Just so we’re all clear, neither of the two men on the cover of the excellent Chicago-bred hip hop EP Happy Medium are Montana Macks, but they areJyroscope. Macks is the EP’s producer and beat maker, one of the best in the Windy City and Midwest. The men you see on the cover are the vocalists / rappers, I.B. Fokuz and Collasoul Structure.
Happy Medium is a refreshing breeze from a music world dominated by scores of rap albums that could essentially be named I’m Going to Tell You How Cool I Am for the next Forty Minutes. Happy Medium explores themes of fatherhood, practicing compassion, meditation, touring, marriage, and family.
“War Going On” is a great opener, covering stresses in relationships such as unending bills, lack of sales on the tours, and trying to hold it together the whole while (“I’m afraid what’s next will be the death of me.”). Mack’s rolling beats, accentuated with simple piano chords, are outstanding. Fokuz (“You know it’s work when you toil and you’re never content.”) and Collasoul (“Being the ‘strong one’ means you’ll never know when you’re gonna tank.”) weave intricate tales of the grind on “Work” over Mack’s melted jazz samples.
They take on the grind of not just work, but everyday life and music-making on “Auto Pilot,” with Collasoul claiming (like many of us would if we took the time to look inward), “I’m either finally mastering patience or oddly getting really good at stalling the process.” and Fokuz stating, “I feel like I’m living in a rerun.” Both men wish they could make many moments last longer on “Frozen in Time” (which has some killer scratching from DJ Seanile and some of Mack’s best sampling on the EP).
By the time we reach the closer, “Take It Easy,” the band has realized they need to just pause for a bit and reset. We all need to do this along with them. So much would fall into place if we did – better relationships, health, and society in general. We just need to follow their lead.
Chicago’s Jyroscope – consisting of MCs I.B. Fokuz, Collasoul Structure and DJ Seanile – and producer Montana Macks announce a collaborative EP, Happy Medium, out July 23rd. Today, they present the EP’s first single, “Frozen In Time,” alongside an accompanying video. Over the last decade, Jyroscope has recognized how difficult it can be to strike a balance between focusing on one’s craft, career, and the life responsibilities that come with putting down roots and starting a family. Happy Medium is a potent manifestation of that endless journey for balance. Over sleepy jazz samples, layered in well seasoned breakbeats, these tracks are born anew by Montana Macks. Collasoul and I.B. trade pointed verses about fatherhood, bills, the hypnotic self-erasing loop that is heading to-and-from the gig and blowing off steam with a beer or three before tomorrow means doing it all over again.
Preceding Happy Medium, Jyroscope released several projects including the Hip House mixtape, On The House, in 2016 and the bouncy boom bap-filled, MUTE EP. Happy Medium is the result of over a year’s worth of work that began with a wildly fruitful session in late 2019. They felt the title best reflected where they currently are as artists and people. With other obligations taking up more and more of their time, how much does making space for music matter in the big picture? At what point do the records start to count and people begin to truly take notice? How do you find the sweet spot, especially when little about life is sweet or easy? As I.B. Fokuz says, “As husbands and fathers, artists… asiatic men. The balance is defined by spinning plates. Managing the day-to-day with our families on our backs. A leap of faith is the dice we roll on our kitchen tables. Still hungry, still crafting our magnum opus. Still men of principle… keeping our worlds intact.”
In the percussive lead single, “Frozen In Time,” Collasoul raps “On the long road to peace baby we gettin’ all the best of it/ it’s scenic wit delicate petals/pedals and we don’t wanna step on it.” He elaborates: “The first 4 songs we created were seeds we planted prior to the pandemic. Those initial songs were actually going to be the full project according to I.B. and I, but Macks called me and said hey, I think something’s missing….He sent over ‘Frozen In Time’ and the moment I heard the horns on that beat I knew we had something special with that one. To me it sounds like we actually start working towards finding peace with the help of those calming horns.” Montana Macks adds: “I had a beat I was stashing for my next instrumental project, but thought it could round out this EP. I hit up Collasoul and pitched doing another song and he wasn’t terribly receptive to the idea. He agreed to listen to it and passed it along to I.B. Fokuz, I got a call probably 30 minutes later like, ‘say no more’ and it became the single.” The accompanying video, directed by Kory Stewart, was shot across the city of Chicago and is donned in a hazy, black and white filter.
