Benny Nice | Gowhere Hip Hop

The Taste of Chicago is regarded as the biggest food festival in the world and is held every mid July in Grant Park. It is an opportunity to people attending the food festival to become exposed to different food from all around the city of Chicago and even the suburbs. This event is great in showcasing different cultures through food and the different Chicago neighborhoods that help create this event.

Here at GoWhere Hip Hop we believe in creating our musical taste of Chicago.
Our city has been booming with different Hip-Hop artists all rising in the attempt to illustrate why Chicago has some of the best Hip-Hop and rising artists. We have compiled a list of over 40 artists all representing different areas and showcasing different sounds that have garnered attention.

These artists acknowledge that they represent one city. North, South, East, and West represent the city of Chicago and the future of the next generation of artists to break out. The current generation of rappers, producers, and singers acknowledge that the streets might have raised them but the city of Chicago is what helped to make them into the artists they are today.

There are different artists all over the city’s nine regions and all representing different community areas in the city of Chicago. This is our second annual “Hip-Hop Taste of Chicago” in the attempt of exposing listeners to different rappers, producers, and even singers from various areas in the city of Chicago. Some of these artists were also a part of last year’s first annual “Hip-Hop Taste of Chicago” and many of these artists have raised the bar and caught our attention within this past year.

Most of these artists aren’t signed to major labels but do demonstrate why their music is a critical element to why Chicago’s Hip-Hop scene continues to thrive. The following artists demonstrate that they don’t necessarily need a major label to make great music that has gotten the music community craving for more Chicago Hip-Hop.

The first part of the series takes place in the north side of Chicago, highlighting talents from the three regions Far North Side, Northwest Side, and North Side.

ProbCause

Reps: Rogers Park

Song: Chicago Style

The Rogers Park native had a breakout 2013 and stellar year with both his The Recipe Vol 2 and Waves projects. Prob has been able to tour, which has gotten him national exposure. What makes Prob one of Chicago’s best is his ability to formulate a winning ‘recipe’ within his records as he mixes various Chicago sounds/influences within his music as well as his ability to collaborate with prominent Chicago emcees to bring about respect and unity through music.

The O’My’s

Reps: Roger’s Park

Song: Chicago

Chicago’s Rock n Soul band kept working and kept reaching the masses as they dropped their project, A Humble Masterpiece and toured the nation with ZZ Ward. One of the surprises and phenomenal drops they had recently was a collaboration with TDE’s Ab-Soul on “These Days” which signaled to us that Chicago talent can hang and inspire some of Hip-Hop’s future heavyweights. The O’My’s are important to Chicago’s music scene because they embody the soul of the city and empowerment that can be created within a city that’s been scarred by violence.

Navarro [Formerly Scheme]

Reps: Hermosa/Humboldt

Song: 5AM En Chicago

Rafael Navarro (formerly Scheme) is one of Chicago’s best lyrically driven and respected emcees. What has made him standout is his Mexican culture, which he has used to illustrate the struggles of Latinos in Chicago. He is a huge representation of Latinos in Chicago and he’s illustrated the love for his culture through tracks like La Clika, his Pocket Full Of Pesos mixtape, among many other tracks. What has made Navarro one of Chicago’s elite is his compassion for his people as well as a passion to continue to elevate the standard within the art of lyricism and remind folks that he creates music without borders, music that illustrates his hardships and adversity he’s overcome.

Rich Jones

Reps: Old Irving Park

Song: My Year

Rich Jones has definitely become one of Chicago Hip-Hop’s most recognizable faces. He is at many Hip-Hop shows supporting other artists and through this same solidarity has established respect amongst his peers. The Second City Citizens member has been able to become unique through his ability through his ability to harmonize his singing ability with his lyrical prowess.

Pozlyrix

Reps: Jefferson Park

Song: Chicago Native

Seven Oddz member Pozlyrix has been in the game for a while and has earned the reputation as a respected emcee amongst his peers. In his project Chicago Native he touched upon growing up Native American in the city of Chicago. What has made Poz unique has been his ability to bring talent together as he continues to work to bring new and old generation of Chicago emcees together to unite behind the mic.

Izzy Rhythm

Reps: Kelvyn Park/Hermosa

Song: Out of Reach

I immediately gravitated towards Izzy’s music once I had heard his track “Malcriado” with Jarred AG.I marveled at the fact that there was this great Latino R&B singer that conveyed so much emotion behind the mic and also possessed good lyricism. Izzy is a great artist within Chicago’s music scene because he’s an upstart that is hungry, devoted, and wants to show the rest of the world how great of an artists he can become if given the opportunity. He is one of the greatest singers in the city that you hadn’t heard until now so listen to his music and give him the opportunity to provide you hope and good showmanship.

Netherfriends

Reps: Avondale

Song: Joey Vision

Netherfriends has had a stellar year with the release of his P3ACE (pronounced Three-Peace) and his five part Untitled Film Project. He is one of the best and possibly the most interesting musician this city has. The man knows how to make great musician whether it’s a hot track with a HIP-HOPesque beat or a phenomenal rock or indie pop styled track. What makes Netherfriends a unique artists within Chicago’s buzzing Hip-Hop scene has been ability to not be categorized as a Hip-Hop artists or Indie pop artists but great musician as well as his relentless work ethic to collaborate with emcees to create positive and uplifting music.

Benny Nice

Reps: Lake View

Song: Halos of Smoke

The man behind many of 119’s various Hip-Hop shows is no other than Benny Nice himself whom has formed a part in providing a platform for upcoming artists to be heard. The man can do it all. Raps, produces, engineers and even directs visuals. Back in January he brought his his project “Look What We Started” which was 90% produced by himself. What makes Benny a great talent in Chicago’s music scene is his vision, he is a visionary with various attributes always looking for the next goal to accomplish and the next artists to help give a platform to elevate their talent as well.

The Garcia bros [Jarred, Darrion aka Smoko Ono]

Rep: Logan Square

Jarred A.G.

Song: Lanes

Smoko Ono

Song: Feel That

The Garcia brothers Jarred and Smoko have individually been doing damage within the city of Chicago. Jarred AG has been releasing singles leading up to his Canvas project. Smoko as a part of the Save Money army has been producing bangers for some of Chicago’s buzzing upcoming artists as well as working on his Smoko & Friends project. Success definitely runs in the family as they continue to grind and hustle in our city’s music scene. What has made Jarred AG and Smoko some of Chicago’s best talent is that both these guys are Latinos making moves, men at the forefront of progress

Gowhere Hip Hop

Tag Archives: Benny Nice

Benny Nice “Round Up” f/ Rich Jones

2nd Annual: Hip-Hop Taste of Chicago [Pt.1 of Series]

Benny Nice “Look What We Started” [Mixtape]

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