Though it might not be widely discussed, given the context of snowstorms and mayoral elections, 2011 was a very good year for Chicago music, both locally and nationally, in mainstream circles and outside them. more ›

Should being the satirical anchorman for "The Daily Show" not work out for him, Jon Stewart has a pretty promising career as a musicologist. (Or at least a music critic). On Monday, Stewart appeared on Bill O'Reilly eponymous Fox News cable news show to debate the host about Chicago rapper Common's recent nontroversial appearance at The White House more ›

First Lady Michelle Obama and Chicago’s own Common incurred the ire of Fox News, Sarah Palin and the New Jersey Police after the First Lady invited the rapper and actor to the White House to participate in a poetry reading. Yesterday, The Daily Caller posted the lyrics to the poem “A Letter to the Law” alongside Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?,” which was supposed to be read at a 2003 poetry event hosted by then First Lady Laura Bush. Bush cancelled the event after several invitees declined the offer to read, some of which joined poets from across the globe to instead read verses in protest of the war in Iraq. more ›

As expected, North Coast Music Festival sold hugely discounted three-day passes through its main sponsor, Groupon, for the second year in a row. The sale, which featured the three-day passes at 53% off for $45, went live at midnight last night and has already sold out. A total of 3,750 Groupons were sold over the course of nine hours and, according to North Coast's Twitter account, it was the fastest selling Groupon deal ever. Not that folks needed more enticement, but North Coast also announced six of its main acts: Common, Thievery Corporation, Wiz Khalifa, Lotus, Little Dragon and Neon Indian. more ›

Vocalo's Lee Bey takes a look at some of the best ambassadors for appreciation of Chicago's architecture: local hip-hop artists. According to Bey, love him (like we do) or hate him, Kanye has a keen eye for the city's architectural beauty. [via Gapers Block] more ›

Last week, President Obama and his family lit up the National Christmas Tree, a holiday tradition for the President. Joining the Obamas and the Bidens were a wide array of stars including Randy Jackson, Sheryl Crow, Jordin Sparks, and Chicago's own smooth crooner, Common. You can check out more photos here, read Obama's remarks here and watch video of his speech here. more ›

Last night Eyewitness News Chicagoist went to the House of Blues to hear Bill Clinton talk about the Millennium Network: an effort to involve folks under 45 in the public service work undertaken by his William J. Clinton Foundation. In addition to remarks by the OG President Hopey (Arkansas, represent), the fancy fund-raising event included a performance by Common and platters of spring rolls served with a delightful sauce. more ›

We're feeling quite presidential these days. Besides Hyde Park's most famous resident currently entrenched as POTUS #44, we mentioned earlier that #43, George W. Bush, will be in town later this month for a private function. And now we know that if you have a little extra money to donate, you can catch #42, William J. Clinton, this week at the House of Blues appearing with hip-hop star Common. The event is a fundraiser for the William J. Clinton Foundation Millennium Network, a network that seeks to engage individuals age 45 and younger in the work of the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton Foundation’s seven initiatives deliver tangible results to tackle pressing issues including HIV/AIDS, global warming, economic opportunity worldwide, and the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States. Tomorrow night is the Millennium Network's first event in the Midwest and it'll feature a performance by Common and remarks by the former President. more ›

Usually we avoid corporate sponsored music events since they tend to be stacked with B-list acts, but when we heard Hennessy was bringing Common to a small South Loop club, and The Roots would be his backing band, we couldn't resist showing up. (Side story: We ran into ?uestlove in the alley pre-show and made sure to let him know that, in our opinion, he's the Twitter master. The dude's tweets alone make Late Night with Jimmy Fallon worth watching.) Opening act Elevator Fight warmed the crowd up with some middle of the road rock sung by Zoë Kravitz, the daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz. It was the kind of act that usually causes us to avoid these events, but once The Roots hit the stage for a solo set the dull tghrob that preceded them washed away in a burst of bliss. And once Common hit the stage to join them for his own set? It was all over. The room erupted and the assembled coterie of musicians onstage took that energy and threw it right back out to the people. We were on such a high we even found ourselves singing along to Heavy D when he suddenly appeared onstage and we hated his tunes back in the day! It was just a big ol' party, with ace talent packed into a small room giving it their all. more ›

Christian Bale, of the Gotham / Chicago-based Batman movie, The Dark Knight, told the Sun-Times he'd be tackling the character of John Connor in the next Terminator movie. Also starring? Common. What the-?! more ›

We weren’t aware that there were plans to make a fourth Terminator movie, but this is what we learned today: Terminator Salvation: the Future Begins is set to hit theaters in May 2009, and Chicago hip-hopper Common is set to play a character named Barnes, a freedom fighter for the human race. more ›

Shake-ups and oustings continue at the Trib. The latest casualty: Tribune Interactive President Tim Landon. [Trib] more ›

At the risk of feeding the hype machine, we still have to offer a congratulations to Mr. Kanye West for pulling in some Grammy gold last night. While we still don't buy the Grammys as an accurate barometer of the music industry and what's actually, you know, good in music these days, it's still the industry's main award show so there's something to be said for coming away with multiple trophies. While the night's big winner was Amy Winehouse, Kanye still managed to pull in four awards, as well as one of the night's most memorable acceptance speeches (surprise!) when he gave producers the verbal smack-down for trying to run him off in the middle of a tribute to his mother. more ›