“Frozen In Time” is a first offering of the poetic rhymes and heart-felt imagery across Happy Medium. It makes for a captivating listen, one that is sure to have fans new and old itching to run it back well before the final note has faded away.
CHAI photo by Yoshio Nakaiso, Ric Wilson photo by Jackie Lee Young
Japanese quartet CHAI present a new single/video, “Maybe Chocolate Chips” (Feat. Ric Wilson), from their forthcoming album, WINK, due May 21st on Sub Pop. CHAI’s past albums have been filled with playful references, in the lyrics, to food, and WINK’s intimate single “Maybe Chocolate Chips” offers an evolution of this motif. Bassist/lyricist YUUKI wanted to write a self-love song about her moles: “Things that we want to hold on to, things that we wished went away. A lot of things happen as we age and with that for me, is new moles! But I love them! My moles are like the chocolate chips on a cookie, the more you have, the happier you become! and before you know it, you’re an original♡”
Chicago rapper Ric Wilson, who they initially connected with at the 2019 Pitchfork Music Festival, brings smooth vocals over a laidback beat and whirring, dreamy synth. A community activist and artist based on the Southside of Chicago, he got his start with the legendary Young Chicago Authors, the Chicago-based storytelling and poetry organization which helped launch the likes of Noname, Saba, Jamila Woods, Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkins, and many others. He’s also featured in the accompanying video, directed by Callum Scott-Dyson, which is made of fun collages and video clips in classic CHAI style. Ric added: “Super in love with this new song with CHAI, a song about loving yourself & understanding your beautiful no matter what oppressive societal norms are telling you is beautiful. I hope folks can wake up and jam this while they make their coffee, or enjoy just sitting outside an open field. This year we’ve all spent a little more time with ourselves, let’s find the beauty in it.”
CHAI elaborates on the video: “This music video is the perfect visual for ‘Maybe Chocolate Chips.’ It was our first time working with Callum and the result (animation, etc.) was something we’d never tried before! Callum actually reached out to us for this but we loved how his work featured grotesque but cute components and tons of fantasy so our vision for this was in line. ♡⭐️^o^♡ Your mole is actually a Chocolate Chip! But you knew that already right?!♡⭐️♡”
CHAI is made up of identical twins MANA (lead vocals and keys) and KANA (guitar), drummer YUNA, and bassist-lyricist YUUKI. Following the release of 2019’s PUNK, CHAI’s adventures took them around the world, playing their high-energy and buoyant shows at music festivals like Primavera Sound and Pitchfork Music Festival, and touring with indie-rock mainstays like Whitney and Mac DeMarco. Like all musicians, CHAI spent 2020 forced to rethink the fabric of their work and lives. But CHAI took this as an opportunity to shake up their process and bring their music somewhere thrillingly new. Having previously used their maximalist recordings to capture the exuberance of their live shows, CHAI instead focused on crafting the slightly-subtler and more introspective kinds of songs they enjoy listening to at home—where, for the first time, they recorded all of the music. They draw R&B and hip-hop into their mix (Mac Miller, the Internet, and Brockhampton were on their minds) of dance-punk and pop-rock, all while remaining undeniably CHAI. While the band leaned into a more personal sound, WINK is also the first CHAI album to feature contributions from outside producers (Mndsgn, YMCK) as well as Ric Wilson. This impulse towards connection with others is in WINK’s title, too. After the “i” of PINK and the “u” of PUNK—which represented the band’s act of introducing themselves, and then of centering their audiences—they have come full circle with the “we” of WINK. It signals CHAI’s relationship with the outside world, an embrace of profound togetherness. Through music, as CHAI said, “we are all coming together.” In that act of opening themselves up, CHAI grew into their best work: “This album showed us, we’re ready to do more.” WATCH THE “ACTION” VIDEO
Earlier this summer, Chicago-based hip-hop artistRicWilson and GRAMMY-nominated producer TerraceMartin released their collaborative EP, They Call Me Disco (via Free Disco/EMPIRE/Sounds of Crenshaw), “a breath of fresh air for anyone looking for a departure from the trap-focused beats and the boom bap-styled alternatives that dominate hip-hop’s modern landscape” (Uproxx). Today, Wilson and Martin are proud to share the official visual for its snappy lead single “Chicago Bae” which features BJ The Chicago Kid and production from Ted Chung, TerraceMartin, and J-Trx. The video, directed and animated by WinHomer and premiered by Afropunk this morning, features Wilson, Martin, and BJ and was filmed in quarantine in each of their respective homes. Slowly, bright animations are incorporated throughout the video eventually transforming into a cartoon-esque love story.
