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 ›

In the first two hours after Lupe Fiasco tweeted his new mixtape Thanksgiving morning, "Friend of the People" was shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter. more ›

A suspect was fleeing the police and attempted to swallow the drugs he had in his possession, but he choked and died. more ›

Former Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump's first solo joint Soul Punk drops in October, but a new video for the remix of album cut "This City," featuring fellow Chicagoan Lupe Fiasco, was released on Tuesday. more ›

It reads like the tour rider of a 7th grader. more ›

An interview with Lupe Fiasco is making headlines for what he said about President Obama. But is Lupe right? more ›

To say Lupe Fiasco's third album Lasers had a difficult time getting released would be quite the understatement. Fiasco battled with his label over the disc's content, his fans rallied behind his cause, and much text, print and electronic, was dedicated to Lasers' protracted gestation period and difficult birth. So it's remarkable that the album the battle was over would end up to be the most musically focused and easily accessible of Fiasco's career. more ›

Lupe Fiasco fans might want to tune in to Vocalo this afternoon at 3 p.m. He's the special guest on Vocalo's "Music Vox" program with host Jesse Menendez and guest host, the inimitable Richard Steele. more ›

Yeezy may be having a breakdown over the perceived drubbing he took on The Today Show but Lupe's got his back! more ›

March 8, 2011. That’s the date when Lasers, Lupe Fiasco’s long-awaited third album, is finally set for release on Atlantic Records. According to Fake Shore Drive, the rapper tweeted out a picture of him and Atlantic president Julie Greenwald with the words, “Victory” written. more ›

Kanye might be discontinuing Good Friday come December, but we thought we'd get a head-start on brainstorming who could take its place. As always, here are our humble suggestions. more ›

On its Twitter feed late Tuesday night, the North Coast Music Festival tantalizingly promised that more acts for the fest would be announced and, as of midnight Wednesday, they did not disappoint. North Coast tweeted that joining the already in-place likes of De La Soul, Jakob Dylan, Flying Lotus, The Chemical Brothers and Disco Biscuits will be Lupe Fiasco, The New Deal, Holy Ghost, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Calude VonStroke and The New Mastersounds. All of these acts will no doubt be dropping serious sonic science on the masses set to invade Union Park over Labor Day weekend. more ›

We know it's usually Tankboy ushering you into the weekend with some sort of jam on his Friday Afternoon Diversions, but we couldn't pass up the chance to get a head start on the weekend with the video for "I'm Beamin'," the first single from Lupe Fiasco's new upcoming LP, LASERS (release date: "coming soon"). more ›

If we were given the task of assembling a year end list of albums we're most looking forward to in 2010 from Chicago musicians, Lasers, Lupe Fiasco's three years in the making followup to 2007's The Cool would top the list. Rumored to be Lupe's grand exit and final album, the emcee and label head has released the first of what will be two album teaser mixtapes. more ›

• With police reiterating that their investigation is still early and ongoing, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office officially ruled the death of CPS Board of Education president Michael Scott a suicide.
• The aftershocks of the beating death of Derrion Albert continue to be felt as today a federal judge gave the okay for students at Fenger High to transfer if they felt unsafe.
• An young Aurora man with Autism was found safe this morning after he went missing from his home late yesterday; he was found safe but in Crest Hill which is 20 miles from Aurora.

Halloweek is here and it's time to throw together your best sexy Daft Punk costume, prepare to arrive at work hung over at least once before the Devil's Day and immerse your ears in the city's vast Halloween-centric music offerings. more ›

Halloween is quickly approaching and next week brings a host of musicians through the city to get your ghoulish weekend kick-started days in advance. more ›

Less than a decade ago, Shawn Smith was an art student sitting in his dorm room at Illinois State, making one-of-a-kind plush toys that he hoped someone might buy. Simple and unpretentious, Smith's designs won over a growing number of people, and he was able to turn his hobby into a full-fledged business. Today, Shawn and his wife, Jen Brody, own and operate Shawnimals: a character design studio, located at Damen and W. Carroll, that serves as the home address for Dracskulla, Chub Grub, Lazy Flopito, and more than 450 other characters who come from more than 20 different "countries" or lands. Cat Gremlands, Foodlandia, and the Grungle Jungle are just a few of the exotic places where Shawnimals roam; the Internet and stores like Rotofugi are others. more ›

