Blind I | The Boutique Music Blog | Quality Over Quantity.

INTERVIEW: FLYING LOTUS (@FLYINGLOTUS) AT THE NORTH COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Goodie Bag caught up with the producer-extraordinaire Flying Lotus to chop it up about his North Coast Music Festival experience this past weekend and grab a little information about his Pattern + Grid World project coming up. I was on the stage for this performance and I’ll admit I didn’t know what to expect from his set but I was thoroughly entertained. So were the thousands of people who waited over 4 hours JUST to see him rock. Crazy!

Tags: Chicago, FLYING LOTUS, Interview, North Coast Music Festival

CHICAGO | (8/6) • J.COLE, FREESOL, BBU, VONNEGUTT, & SULAIMAN @ BOTTOM LOUNGE

Big ass flyer for a big ass event! I’m proud of my team as we’re an OFFICIAL sponsor along with the OFFICIAL coordinator of the Lollapalooza festival lineup, C3 Presents, our homies at YeaMan! and KnuckleRumbler, and RubyHornet to bring Chicago the OFFICIAL Lollapalooza Hip-Hop Afterparty. No one else is certified dope like our joint, and to prove it we’ve got J. Cole headlining the show, along with Justin Timberlake’s Tennman/Interscope Records group FreeSol (if you watch Entourage you just heard one of their joints at the end of this week’s episode), Big Boi’s rock/hip-hop group Vonnegutt, Chicago party rockers BBU, DJ RTC, and yes, yours truly! It’s all going down at Bottom Lounge (1375 W. Lake St., Chicago IL. 60607), Doors Open at 9:00 and the show kicks off at 10PM sharp, AND it’s 17+ so all you kids going off to college in the fall, feel free to come kick it! Tickets are $15 and you can purchase them NOW by clicking here. I hope to see you all out for the show, cause you never know who may stop by!

Tags: BBU, Chicago, DJ RTC, FreeSol, J.COLE, Lollapalooza, Sulaiman, Vonnegutt

CHICAGO | NORTH COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL TICKET GIVEAWAY!

Blind I’s in a giving mood this summer season, and to continue that trend we’re now offering the Blind I faithful a chance to win tickets to the North Coast Music Festival in Union Park during Labor Day Weekend! If you weren’t already knowing, the lineup features Blind I favorites like The Chemical Brothers, Nas & Damian Marley, Moby, De La Soul, Flying Lotus, Jay Electronica, Mayer Hawthorne & The County, and a bunch of other dope artists! YOU can either do 1 of 2 things to win: Twitter “Yo @Blind_I, I want those @NorthCoastFest tickets!” or send us an email to submit@blindiforthekids.com with the title “Yo Blind I! I Want Those North Coast Fest Tickets!” and your contact information in the body. We’ll decide who the winner is on September 1st. So partake in the links below for more info, click on the pic to see an enlarged version of the official lineup, and good luck!

Tags: Chicago, De La Soul, FLYING LOTUS, Jay Electronica, Mayer Hawthorne & The County, Moby, Nas & Damian Marley, North Coast Music Festival, The Chemical Brothers

FRANCIS AND THE LIGHTS | LIVE FOOTAGE IN CHICAGO + IT’LL BE BETTER

Francis and The Lights. Oh buddy. I love it when artists we endorse persist to make amazing music and take over the world bit by bit. The talented group of artists, fronted by Francis Starlite, have been making recent waves as an opening act for Drake on his current tour, but we at Blind I were hip to the game before all that. I must stunt for my team.

Since their introduction to Blind I and the last time they were featured on the site as Spotlight Artists, they’ve been working hard, doing live shows, and most recently dropping their new EP “It’ll Be Better“, available now on iTunes. They sent us over a free MP3 of one of my FAVORITE joints that they had a snippet-dressingroom-recording of awhile ago called “For Days“, now in CD quality and just as dope for you guys to check out/download:

On top of that, I got a chance to check them out while they were in Chicago for a performance and my homie Nick Castle from Jermaine Productions was able to get some good performance footage of some joints you can get on It’ll Be Better — hit the jump to check out the footage and preview the new EP!

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Tags: Chicago, drake, Francis and the Lights, Francis Starlite, It'll Be Better, Jermaine Productions, Nick Castle, Subterranean

FOOTAGE: MF DEF | ACCORDIAN (CHITOWN)

$ said he heard it was a sham, but this right here is lookin like the jam!

Tags: Chicago, MADLIB, MADVILLAIN, MF DOOM, Mos Def, Stones Throw, Xavier Ruffin @ xrcreative.com

CHICAGO | EVERY DROP COUNTS FOR HAITIAN RELIEF @ REGGIE’S ROCK CLUB

By now you’re already fully aware of the tragedy that took place in Haiti this month and the devastation it has caused its people. Despite the decrease in coverage by major media outlets we must ensure that this event does not decrease in relevance in our own lives and we continue to do everything we can to aid and assist those in need. If you’re in or around Chicago on January 31st  support the The Every Drop Counts Chicago Benefit Concert and its cause.

