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Music

Music to Fake Shore Driveby Volume 4: It's a New Year and Midwest Rap Is Obviously Still Awesome

Our friends from Chicago deliver their monthly mix.

Welcome to 2015, bitches. To celebrate the new year and how great life is, our friends at Fake Shore Drive have delivered their monthly edition of "dope rap music we are probably sleeping on" a.k.a. Music to Fake Shore Driveby. This month, we have tracks from Jeremih, SD, Tree, Lil Herb, and more. Head to the bottom of the page for the SoundCloud mix. God, why is midwest hip-hop so tight?

Doughboyz Cashout - "Champagne"
Detroit’s DBC collective continue to be the most polished, dope, and ready for the big leagues bunch in the biz. It’s frustrating how critics continue to overlook these dudes. They're like Detroit’s answer to the Dipset and State Property. “Champagne” was a winter time ode to the good life, so make sure it’s “Champagne” for your campaign. Cheers! -AB

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Jeremih feat. Chi Hoover - "Big Dawg Shit"
It’s 2015, and we still don’t have Jeremih’s new project, Late Nights: The Album. We’re definitely not happy about this, but if he continues to toss out incredibly dope loosies like “Big Dawg Shit,” then we’ll stay patient. This joint is crazy, and deserves your attention. Hey, he even takes a shot at Def Jam—I wonder if that’s the album hold up? Either way, this one is not to be slept on. -AB

SD - "Styles"
SD’s debut album Truly Blessed is criminally underrated. The former GBE representative’s project is one of my favorites from 2014 and is still in heavy rotation over here. While SD’s punk-rap single “Circles” from the album is still one of his best songs (not up for debate, bro), the DeeMoney-produced “Styles” is closing in. Word has it that this joint may be SD’s next single and I couldn’t be happier. -TH

Tree & Chris Crack - "Chicken Pocks"
Chickenpox is an illness most kids won’t have in 2015. But hopefully this track is contagious and doesn’t have a cure. Excuse my cheesy joke (sorry!), but when Tree and Crackaveli are on a track together, the chemistry oozes. These two were made for each other, and this joint was a pretty much an infection I haven’t been able to shake yet. -AB

Oba Rowland - "Mean"
Oba Rowland is currently my favorite artist out of Detroit. He’s given us heaters like “Lifestyle” and this joint, “Mean,” within months of each other. Oba slows things down here and the end result is straight fire emojis. If this is any indication of what's to come from Oba's new project, then all eyes on Oba y'all. - TH

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The Boy Illinois - "Do It 2"
The Boy Illinois is a true Chicago player. Smooth with a silver tongue and a political edge to combat any rappers trying to dumb it down. He has a lot of work slated for 2015, but he kicked off the new year with the playalistic new EP, The Yer Tape, which is packed with good music. One of our favorites is “Do It 2”—straight motivation music with a dope chopped soul sample and thick keys. -AB

Leather Corduroys - "In Da Club"
I’ve long-described Joey Purp and KAMI, otherwise known as Leather Corduroys, as the Ghostface and Raekwon of SaveMoney. A crew within a crew. They are two very cerebral rappers with unique and explosive styles. On their official debut as a group, Season, they went the experimental route—and proved they didn’t have to rappity rap to make waves. And this project is all the proof you need. Our favorite standout is the super funky “In Da Club,” which makes you feel like you can dance underwater and not get wet. - AB

Lil Herb - "4 Minutes Of Hell, Pt. 4"
Before 2014 came to an end, Lil Herb a.k.a. G Herbo decided to surprise everyone and drop off The Pistol P Project—a small collection of new music from Herb recorded in Atlanta as a reminder that he’s still a problem. And that’s strongly evident on the project’s closing track, “4 Minutes Of Hell, Pt. 4,” produced by 808 Mafia’s DY. Give ‘em hell, Herbo. - TH

