Chicago Rap Is Way More Unified Than You Think, and Its New Stars Proved It at Oreo Fest

All photos by Bryan Allen Lamb

After the Chicago rap boom of 2012, where national outlets, record labels and the like climbed all over themselves to get a sniff at anything remotely related to the local scene, a lot of folks hit it big, getting signed to record deals and doing shows all over the world. There’s been a lot of influence from Chicago spread nationally. Now, as the kids of Chicago’s rap community— kids being a literal term in a lot of ways— are all over the world, touring and getting looks from the biggest names in the game. Tonight though, on a gorgeous Saturday when the Chicago river got dyed green and hordes of bros and the basics that love them are puking in the streets, Oreo Fest is kicking off in the south Loop. The security at Reggie’s Rock Club deal with more rap shows than a lot of venues in the city (some of that more than likely because of obviously segregated policies towards rap shows and the clientele they attract) and they do a great job of not overreacting, but keeping the flow moving and the congested backstage area clear.

DJ Oreo (who got the name after wearing a black and white suede outfit to school one day and getting mocked by classmates, then turning it into a positive) is holding court. Getting on stage and footworking before leading the crowd through a familiar set of hits from the likes of Kanye, Meek Mill and Nicki Minaj, Oreo is a DJ and promoter who is seemingly connected to everyone. That was him DJing for Chance the Rapper on tour after 2013’s “Acid Rap” catapulted him into the stratosphere. That was him DJing for Vic Mensa now and back then for his former group Kids These Days. That was him literally leaping from the stage to the VIP section at last year’s Pitchfork Music Festival (that leaping thing is literal, by the way. He’s a former member of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s gymnastics team, the Tumblers) and tonight is his opportunity to bring rappers from all over together under one roof for a night of music. He takes the time on multiple occasions during the show to promote peace and unity in the city.

Recently released from a prison bid after violating his parole last year by going to Texas for the annual South By Southwest music festival, this is one of the first appearances since coming home for Zernardo “ZMoney” Tate, and you immediately get the sense that he missed the stage while away. He’s all smiles, running through tracks from his mixtape oeuvre, especially 2013’s critically acclaimed Rich B4 Rap with the now-trademark army of goons backing him on stage. Joining ZMoney onstage tonight is Kevin ”Bandman Kevo” Ford, who has been in the headlines recently for allegedly being involved in a complex “card cracking” scheme that led to a Federal investigation, is all about music tonight and after the set, both are absolutely elated to have just finished performing at OreoFest. “I coulda gone for ten more hours!” Ford exclaims. ZMoney agrees, excitedly thinking of what the next step could be. “Bro, we need to do a show like this. Like outside or something. That was so crazy. The crowd knew the words! That shit was…mann, whoo!”

It’s a truly inspiring moment, especially for those of us whose hearts have grown cold after hundreds of shitty performances and half-hearted attempts from acts of all genres who couldn’t give less of a crap. Ask a rapper from Chicago what they hear when they go out of town and the answer is almost unanimous.

“They always talk about violence. Like we don’t have common sense. We earned something. We’re earning respect nationally by making a scene, making our own money. People meet us and expect us to be killers or something. Then they give us respect when they meet us and see we’re hard workers,” Zmoney says.

“Everyone thinks Chicago rap is all killing and violence.” says Mobo the Great, a nuanced and talented female MC who took an opportunity to rap on stage with Jay Z in 2010 to build a slowly rising career.

Stunt Taylor, who’s “FeFe on the Block” single got a lot of listens locally and around the country in 2013, is a lot more blunt about what Chicago rap means in the national sense now.

“I’ve sat in front of Def Jam, Interscope, all of them and I tell them that I’m from the West side and they don’t even know what that is. I get “Are you from the South side? Are you from where those other guys live?” The labels are gravitating to drill, that hardcore music, and they don’t really want to hear that we’re all more than that. It’s on us though, to change the narrative to one that’s about violence to one of leadership. Still though, those labels are killing us.” he says.

Those “labels” he’s referring to are the lazy narrative that Chicago rap is split into two camps—“drill” and “backpack.” You’d be hard pressed to find a rapper in the city who claims either label, though. The reality is that the boom of 2012 united more than it divided, with acts like the left-leaning Leather Corduroys not only sharing the stage with grittier acts like Lil’ Herb, but all of them being in the same room as well. Chief Keef and Chance the Rapper aren’t representatives of two ideological styles, they’re just two kids from the same city making music. Nowhere else does this idea get represented than big shows like Oreo Fest.

Ernest Wilkins is a writer living in Chicago. Follow him on Twitter.