Hold up born in 88, how old is that. Old enough.

After spending almost a week in Chicago, I was reminded that there is way more late night opportunities for people who are 21 and over. Everyone knows they are legally considered an adult at the age of 18. They are allowed to vote, buy cigarettes, and buy things from tv. But sometimes, you wonder why does all of that matter if you cannot go out with your fellow voters, smoke cloves, and talk about the snuggie you bought online. Unlike New Orleans, where most events are 18+, Chicago limits most of their clubs, parties, and small venue concerts for only the 21 and over crowd. 

So how do the  youngest of adults spend their weekends?
House parties?
Teen clubs?
On facebook?
Buying a fake ID?

THIS IS HOW I SPEND MY WEEKEND IN CHICAGO

house parties, raves, thrift shopping, dj concerts, mexican bakeries, streetwear shopping, graffiti sightings

THIS IS HOW I SPEND MY WEEKENDS IN NEW ORLEANS

retro dance parties, album release parties, chillin in VIP, watching dance crews, graffiti showcase, seeing local talent

Kanye West is posting Air Yeezy sightings
Do you have a pair of Air Yeezys?
Have you seen someone with a pair yet?
Do you think they're worth the hype?
What shoes do think influenced the Yeezys?
Why do you think so many people posted pics of them smelling or licking their new shoes?

Lady Mishka
Miskha has started to sell cut and sew clothing for women in their new spring 2009 line. YAY!!!!!!!
And it's not ONLY the same clothing in womens sizes, but also original designs that are influenced by previous lines. Its hard to find a quality streetwear brand that makes clothing for women, its even harder to find a brand that makes womens clothing thats as fashionable as the mens. Mishka does it all. It even has cool legging based on the Keep Watch design.

Keep Watch Hoodie/Dress

Keep Watch Woman's Hoodie

Kill With Power T-shirt Dress

Stabouflage Woman's Hoodie

Women's M.C. Jacket

Keep Watch Leggings

IF I WASN'T IN NEW ORLEANS

WHERE WOULD I GO?

California for Coachella 

M.I.A., Beirut, Conor Oberst, Crystal Castles, Felix da Housecat, Franz Ferdinand, Girl Talk, Los Campesions!, Morrissey, N.A.S.A., Penut Butter Wolf, Steve Aoki, The Ting Tings, Atmosphere, Crookers, Fleet Foxes, MSTRKRFT, P.O.S., The Blooy Beetroots, The Killers, TV On The Radio, Antony and the Johnsons, Busy P, Clipse, K'naan, Late of the Pier, Lupe Fiasco, Lykke Li, No Age, Okkervil River, Peter Bjorn and John, Sebastien Teller, The Cure, The Horrors, The Knux, Yeah Yeah Yeah's

AT&T is even doing a LIVE BROADCAST of some of the shows

Melknee the RnR Ninja

i'm from a city in the midwest, the best city in the whole wide world

Many college students are on Spring Break this weekend and I'm glad to be one of them
So where to I retreat to Chicaaaaaaaago. Which is the home of:

The Cool Kids

Kanye West

Lupe Fiasco

Hollywood Holt

Kid Sister

Million $ Mano

Common

Kidz In The Hall

Kill Hannah

Rise Against

just to say a few

 Chicago is in the midwest which is the home of other great artists who have their own distinct sound like

Kid Cudi

P.O.S. 

Atmosphere

So in great city with great musical artists and fans, there's plenty to do in an weekend.

