first caught my attention in his song “My Hoes They Do Drugs.” The name doesn’t sound too good, but just trust me here. He released that song with his mixtape, Drilluminati, the beat was so right in this song that I had to search for more. I realized most of the songs I liked most were on Drilluminati so I just decided to download the whole thing. And what a great decision that was.
Not long after, he created a concept called “March Madness” in which he released one song per day for the whole month of March. No, I was not about to keep up with that, so I just waited until the month was over. March Madness has plenty of fantastic songs, but also with plenty of profanity. King Louie can be found on the iPods of many teenagers, and maybe some adults too.
Noname Gypsy
You probably haven’t heard of this one. Noname Gypsy is a rather new artist with a unique twist to her sound. She’s one of the few female rappers in the game and made her debut when she featured on Chance’s latest mixtape, Acid Rap, in a track named “Lost”. I actually had the pleasure of meeting her. Let me tell you, cocky she was not. She was surprised I knew her songs “Sunday Morning”, and “Paradise”. One of my favorites is “Sunday Morning” where she talks about how life was so simple back in the day. She only has a few tracks released at this point, but her deep lyrics make it easy for girls to relate to. If you’re looking for a new unoriginal style, you should give her a listen.
These artists are shaping hip-hop back to its original roots, that so many say have been strayed away. You may even say they’re saving hip-hop.
Amara Jones