Common sense dictated that we should have stayed in Saturday night in the slightly drafty but hospitable environs of our apartment. However, when the fine folks at Unibroue plan a beer dinner, it's usually a great event. What made Saturday night's event stand out was the location of the dinner. more ›

Common is playing a benefit at House Of Blues tomorrow night (along with OFFICE), and another Chicagoist turned us onto this sweet remix to help us get in the mood.* more ›

The biggest cultural stories of 2008 are likely less predictable than this week’s Rose Bowl. Every year we see our share of breakout artists and surprising storefront gems, and 2008 promises to be no different. But 2007 left some unfinished business and we’re eager to see how these stories play out: more ›

Reader krs1 rang in '08 at Trinity United Church of Christ with a mass that puts just about every religious service we've ever been to to shame. TUCC, one of the largest black congregations on the South Side and home church for Barack Obama, holds an annual Watch Night service. (Watch Night masses date back to the 1700s, but now they're a tradition at black churches, said to stem from December 31, 1862, when soon-to-be-freed slaves gathered to wait for the Emancipation Proclamation to go into effect January 1, 1863.) This year's celebration one for the record books. Or at least the record blogs. more ›

The debate over the Chicago Children's Museum plan to relocate to Grant Park has escalated since Monday’s neighborhood meeting at Daley Bicentennial Plaza. There, museum officials introduced plans for a more sunken, environmentally friendly design adjacent to the Plaza. The Museum’s growth has been remarkable. Founded in 1982 in two Chicago Public Library hallways, it’s since moved three times, most recently to Navy Pier in 1995. Twelve years later, they’ve apparently outgrown that tourist magnet.... more ›

As a boater on Lake Michigan, you're entitled to profanity-free air. At least that's what a group of 300 boaters and motorists, who came together to protest on Sunday night, are saying. They're, as the punny Trib puts it "honking mad" about the youth-infecting rap music that's been occurring at Northerly Island for the past two weeks. There were apparently complaints after the show on Aug. 26, which included Wu-Tang, MF Doom and Pharoahe Monch.... more ›

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom... more ›

Well, it is shaping up to be quite the warm weekend. Any of our lovely readers want to invite us to some type of pool party? We'll bring waterwings shaped like Mayor Daley's face. Someone should really make those. In the event we receive no invitations, we've lined up some other activities certain to help you, and us, take advantage of another weekend. As we mentioned yesterday, Calsfest 2007 is taking place at Cal's Liquors,... more ›

Common has long been one of Chicago's most valuable artistic resources. As trends swept through the hip-hop world, carrying every johnny-come-lately in their wake, Common remained true to his muse. While his early work was solid, containing such standouts as "Used To Love H.E.R.," we feel he really hit his stride during the sweet lilt of breakthrough album Like Water For Chocolate, and we became true fans in the face of the sonic experiments that... more ›

No repartee this week, all business. - We've received e-mails from concerned people and had to check it out for ourselves, and it looks as though Cereality at 110 South Wacker has closed down, only a couple years after Chicagoist (among other media) made a big fuss about its opening. There's even a "For Rent" sign in its front window. This kind of reaffirms our faith in the human race; if people won't pay $4.50... more ›

We have a huge case of the giggles today. It all started when we tried to type “jagoff” and it came out “jagoof” and we could not stop laughing at ourselves for five minutes. Then we decided to be productive and write up this edition of EOYW, which only proved that the Ticketmaster gods were laughing along with us with their offerings for this week’s ticket sales. more ›

Today is National Get Over It Day. Chicagoist is going to get over Del Toro closing, a crush on Molto Mario, our dream of moving to France to drink wine all day, the death of wine maker Ernest Gallo and ... we don't have anything to get over regarding the new Grand Mart grocery. We do think it is nice, however, that Guaranty Bank isn't lonely anymore. more ›

Back in our Chinese New Year post, we recommended that readers check out the recently opened KS Seafood, in the Chinatown Square Plaza. It's located in a small storefront, filled tightly with large banquet tables and seating in every available open space. KS Seafood is one of only two restaurants in the city that specializes in Taiwanese cuisine. Some of you are probably reading this and thinking, "It's all Chinese food. How does Taiwanese cooking differ from Mandarin, Cantonese, and Szechwan?" Indeed, it is a valid and interesting query, grasshopper. more ›

There were three and a half long hours of the Grammys last night where the performances took top billing to the actual awards. Did anyone actually watch past The Police? Well, we did. Until a little after 10:00 when our eyes just wouldn’t stay open anymore. As we watch the Grammys we try to guess who might win based on which band just performed or if there is some sort of trend with the presenters... more ›

Another Friday, another edition of "Friday Food Buffet." This week, Valentine's Day is around the corner, and the theme of love is in the air, along with fixed price dinners for couples. So sit back, enjoy the cheesecake we left out for you, and have a nice weekend. "It's also a dessert topping and a furniture polish": Green tea may be good for you, but it isn't a "superfood" yet and won't help you make... more ›

Frank Lloyd Wright may have been one of the greatest architects of our time. Let us rephrase, Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest architects of our time. Intrestingly enough however, Frank Lloyd Wright was kind of ... well … how do we say it, kind of an asshole. more ›

Discussions about Black History Month have become as complex as discussions about race. Debating the labels ‘black’ and ‘African-American’ lead to debates about biracial identity and, recently, whether Senator Obama, Joe Biden’s “first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” friend, is actually African-American. In the same vein, Black History Month has increasingly been relabeled African-American Heritage Month and African Heritage Month, terms emphasizing the present and future as... more ›