#amfmmag

Join us tomorrow, April 11th from 6-8pm at the Claudia Cassidy Theater in the Chicago Cultural Center for the exclusive Chicago preview of the highly anticipated series, 195 Lewis! The night will also include performances from @youngchicagoauthors-blog , @kayceeortiz , and @Nappy Nina. @195lewis is a dramedy series about a group of friends navigating the realities of being Black, queer, and polyamorous in New York City. Set in the heart of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, the series follows Yuri and Camille as they test the boundaries of their open relationship. Yuri’s growing infatuation with a new lover leaves Camille uncertain about her role in Yuri’s life. Thankfully, she has immature and drama-prone younger sister Anne to offer some distraction. Tensions continue to build though, when Yuri’s old college friend Kris shows up unexpectedly in need of a place to stay.

We will open the evening with an introduction from Ciera McKissick, founder of @amfm-mag, followed by a poetry reading from Young Chicago Authors: E'mon Lauren Black (YCA Teaching Artist & Chicago Youth Poet Laureate), Aisha June (@LTAB Semifinalist, Goodman Education), Arielle Appleby (LTAB Finalist, Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep). YCA exposes young people to hip-hop realist portraiture and teaches them how to create their own authentic narratives through a variety of arts education programs both in and out of the classroom. YCA organizes Louder Than a Bomb (LTAB), the largest youth poetry festival in the world!

YCA will be followed by a performance from Nappy Nina, a Brooklyn / Bay Area rapper featured on the 195 Lewis soundtrack. Chicago's own Kaycee Ortiz will then perform a few select tracks!

Nappy Nina

A Review of Calid B’s EP Afrobang 

Creativity burned from the fingertips of Calid B as he produced his 2015 EP Afrobang. Just like the album title, every song in Afrobang doesn't cease to go out without a big bang. Clear inspiration bred from a culmination of Afro beats, Jazz, Drums, Hip-Hop and R&B manifests flawlessly through his lyrics and tunes. The song “Abijan” ft. Boyang is a mixture of fast beats with African chants. It's easy to get lost in the sounds of Calid B. This fact alone lets me know that Calid B’s talent will take him to unknown places. His sounds aren't limited to one genre.

His inspirations are cultivated from years of having a musical background that he molded more in his college years. At a young age, Calid explored the depths of the afrocentric community by playing the djembe drums. In college, he experimented with Hip-Hop more when he became a young producer on campus. Post college, he created his own production company that soon furthered his interest in becoming a self created and managed musician.

Calid B’s song “Parasites” has a modern Hip-Hop vibe to it. In this song, he raps about haters in the game and how he doesn't care about them. The parasites he is referring to are people who tried to hold him back. This song is empowering to even the everyday struggles of life. Calid B’s unique style could be our generation's next music subculture.

The song “Gold” ft. Sam Trump & Party Noire alone enticed my eardrums enough to wonder, “What's next for Calid B?” As I listened to the song it felt as though my bedroom walls were peeling and was transformed in an afro speakeasy. The song is sultry, sexy, and graceful. It's the sound of a slow grind on the dance floor with a warm body.

The BANG in Afrobang starts from an African inspiration. He infuses his own person inspiration from his childhood to ones he’s developed as he’s grown. That's what's seemingly beautiful about Calib B’s work. It's not fixed and you never know what’s next. 

Check out the EP here before you check out his album release party we are co-hosting with Party Noire at Tonic Room this Thursday August 11th! Pre-sale tickets are just $10/$15 at the door, you don't want to miss this, it will be a banger! Get your tickets here!

Calib B, is one of our new favorites on the Chicago music scene! Hailing from Ohio, Calid B is riding the wave of his newest music video release “Parasites,” all about shaking off the haters, and following your passions and dreams. 

The video is beautifully shot with Lake Michigan as a backdrop, the perfect mix of serenity meets industrial, with an afrocentric vibe, and mad style. Calid kills it in this video stylistically and musically. His first EP release “AFROBANG” comes out this Friday for his Intimate Listening Party at The Silver Room in Chicago. 

On June 17, 2016 The Foundation of Women in HIP-HOP is hosting Detroit’s first Women in Hip-Hop Conference and Concert headlined by Grammy award winning artist Rapsody, pulling together women from various backgrounds with a shared love for the art of hip-hop through a contemporary, and interactive experience to empower women. This event will be in conjunction with this year’s Allied Media Conference.

Education and empowerment are two words that describe the goals of The Women in HIP-HOP Interactive Experience. Through arts and expression, the experience strives to revolutionize and reestablish the message hip-hop perpetuates about women. Hip-Hop has been known to have lyrics and visuals that dehumanize, sexualize, and degrade women. Hip-hop is one the the most consumed music genres, and through this, leaves poor impressions of black and brown women worldwide. Mass consumptions of American hip-hop worldwide has helped form platforms that promote the hyper-sexualization and fetishization of black women bodies.

Through this experience, artists, activists and academics will confront misogynistic construction through narrative and music. Wonder how violence towards women in media, specifically women in color started from? The Foundation Of Women In HIP-HOP will address the causes and effects and ways to hinder this ongoing culture. This movement is geared towards the liberation of women and addressing hateful imagery that dominates the art of hip-hop. Not only is the event diverse in race, religion, expression and is inclusive of women in the queer community, but it provides a space for identified women to freely be them in a hip-hop environment.

The three-day event will include a cypher, b-girl dance battle, film screening, workshops, and panel discussions hosted by Jessica Care Moore. The concert in addition to Rapsody, also includes Momma Sol & Tha NUTS and Mahogany Jones.

This ongoing event will leave participants walking away with a greater understanding of the value of women in hip-hop as a culture across disciplines like graffiti and street art, dance and b-girling, technology (DJing/Music Production/Video), words (emceeing, writing, rhyming), and culture (knowledge, the element of reading, observing video and listening to audio media and discussion)

The Foundation of Women in HIP-HOP is a foundation whose hands were placed to support marginalized women. They are a cultural revolution that crosses borders, links diverse communities, inspires ideas, influences behaviors, and encourages dialogues through art.

For more information and to get tickets or attend the conference or concert:

The Foundation of Women in HIP-HOP

Women in Hip-Hop Concert