“We started making the video to ‘Chicago Bae’ around the time everyone was running into Walmarts taking all of the toilet papers,” says Wilson. “We couldn’t physically be together but wanted to make something that could bring people together more. I’m honored to be featured on a song with two incredible black musicians that I consider living legends. I don’t really know anyone who’s singing better than BJ The Chicago Kid right now and I don’t know who’s embodying and pushing the boundaries of all genres of black music right now as much as Terrace.”
Watch the video below and head over to Afropunk’s Instagram for a live interview with Wilson taking place today at 3pm eastern.
Watch “Chicago Bae” (Ft. BJ The Chicago Kid) (Prod. Ted Chung, Terrace Martin, J-Trx) – https://youtu.be/-rp7pDnR604
Chicago-based musician, activist, and organizer RicWilson and GRAMMY-nominated producer Terrace Martin are thrilled to share their new video for “Don’t Kill The Wave,” a standout track off the pair’s collaborative EP, They Call Me Disco, a “jubilant six-song burst of summertime grooves and throwback funk” (Pitchfork) out this past May on Free Disco/EMPIRE/Sounds of Crenshaw. “Don’t Kill The Wave” is joyful and motivating. Its accompanying video, directed by A Solo Vision, is reflective of its energetic spirit as Wilson and his friends have a living room dance party. “I made this song for the dance floors at the block party, the cookout, the weddings, the rallies, the covid19 living room clubbbbbbbbs,” says Wilson.
2020 is shaping up to be another busy year for Wilson. Shortly after the release of They Call Me Disco, Wilson dropped his acclaimed protest song “Fight Like Ida B & Marsha P”. Produced by Norbert Bueno, “the song combines a funky, bouncy bass line, a little Detroit house influence and handclaps with powerful subject matter,” according to Cool Hunting.
“I hear people quoting a lot of black men who were freedom fighters, which is valid,” says Wilson, who has spent time organizing with the likes of We Charge Genocide, Black Youth Project 100, Chicago Freedom School, and much more. “But when I think about next level courage to ball your fist up and look bigotry, racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia right in the eye and fight against it, I feel like blk women like Ida B. Wells and non-binary folks like Marsha P. Johnson are of the bravest of us all and if ima fight any injustice I wanna have the courage of freedom fighters like them. The liberation of black womxn and black trans womxn lead to the liberation of all black people.”
Chicago-based hip-hop artist Ric Wilson and LA-based producer / musician TerraceMartin have released their new collaborative EP, They Call Me Disco(via FreeDisco/EMPIRE/Sounds of Crenshaw), and present the video for standout track, “Move Like This”. “Move Like This” follows “funky feel-good” (HYPEBEAST) lead single, “Chicago Bae” (Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid).
Energetic and bouncing with a crisp beat, “Move Like This” is driven by a woozy synth and Wilson’s lively voice. The accompanying video, directed by A Solo Vision, was filmed in Chicago. Featuring Wilson and close friends, the video presents his vibrant, colorful aesthetic.
“For ‘Move Like This,’ me and Terrace literally were watching videos from the Chicago House Festival when he was making the beat,” says Wilson. “I was dancing and this song was made for moving.”
They Call Me Disco is built on a retro backbone, seamlessly fusing funk-forward rhythms, Wilson’s playful and poignant lyrics, velvety vocal layers, and percussive beats. Following a string of singles and EPs, including Negrow Disco (2017), BANBA (2018), and last year’s summer single, “Yellowbrick”, Wilson’s funk/disco-infused take on rap lead to both Complex and NPR Music naming him a “Rising Chicago Rapper You Need To Know.”
With a mutual respect for each other’s work, Wilson and Martin, a Grammy-nominated artist who’s worked extensively with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Lalah Hathaway, Herbie Hancock, Kamasi Washington, and more, first linked up in 2019, starting work on the EP that would continue into 2020. “The disco-inspired funk never stops,” says Wilson. “Me and Terrace wanted to make something people can move to and free themselves.” Adds Martin, “This record is a beautiful reminder the disco never stops. Keep smiling, keep dancing, and keep loving.”
Listen to “Chicago Bae” (Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid) (Prod. by Ted Chung, Terrace Martin, J-Trx) – https://youtu.be/ql-yoviDQas
