Tara Mahadevan –

Chris Inumerable poses for a portrait at Classick Studios, in 2016.

Chris ‘Classick’ looking to give back by looking back, and offering up some killer tunes

January 9, 2020 at 9:04 a.m.

Beloved artist manager and founder of Classick Studios, Chris "Classick" Inumerable has helped place Chicago rap on the national radar by working with artists such as Smino, Monte Booker, Ravyn...

Slowthai isn’t anything like his name, coming at the rap game like a half-clothed, accusatory sonic boom

September 12, 2019 at 6:31 p.m.

Slowthai is an unusual name, a moniker that the British rapper — born Tyron Frampton — earned during his childhood. Back then it was spelled 'Slow Ty,' an alias bestowed...

Kari Faux has found freedom at the end of a long road back from a very dark place

May 31, 2019 at 3:45 p.m.

Kari Faux is finally herself. The feeling is apparent even while on the phone from New York, where she's set to play a sold-out show at the venue Baby's Alright....

Nico Segal, Nate Fox getting ‘Intellexual’ done with, as usual, a little help from their friends

April 12, 2019 at 8:50 a.m.

The front of Nico Segal's gray hoodie reads "Help People". It's a simple enough message, a mandate that the non-profit Social Works — which made the hoodie — aims to...

Omar Apollo is easy to spot, but the Hobart, Ind. native’s music is hard to pin down

December 11, 2018 at 5:50 p.m.

It’s easy to spot Omar Apollo in a crowd. Standing at 6’5”, the singer offers a soft smile, a hand that habitually runs through his coiffed brown hair — and,...

Chicago rap star Queen Key succeeding on her terms, with a feminist mindset

August 16, 2018 at 2:35 p.m.

Chicago’s newly crowned rap star Queen Key relaxes into a booth at Mikkey’s Retro Grill in Hyde Park, cooly flicking her eyes up and down a menu while everyone is...

Phoelix, the man helping shape the sound of rap talents like Saba, Smino and Noname, steps out on his own

December 12, 2018 at 9:43 p.m.

The modern music landscape calls for artists to be sovereign entities who must wear many hats: vocalist, producer, engineer, instrumentalist, and more. While some musicians aren’t able to be as...

Footwork pioneer DJ Spinn makes his first mark of the year with a pop culture blast, and a Red Bull showcase set

December 12, 2018 at 9:41 p.m.

Amid a turbulent, viscerally eerie beat, Kanye West’s voice emerges, “I was on opioids / I was on opioids.” The vocals appear on DJ Spinn’s new track, “True Story (Opioids),”...

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