Nico Segal – Donnie Trumpet
It seems like every month, there are ten new Chicago artists that I need to catch up on. Nico Segal is a beat-maker and trumpet player who recruited fellow Chi-Town artists Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa to do their thing over his spacy instrumentals. (Download)
!llmind – !.B.F.K.W. (!llmind Beats For Kanye West)
!llmind’s Happy B-Day J D!lla was one of the best projects I’ve heard this year. This follow-up tape is a collection of beats he made for Kanye during the Cruel Summer sessions (his beat for “The Morning” made it on to the final product). While I don’t enjoy these beats nearly as much as his Dilla-inspired stuff, this is still an interesting set of instrumentals. (Download)
Alex Wiley – Club Wiley
The first thing that I noticed about Alex Wiley, is that he is an incredibly talented rapper. (I’m talking Bone Thugs hyper-speed rappity-rapping.) The second thing I noticed about Alex Wiley is that he can rap about some incredibly stupid stuff. This is a fun tape, but the stakes are pretty low. (Download)
SYG – Until Then EP
SYG has had a crazy-productive year. Until Then is his third project of 2013 (and he just dropped another mixtape on July 1st). So far this project is the best thing I’ve heard from the Pittsburgh rapper. His flows are original and he’s picked out a nice set of beats that are the perfect soundtrack for his clever introspections. (Download)
