RoundUp • New Releases From Kallay, Phor, Tia London & More
photo by Michael Salisbury
Each week the These Days staff comes across great music from Chicago artists that we could not provide individual features for. In an effort to keep our readers up to date with more of our recent favorites, the Round Up segment provides quick summaries and additional noteworthy content. Check out our latest picks below and feel free to submit a comment if you feel we missed something.
Words by Peter Bonamici and Justyn Vaughn Polk
Kallay • "Church Music" Ft. Tree & GLC
Sometimes all you need to celebrate the Lord’s day is 40’s and blunts. Kallay tends to have an all-star cast of features on his tracks, as he has already collaborated with Chicago natives Saba, Monster Mike, & Saint Millie. Kallay recruits Mc Tree G & GLC for a soulful, raspy, rap reunion with "Church Music". Ace La samples 1954 Doo Wop group, The Moonglows, for an extremely catchy instrumental. Good luck getting this tune out of your head.
Phor • "God's Hands"
Outside of starring on VH1’s hit show, Black Ink Crew: Chicago, Phor is a talented MC. “God’s Hands” is the latest song released from Phor since the release of his mixtape, Sacrifice, in early 2015. Phor gets very introspective and spiritual on “God’s Hands,” discussing his childhood dreams of success and the obstacles he faces on the road to living out those dreams.
Tia London • "Thrill"
Chicago veteran producer The Legendary Traxster builds his ever impressive roster with his new track "Thrill". Traxster and Tia London have been working closely together for the past few months, dropping 11 singles in the short span, which could be a damn near album, or at least project with the amount of effort put into this. If you’re looking for the the next thrill, hit that play button above.
Tink • "Circle The Block"
Tink gives us a present for her 21st birthday with her new choreographed video for "Circle The Block". Mentor and producer Timbaland provides us with a quick paced beat to match Tink’s sharp lyrics. Tink is one of those versatile artists who can balance the dichotomy of rapping and singing without detracting from the latter. Still without a proper debut album, Think Tink still lacks an official date but is expected to drop sometime this year.
Wave Chapelle • "Overtime"
You know how you listen to some hardcore hip-hop and instantly start mean-mugging? Try not mean-mugging to this new Wave Chapelle track, I dare you! Wave is punchline-heavy on this new track with a menacing flow. The Milwaukee MC spews confidence and hunger on “Overtime,” to the point where he compared himself to Andre 3000 and I didn’t roll my eyes.