While we patiently wait for Lupe Fiasco to release his next album -- mid-December, we hope, we hope! -- at least we're getting a semi-regular dose of him playing live around town! He continues the trend of not forgetting his home base with a concert at the Congress Theater on October 29. more ›

Hey Champ's "Cold Dust Girl" was our own official song of last summer, and it's looking to take that title for a second year in the row. The band is releasing a newly recorded version of the song in advance of their debut on Lupe Fiasco's st & 15th Entertainment record label. more ›

[View the full set] more ›

We were excited about the prospect of a free Lupe Fiasco show in Grant Park, complete with back-flips and tongue twisting mind-bending rhymes, but organizers announced today that "in an effort to deter overlap with the Taste of Chicago music stage, the concert will move to the Chicago Theater." The upside? Lady Sovereign has been added as an opener and the sound at The Chicago Theater kicks total ass. The downside? The show is no longer free and tickets start at $20 a pop. While a free show in the park would have been nice we'll still be there front and center on June 26 at the new location. more ›

Yeah, we admit it. We're pretty stoked Lupe's playing Grant Park for free. And here's the tune that made us first fall in love with the brainy and verbally brawny rapper. more ›

Next door to this year's Taste of Chicago the Nike 6.0 BMX Open will be underway from June 26 - 27 in Grant Park. While the image of BMX bikers butting heads with stout suburbanites wielding oversized turkey legs is enough to set our phasers on "gleeful irony" we've learned a little piece of news that makes the event all the more awesome. more ›

Sometimes you’ve just got to have a parade. But if you’re Columbia College’s Manifest Urban Arts Festival, you have the Spectacle Fortuna Parade of Creativity. Wishing good fortune upon seniors and graduate students before they hit the brick wall that is a 9.4 percent unemployment rate, the Spectacle Fortuna will fill the streets with hundreds of Ray Bradbury-inspired giant puppets, the punk marching band, Mucca Pazza, and ephemera created by the talented students, faculty and staff. more ›

Chicago's rap superstars have proven time and time again that Windy City style is not an oxymoron. Kid Sister had girls rushing off to nail salons to get their "toes done up with [their] fingernails matching" and while men won't be asking their barbers for Kanye West's "frollet" anytime soon, you can't help but respect his sartorial choices. Now, in partnership with Product (Red), Lupe Fiasco will have sneaker heads buzzing with his 100 Supplementaire Converse All Stars. The white high tops—with Fiasco's thoughts printed in black type—are part of the Chuck Taylor(R) ALL STAR(R) x Africa line, which uses African canvas, mudcloth, and artists' designs to "help eliminate AIDS in Africa." - Post by Anthonia Akitunde more ›

Touring with Lupe Fiasco seems to have stimulated the boys in Hey Champ to enter mixtape mode. They've been selling the Jet Set mix on the road in order to feed their Taco Bell Volcano Taco habit, but since they love you they're now giving it away for free. more ›

Word is Chicago dance rockers Hey Champ are about to start rolling in the bling and are signing to Lupe Fiasco's label 1st & 15th Entertainment. Further proof that Fiasco is all set to become the area's next music mogul and talent-sniffer a la Kanye West. In the case of Hey Champ, though, we can totally see why he'd want to sign them. more ›

We rested, rehydrated, and recovered from Day 1 in preparation for the rest of the weekend. Luckily, Mother Nature decided to have pity on the festival-goers: while clouds were still completely absent from the sky on Saturday, the temperature and humidity were considerably lower than on Friday and the breeze off Lake Michigan made the weather downright pleasant to enjoy all the great music. There's no rest for the weary and with some big decisions looming in Sunday's line-up (i.e., the Gnarls-Girl Talk-National conundrum), we dove right in to Saturday's sets. more ›