Here’s a excerpt of Every Drop Counts’ mission statement taken off of their website:

“We began by establishing a Hip-Hop and soul benefit concert—scheduled to take place in Chicago on Sunday, January 31, 2010. The benefit is meant to create awareness of the fundamental need and human right to access clean water. Water is an essential resource to the vitality of human life, it engenders prolonged community building and development.”

Tickets are available now at Leaders 1354‘s downtown location at 672 N. Wells and on Every Drop Count’s website.

All proceeds from ticket and merchandise sales will go directly to World Water Relief

Tags: BBU, Chicago, DJ Izzo, DJ SEAN MAC, EVERY DROP COUNTS, FM SUPREME, FRED HAMPTON JR, HAITI, HAKI MADHUBUTI, He Say She Say, JANUARY 31ST, Jean Grae, KIDS THESE DAYS, M1, Mic Terror, Mikkey Halsted, MYSTIC, RELIEF, Rhymefest, THE COOL KIIDS

VIDEO: @SUPERFUN’S 2009 CHICAGO RECAP VIDEO

Marc Moran (RSVP Gallery, @superfun) put together a great recap video of all the ill shit that went down in Chicago in 2009. I’m even in here a few times shooting the shit! I still believe Mayor Daley should use this as tourist bait. If you’re not from Chicago I believe this may sway your decision to move or at least come visit.

Tags: @superfun, Chicago

CHICAGO | 10/30 DOM PÉRIGNON AT RSVP GALLERY

The benefit of being fly and having fly homies is you’re always into some fly shit. The good gentlemen of RSVP Gallery here in Chicago open their doors on October 30th from 5-7pm and dole out a bit of the Don Pérignon for the attendees as they peruse and shop the illness that is RSVP’s product selection. Partake.

Tags: Chicago, Dom Pérignon, RSVP Gallery

2016? YOU DON’T SAY.

It’s been awhile since we’ve put any social commentary up on the site, but with Sister Toldja coming back soon you shall not starve for long. In the meantime, I wanted to share something with the Blind I faithful that I put up on my personal blog addressing Chicago’s failed 2016 Olympic bid in juxtaposition with the murder of 16 year old Derrion Albert. I’m sure the intelligent base we have here at Blind I will rock with my words. Partake.

I suppose Chicago in 2016 was more important at the time than a 16 year old Chicagoan. Derrion Albert would have been 22 years old around the time the Olympic Games would take over the city of Chicago, supposedly joining the corners of one of the most segregated cities in the world through the welcoming of every nation participating into our “welcoming confines”. Every real Chicagoan, from Wrigleyville to Calumet City, K-Town to the Low End, knows that it’s a tall feat for us to get along with each other already, let alone millions of tourists envisioning a town totally different than the one they’d be stepping into for an Olympic Games. The grievances and issues Chicago faces are not the caliber which would be easily dealt with in a mere 6 years. Rather, a lifetime of struggle and resistance has existed in Chicago, with little ground gained since the years of the Civil Rights movement. People move to our city and stay in their comfort corner, with the majority never daring to go south of Roosevelt. Equally, the born-and-bred Chicagoan is one that rarely goes North of Roosevelt, unless it’s for work purposes or to inquire within City offices. When such a rift exists between Chicago itself, how could the members of the Chicago Olympic Committee actually go through with making this pitch to the IOC? How, with teenagers dying every day in the streets — not just through gang violence, but senseless acts like the one that took away the life of Derrion Albert — could they actively say that the world would be safe here?

You can read the entire post over at my blog now, but feel free to comment here if you wish and let us know your thoughts on this whole ordeal.

Tags: 2016 Olympics, Chicago, COMMENTARY, Derrion Albert

CHICAGO | THE EVOLUTION OF THURSDAY!

Evolution Thursdays is the new name of our weekly Thursday we recently started back up, and tonight we’re going in heavy! Located in the trendy gallery row district of River North at the corner of Superior and Wells, AVILA & RELIGION boasts sprawling dance floors and multiple levels of VIP seating for bottle service. Located three stories above street level, exposed brick walls and 15 foot cathedral windows shower club goers with views of the Chicago Skyline. Adorned with stained glass windows, black crystal chandeliers, and candelabra wall sconces Religion offers a warm, sexy experience accented by deep purple and rich gold tones.

AVILA and RELIGION operate in union as multi dimensional music-driven venue with a state of the art sound system. Complimenting Religion’s lofty aesthetic is a 15 foot pulpit style DJ booth and transform the space with an energized glitz. Club goers can indulge in two full service bars including a private VIP bar on the mezzanine and bottle service nightly.

What, you need more reason to you need to Join us on Thursday as we transform your night from ordinary to Extraordinary? More info after the jump…

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Tags: Chicago