Kyle Kramer

Some things I’ve written recently

I haven’t been good about using Tumblr lately (catch me hanging out on Twitter instead!), and I assume all the diehard Kyle Kramer fans have seen these already, but in the interest of cataloging my recent exploits/preserving some pixels for posterity/broadening my readership(?), here are links, with tantalizing excerpts to draw you in, of things I’ve written in the past few weeks:

Complex: 40 Most Sexual Top 40 Songs

24. Next “Too Close” (1998)

Hot 100 Peak Position: 1

This song is about a challenge that all dudes have dealt with at some point or another. It’s one of those situations that is just really difficult. Like, really, really…hard. There are those who accused the acting in the video as wooden. Others who felt the lyrics were a little stiff (is it really necessary to clarify the phrase “The way that you shake it on me/Makes me want you so bad” with the adverb “sexually?”). But one thing about “Too Close” is that it got a lot of people excited, to the point that the number one song in the country AT THE HEIGHT OF THE CLINTON IMPEACHMENT SCANDAL was about getting a boner. We should erect a monument in its honor. 

Chicago Tribune: Freddie Gibbs/Tree/Sasha Go Hard/Show You Suck concert review

The city’s rap scene is the most vibrant and exciting it’s been in recent memory — perhaps ever — right now, a fact underscored by both the diversity of the night’s bill and the deep catalogue of local singles played between acts. While a Chicago hip-hop show two years ago might have warmed the crowd up with national hits and a Twista song or two for the purists, Thursday’s playlist from DJ Victoriouz was heavy on tracks from artists like Chief Keef, King L and Lil Durk, all of whom have helped draw national attention to the city in recent months.

RedEye: Iceage “You’re Nothing” review

When young Danish punk band Iceage played the Empty Bottle for the first time two years ago, the show – a bloody, 20-minute thrash of an event – ended with singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt descending the stage and stumbling out through the crowd in a daze. It was a striking gesture and an emblematic moment: In a genre of stage dives and pure releases of energy, Iceage are a band that is just as often caught in a cathartic stagger as it is in a whirlwind of rage.

The Music Vox 8/12/12 - RedEye’s Kyle Kramer on Chicago’s rising female rappers

By the way, I forgot to post this earlier, but I was on the radio last month talking about Chicago rap! Like, the real live radio that goes over the airwaves, not even my dumb podcast. I think I did pretty well, too, and this is kind of relevant re: other things people are discussing. So check it out!

Thanks to Jesse Menendez and Vocalo for having me.

redeyechicago:

@KatieGotBandz - RedEye outtakes (Taken with Instagram)

I wrote an article about Katie Got Bandz and some other Chicago rappers that might be worth your attention:

Well, sort of—the career part was unexpected. Katie was serving jail time on a gun charge when the video for “I Need a Hitta” came out and became a YouTube hit among local youth, so it was a surprise for her to come home to a fan base. The sudden success, however, prompted her to keep making music.

“I ain’t want to be a one-hit wonder so I’m like. ‘Let me just keep going,’” she explained recently…

Sasha Go Hard - “I Think I Like” (2012)

The enunciation on the bumper/thump her/stomp her rhyme (2:52) »»»

aldoushuxtable:

Tomorrow’s cover.

Read the whole piece here. Yung Kyle Kramer doesn’t just cover Keef. He takes a look at the entire wave Chicago rap is riding right now through the eyes of cats like DGainz, SashaGoHard and others. 

Hope you dig it.

I wrote about (almost) everyone in Chicago rap (and talked to most of them here), and, beyond the fact that I want you to read what I wrote, I recommend checking this out simply because it’s a fascinating story and a really great scene coming out of here right now.