Friday:
Crystal Castles @ The Bottom Lounge
Crystal Castles are an electro group that have one the most unique sounds that I have ever heard. The sound is fueled by altered vocals which is backed by 8-bit beats that sounds like it came straight out of a videogame. Crystal Castles is clearly one of those groups that you classify as 'experimental'. Alice Glass has a stage presence thats out of this world and physically spreads her energy to fans in the crowd. I already know this all ages show will be full of teenagers clad in ultra tight pants singing along to every word, while sweating and dancing and loving every moment of the experience.
Sadly this show was SOLD OUT and I couldn't go
Crystal Castles--Air War (mp3)

Crystal Castles @ Sonotheque
After Crystal Castles all ages show at The Bottom Lounge, they head to Sonotheque for a dj set. Besides for being good performing, the duo also makes amazing remixes of other artists.
Sadly this show as 21+ (as most thing in Chicago) and I couldn't go
Klaxons--Atlantis To Interzone (Crystal Castles Remix) (mp3)

Bloc Party - Hunting for Witches (Crystal Castles Remix) (mp3)

Saturday:
Leaders 1354 opens the hat vault @ North Side Location
Leaders is clearly Chicago's most famous streetwear store in Chicago and the only thing cooler than their clothes is their hats, which has been worn by many locals and celebrities. The northside location will release several popular hats that were saved.



Deadmau5, Crookers, Late of the Pier, The Whip @ Congress Theatre
So many artists in so little time. This back to back dj and electro party will include djs that wear mouse masks, the djs who remixed Kid Cudi's 'Day n Nite', and two bands that are considered leaders of the new wave movement. Get ready for the 17+ ravers to come up from the underground.

Sunday
Mates of States, Black Kids, and Sun Bears @ The Metro
Black Kids --Hurricane Jane (mp3)

Melknee the RnR Ninja

We Are Your Friends

I love cross genre collaborations 

 A lot of people applauded Kanye West for his genre hopping ability when he used a sample of Daft Punk's song 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' for his 2007 song 'Stronger'. The Daft Punk song was originally released in 2001 and in 2007 a live recording of the song was turned into a music video.  However around the same time in 2007, the hip-hop artist Wale sampled the electro song 'D.A.N.C.E.' from Justice. The French Dj duo Justice is the group that beat Kanye at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards for the best video award with the song 'We Are Your Friends' and caused his tantrum. When he interrupted the acceptance speech of the label art director, SO ME, he said he had never seen the video. However in 2007, he made Jonas and François, the director and SO ME, the animator of Justice's video for 'D.A.N.C.E.',  the video director and animator of his song, 'Good Life'. 

The hip-hop artist Noreaga created a song with electronic djs MSTRKRFT and artists like Kid Cudi have sampled songs from the electronic band Ratatat and the electro group LCD Soundsystem. 

Hip-hop artists are realizing that it is okay to listen to other styles of music and they are applying those influences to their music. Also as hip-hop blends with other musical styles, they are gaining more fans that are new hip-hop. This change in hip-hop also shows that are truly influenced by the first hip-hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, who was greatly influenced my dance music and used Kraftwerk's song 'Numbers' as inspiration for his song 'Planet Rock'. Hopefully the old hip-hop fans will appreciate the evolution of hip-hop and will help create a multicultural fanbase that appreciates all styles of music.

2006

Kanye West crashes the acceptance speech of SO ME at the EMAs

2007

Justice-D.A.N.C.E. 

(directed by Jonas & François and animated by So Me)

2008

Wale-W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. (mp3) 

(directed by Todd Angkasuwan)

Kanye West-Good Life

(directed by Jonas & François and animated by So Me)

Kanye West - Good Life from universalmusicgroup on Vimeo.

Noreaga + MSTRKRFT = 'Bounce'

MSTRKRFT feat. Noreaga--Bounce (mp3)

Kid Cudi + Ratatat ('Tacobel Canon')= 'Heaven At Nite'

Kid Cudi-- Heaven At Nite (mp3)

Ratatat-Tacobel Canon

Kid Cudi-Heaven At Nite

Kid Cudi + LCD Soundsystem ('Someone Great')= 'Can I Be'

Kid Cudi--Can I Be (mp3)

LCD Soundsystem-Something Great

Kid Cudi-Can I Be

thanks to The Tape

thanks Pigeons and Planes

 Hopefully, a video for 'I Poke Her Face' will be released soon. The idea of Kid Cudi, Kanye West and Common rapping over Lady Gaga's song 'Poker Face' was genius.

Kid Cudi feat. Kanye West, Common--I Poke Her Face (mp3)

Melknee the RnR Ninja