There must be something in the water in Chicago because those cats are outspoken. It’s like someone decided that the mouthiest rappers should all come from one place. What the hell is going on over there?

Exhibit A: The “Fiascogate”: Lupe gets asked to cover a couple Tribe Called Quest songs for the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Show where he proceeds to mess up a couple of the lyrics. He then posts a couple blogs about how he never grew up listening to ATCQ, but did it because Q-tip is his friend and he asked him to do it. He goes on to say that it kinda pisses him off because he has to “pretend” he listened to their albums, when he never really did. He claims Westcoast gangsta rap was what he grew up on. Weird, because pretty much everyone agrees that Lupe Fiasco’s music runs in the same vein as backpack rap, with a style so similar to ATCQ that Q-Tip and VH1 thought it appropriate to ask Lupe if he’d cover their songs during the show.

This triggers a mess of response from the rap community. One from Q-Tip himself:

“All that stuff he said about never listening to a Tribe album before and having no interest in doing so, it doesn’t make sense to me. As I said on the show itself, it was listening to N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton that inspired us to make [1991's] The Low End Theory, and years later I spoke to Dr. Dre and he told me that hearing The Low End Theory inspired him to make The Chronic. That’s what music does. That’s what artists do, they seek out information of all kinds.”

Served.

Exhibit B: Kanye West is also known for being on the mouthy side. Like when he got all mad about not winning the Video of the Year for “Touch The Sky” at the 2006 MTV Europe Awards:

In a tirade riddled with expletives, West said he should have won the prize for his video “Touch The Sky,” because it “cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons.” -MSNBC

Don’t get me wrong, Kanye puts out some bumpin’ albums. I listened to The College Dropout on repeat for probably about a month, but damn, that guy talks a lot of shit. Here’s his backstage meltdown. It’s also interesting that he took on the cartoonish gangsta 50 Cent, and challenged him to album-sales duel. More fuel to the fire.

Exhibit C: Shala of Qualo (another Chicago rap group) sits somewhere in the grey area between gangsta and backpack. But even in the middle, there’s room to run your mouth. This guy has enough balls to come-with-it in a CNN interview like blaaaow:

SHALA: What I’m saying is I refer to hos as hos, bitches as bitches, women as women, queens and queens, racist as racist, black men as black men, niggas as niggas. People are — you refer to people as they represent themselves and that is America and that is the world and that’s what people do.
MARTIN: So, if somebody said…
SHALA: So, you’re kind of putting words in my mouth.

In truth, they’re all just trying to keep it gully, mayne. Chicago is blowing up in terms of real talk. Those rappers are loud, but honest. And even if the dialogue isn’t exactly well thought-out, it brings attention to the new things happening in the rap scene. And besides, it’s a free country. You will be heard, Chicago.

Myself, I wasn’t entirely thrilled with Daphne Loves Derby’s Good Night, Witness Light, but about a hundred thousand 17 year old Asian scene kids who used to have mad rad hair accounts are THRILLED.

Like, OMG! Their PureVolume Page. Joining Daphne Loves Derby will be This Providence, The Higher and The Reign of Kindo. I’m kind of feeling This Providence, though.

After writing that I decided to track down my DLD album just to remind myself why they aren’t my favorite band. Diet punk for the sensitive and misunderstood. Now I need to listen to some brutal metal to cleanse my palette. fuuuuuuuuuu……..

Oct 20 2007 6:00PM
Beat Kitchen w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign of Kindo
Chicago, Illinois

Oct 21 2007
6:00P
Varsity Theater w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign of Kindo
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Oct 23 2007
6:00P
Mac’s Bar w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
Lansing, Michigan

Oct 24 2007
6:00P
Agora Ballroom w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign of Kindo
Cleveland, Ohio

Oct 25 2007
6:00P
Xtreme Wheels w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign of Kindo
Buffalo, New York

Oct 26 2007
6:30P
School Of Rock w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign of Kindo
South Hackensack, New Jersey

Oct 27 2007
6:00P
The Harmony Grange w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign Of Kindo
Wilmington, Delaware

Oct 28 2007
2:30P
Trocadero - EARLY SHOW w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign Of Kindo
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Oct 29 2007
7:00P
Living Room w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign of Kindo
Providence, Rhode Island

Oct 30 2007
6:30P
Webster Theatre w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign of Kindo
Hartford, Connecticut

Nov 1 2007
7:00P
The Knitting Factory w/ This Providence, The Higher, Reign of Kindo
New York, New York

Nov 2 2007
5:30P
Club Relevant w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Nov 3 2007
5:30P
The Brewery w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
Raleigh, North Carolina

Nov 5 2007
6:00P
The Masquerade w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
Atlanta, Georgia

Nov 6 2007
7:00P
The Orpheum w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
Tampa, Florida

Nov 7 2007
6:00P
AKA Lounge w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
Orlando, Florida

Nov 9 2007
7:00P
Javajazz w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
Houston, Texas

Nov 10 2007
6:00P
Rock Bottom Bar w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
San Antonio, Texas

Nov 11 2007
6:30P
The Door w/ This Providence, The Higher, The Reign of Kindo
Dallas, Texas

If you haven’t seen Office live, you should. Now you’ll have your chance. The Chicago-based group will bring their boy-girl harmonies and pop-y good times on the road for their first national tour. Joining them will be The Ship Collective members Earlimart (dates after the jump). But first Office will play a hometown date and two shows in Los Angeles.

August 25: Chicago, IL: Double Door
August 28: Los Angeles, CA: Cinespace
August 30: Los Angeles, CA: Filter’s Revenge of the Sunset Strip at the Roxy

Office’s debut for New Line/Scratchie Records, A Night at the Ritz, is due out Sept. 25th.

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I thought since my first entry reached so many folks that I would try to cobble out a feeble mission statement to help better explain why this column exists, as well as using it as an opportunity to distract readers from their busy workday.
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Victory Records has signed 1997. That’s all. I was going to say something funny, but it’s too early so instead read the press release and come up with your own humorous anecdote riffing off the fact that 1997 is possibly the lamest band name ever of all time, or if you’re one of those people (and you know who you are) you could probably do well with something along the lines of “1997, which is coincidentally the last time Victory put out a good record.” That might work:

Victory Records announces the signing of Chicago’s 1997, whose purpose as a band according to guitarist Caleb Pepp is simple: (We want to make music that my younger brothers and sisters would enjoy, and inspire other kids into listening to and making their own good music.â€? (We don’t want to be the next fad band,â€? bassist Allan Goffinski adds. (We want our music to last and stand the test of time.â€?

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