Dooch feat. Pizzle - "Back There"
Milwaukee emcees Dooch and Pizzle snapped with “Back There.” Producer Derelle Rideout provided a great backdrop for Dooch and Pizzle to get to work and that’s just what the 414 natives did. Maybe it’s just me, but this joint sounds like something you would hear playing during a party scene in a movie or television series. Actually, someone should make that happen. - TH

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Lupe Fiasco - "Adoration of the Magi"
If you need a reminder of how skilled and clever Lupe is in the booth, look no further than “Adoration Of The Magi.” On the surface, Lu gave us another exhibit of his lyrical skill over some jazzy production from DJ Dahi, but it’s a little deeper than that. I’ll keep it spoiler-free, but you’re going to run this one back a few times and possibly even consult RapGenius to grasp this one. Job well done, Lu. - TH

Lil Herb feat. Earl Sweatshirt – "Knucklehead"
Two self-proclaimed knuckleheads got together for this reflective slow-roller courtesy of the good folks at Red Bull. These two might seem like an odd pairing, but both artists were already fans of each other’s work prior to connecting last year in LA. A few days of studio work birthed “Knucklehead,” a track that proves these two have more in common than what meets the eye. - AB

Billard - "Funeral"
Cleveland rapper Billard is someone you should be paying attention to and if you aren’t, it’s time to stop snoozing. While his debut I Am Billard is still making rounds, Billard recently teamed up with KE On The Track to release the Love Day EP. The four-track EP kicks off strong with “Funeral,” where Billard just goes in for almost three minutes straight. Rest in peace to this beat. -TH

Spenzo – "Lil Lately"
There’s really no gripe about this record other than it being too short. Spenzo has a few local smashes under his belt, and he keeps the ball rolling with this aggressive new release titled “Lil Lately.” Another monster from an artist you should be paying more attention to. - AB

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Mic Terror x Gzus Piece – "120"
Two of the Treated Crew's finest connect for a well-produced slapper that features Mic T and Gzus P trading their patented shit-talking and not-so subtle jabs back and forth for a few minutes. 120 was 100 all day. -AB

Chief Keef – Faneto
Just when you thought Keef’s career was finito, he pulls another rabbit out of his hat. Sure it’s been almost three years since “I Don’t Like,” but “Faneto” is showing a lot of similarities to the biggest hit of Keef’s career. Both tracks started off local, then began to fizzle nationwide. And that’s exactly what’s happening with “Faneto” at the moment. It may not have hit your region of the country yet, but when this record drops in Chicago it’s game over. Don’t believe me?

So yeah, there’s also that. -AB

Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment – "Sunday Candy"
The Social Experiment is bigger than a band. They’re bigger than just Chance The Rapper. They move as a unit, a real living and breathing organism. They kicked off their next project, Surf, which serves as solo release (of sorts, there’s no solo artists in SoX) for band member Donnie Trumpet with the sweet “Sunday Candy.” A tasty treat that’s already triple platinum on SoundCloud. - AB

Brain Hussla - "Fix For The Fiends"
Brain Hussla is a bit of an urban legend in the Chi. He was down with Bump J’s once-infamous crew, Goon Squad, in the early-to-mid aughts and was one of the strongest lyricists in the crew. Once Bump got pinched on a bank robbery charge in 2008, the rapper went underground for a few years. But Brain emerged at the end of 2014 with a pretty great double disc (errr double .zip?) mixtape which sounded like he stepped out of a smoking DeLorean from 2004. It’s that old soul with classic Chi street talk. If you were a fan of Bump J or Sly Polaroid, this one is for you. - AB

Giftz feat. Ace B8gie - "Ride For Me"
Giftz is a new recruit to Freddie Gibbs’ ESGN squad, but also reps his own hometeam, FOC. The two most known players from this FOC faction are Giftz and ACE B8gie, who got the band back together for some straight rider music on “Ride For Me.” Ride or die. You talk it, they live it. -AB