Deejay Earl

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Footwork. Hip hop. R & B. Comedy. Basketball!

2/11: Deejay Earl, Beat Kitchen

The last event in which Deejay Earl participated that we previewed was the late DJ Rashad’s Memorial Party at East Room last April. Since then, the Teklife affiliate has released a wealth of material as usual, including one-off tracks (the Chicago house piano-laden “RIDE W ME”, the bossanova-meets-footwork “Valentra”), remixes (Mono Poly’s remix of “Off Kush Boa”), short albums (the moody U Know What Time It Iz, the dramatic, new agey, ambient Inevitable Shift! > Fear), and an epic, stylistically versatile 29-track VAULT collection. In an opening set for NYC rapper Wiki, who knows what he’ll spin?

2/12: Jill Scott, Chicago Theatre

We previewed Jill Scott’s set with The Roots two years ago at Ravinia:

“Discovered by Questlove after being a spoken word artist, Scott broke out in 2000 with her debut album Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1, which included spoken elements but really allowed Scott to show off her quiet storm singing voice.” This tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of that very record; she should perform it in full.

2/13: Hannibal Buress & Lil Rel Howery, Thalia Hall

To celebrate the NBA All Star Weekend, the two Chicago comedians give sets at a venue whose capacity is way below what they could sell. If you’re going to this one, feel special!

2/13: The Hip Hop Kickback Concert, Chicago Theatre