Your favorite songs are often not a reflection of the artists who sing them, but the producers who make the beats. A producer’s touch — think Timbaland or The Neptunes — can make the difference between a catchy tune and a timeless classic. But outside of the big-name acts and music industry favorites, producers usually embody invisible labor for the average consumer. They’re behind the boards and behind the artist, but they are rarely recognized for their efforts.
Cory Morrison, who performs as B4Lasers, aims to do something about that. The producer, former rapper, and all-around nice guy has spent the last several years building a small ecosystem of Chicago shows and events designed to put producers — not just rappers or singers — front and center.
“I love to see people coming together and see people happy,” Morrison said.
In only a few years, Morrison has established a roster of events aligning with his producer-forward ethos.
“I primarily focus around producers, bringing producers from all across the nation plus locally, to play live in a very intimate setting,” added Morrison, of one of his events, the Living Listening Party at The Whistler, a live music bar in the Logan Square neighborhood.
Morrison draws inspiration from Jamaican sound systems, aka reggae dub culture.
Lattes N’ Loops, which takes place at Nighthawk in Albany Park, is a more low-key event. It’s a similar concept to the Living Listening Party, but Nighthawk’s smaller size makes for a more intimate environment. Flip a Beat Club, his longest-standing event in Chicago, is part of a larger nationwide event that brings producers together locally. Samples or compositions are given to all of the city chapters, and attendees get to chop up and edit the selections. A few hours later, the producers play back what they made for the other guests.
And then there’s Beatmaker’s Toolbox, focused on community and education.
“I love what I do,” said Morrison. “I love seeing everybody come together, communicate, network and build. Families are built. Community is built this way. It’s better than just events. It’s a neighborhood-level connection.”
Before his time in Chicago, Morrison lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As an artist, Morrison made beats, wrote poetry and even rapped as part of the Kenosha scene, but he said he never felt a strong connection with the beat-making community there.“I always felt like we were just there to give rappers an opportunity to say something over a track,” added Morrison. He wanted to play, but there was nowhere for him to go.
Things remained that way for around six years, even after moving to the Chicago area in 2014. It wasn’t until he attended Open Beats at Dorian’s in Wicker Park and saw an entire club full of producers that something new sparked within him. Morrison did an entire beat set live on the spot, gaining his fellow producers’ respect and an “in” with the local community.
“I realized everybody in the scene was separated,” he recalled. “No one was really trying to build something like Beatmaker’s Toolbox or Flip a Beat Club, something that creates family. This is deeper than rap, deeper than beats. This is like, I want to know you. Should I even be around you? That’s where all of it was really born, and I’ve just been trucking forward ever since.”
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The crux of Morrison’s events lies in their community-focused, democratic structure. The events have no set lists or headliner slots. The order is randomized, so no one is the star. They also avoid cover charges, so there is no monetized barrier to entry.
The results are events that speak to the hearts of veterans and seasoned producers alike. Past events have seen the likes of Thelonious Martin, Philmore Green, and even Stacy Epps (MF DOOM and Madlib’s label mate, producer, singer and emcee), who flew into the city for and performed at the Living Listening Party for free.
When barriers are removed, community thrives.
But Morrison said he couldn’t have done this without his wife, Monique Morrison, whom he described as the co-architect of these events. Monique suffers from kidney failure, an experience Morrison called a long journey and fight when coming up with the name and idea of the Living Listening Party.
“We didn’t want it to just be another lo-fi beats type of thing,” he said. “I wanted it to resonate with what she and I were going through. We are alive, we are living, we are here and we should pour into each other when we’re in this space.”
She also encouraged the shift of Beat Maker’s Toolbox from a party into more of a teaching, and potentially, a nonprofit vehicle.
After 11 years together, Morrison said that no matter how big he gets, or how far his ventures take him, he never wants it to be forgotten that she helped build this, too.
“I live every day knowing my wife could die any day, so I want her embedded in this story, not just as a person who was there. God forbid it does happen. She wasn’t just here; she was everything,” Morrison proclaimed.
This summer has been a busy one for Morrison. From performances at the Logan Square Arts Fest, Wicker Park Fest, the Silver Room Block Party and the Taste of Albany Park to his ongoing events, it doesn’t appear that he’ll be slowing down any time soon.
“The goal is just to keep going, keep having new eyes, new people, new friends, new family join in, and keep having fun,” he said. “I don’t want to ruin it.”
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.
If you go
6 p.m. Aug 21 at Flip A Beat Club at Nighthawk Chicago, 4744 N. Kimball Ave.; nighthawkchicago.com; noon Aug. 30 at Good Waves Music Festival at the Salt Shed, 1357 N. Elston Ave.; saltshedchicago.com; 8 p.m. Sept. 19 at A.M. Early Morning 15 Year Anniversary Celebration at Bookclub Chicago, 2871 N. Lincoln Ave.; tickets $17.50 at bookclubchi.com