[MUSIC PLAYING]
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- Chicago is the
home of the blues.
It's the house of house music.
It's the consciousness
of hip hop.
Chicago is the mixture of
the south with this big city
sentiment, you know?
Chicago is a city made up
of politics, gangsters,
political activism,
and struggle,
beauty, beauty in the struggle,
and music that defines
the things of all of that.
- Chicago takes hip hop
very, very literal and very,
very serious.
- The Brick Hats,
for example, were
so ready to battle
Rock Steady, man, they
slept on the streets of New
York for three days and three
nights.
They gave props and love.
They were like, those dudes over
there from Chicago doing that.
These dudes were amazing.
- By the time it
started to pick up here,
you know, the city of
New York had already
been well in advance in fighting
with their war on graffiti.
Chicago wasn't
ready for that yet.
- Hip hop was not only cool and
it was not always everywhere.
And we were a definitive tribe
of outcasts in our own house
music-dominated city.
- House people hung
with house people.
Hip hop fans hung
with hip hop fans.
There were a few that
kind of did both.
But not-- there was
firing in between.
- You know, I hear this on GCI,
the number one station for hip
hop and R&B. Well,
that's bullshit
because they wouldn't play
that when we came out.
We're from the '80s.
- I literally was
at the Bismarck
when Little Louis was like,
man, quit asking me to play rap.
Rap music is for people
from the projects.
- College played a
major role in that.
WKKC was killin' in.
- If you was from the
North Side, you was on NUR.
If you was from the South
Side, which I am, you was HPK.
- I was tired of
hearing, [SINGING]
Compton's in the
house, New York this.
And when people
talk about Chicago,
they talk about the Buckingham
Fountain, Sears Tower.
[CHUCKLES]
The tourist sites.
I'm fixin' to take you
on a real fucking cool.
- See, Chicago hip hop, to me,
was designed as the message.
Like, it had to be-- you had
to come hard with your lyrics.
And then it was about the beats.
- It was Clark,
it was Ski Beatz.
It was Jay, it was James.
And at that time, we
used to have arguments.
How was better?
Cap D or Jay Z?
- Twista is one of the
most lyrical mother
fuckers in the game.
It's just that he's writing four
times more than most rappers
in order to rap that fast
and still it's more lyrical.
- It was the new sound.
It was like, we was all raw.
New, untouched talent from
the middle of the country.
- And Twista was in the truck
and he said his verse to us.
And I was like, oh, shit.
It's fixin' to change some shit.
- I would go take Twista's
songs and I would go and get
the lyric sheet and I
would learn the lyrics
and then spit his verses
just to train my muscles
to learn how to rap like that.
- One day, he was like, yo, man.
I think I want to
change my name.
I'm like, what do you
want to change it to?
He's like, Common Sense.
And I was like,
man, that is dope.
Like, do that shit.
Do it.
- My favorite record, rhyme
for rhyme, is "Resurrection."
When that album came
out, I was like,
nobody's fucking with that guy.
And me being a New
Yorker, at the time,
people used to give me shit.
- Kanye taught us,
as songwriters,
himself, me, GLC,
everybody, Malik Yusef.
He taught us, as songwriters,
how to collaborate.
Kanye is the king
of collaboration.
- Chicago has just
the game mentality.
That's just, that's
Chicago's mentality.
Chicago is diverse,
in the sense it's
got a lot of different
people, but they all
stay in their neighborhood.
- For real,
especially in Chicago.
All this is gang territory.
But that is what we were
trying to get away from.
Hip hop is-- it
was the key to get
into a whole lot of
different neighborhoods.
Name
- Didn't matter
what color you were.
It didn't matter what
language you spoke.
It didn't matter what
neighborhood you were from.
It didn't matter-- ain't
none of that matter.
The only thing that
matters is can you DJ?
Can you beat boy?
Can you MC?
Can you make beats?
All that mattered
was, can you do
what's required of the culture?
And I think hip hop broke
down those barriers.
And I know, for me, it broke
down a lot of barriers.
- Hip hop is not black music.
It's a lifestyle.
That's what hip hop is.
It's a lifestyle.
- You cut from a
special and a different
cloth when you a Chicagoan.
I noticed this from
traveling around the world.
I run into somebody from
Chicago and all of a sudden,
it's like being part of a secret
society or some shit like that.
- As much as I hate this city,
I can't escape this city.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[END PLAYBACK]
[APPLAUSE]
THE FRANCHIISE: So that
was actually the premiere
of the sizzle reel.
It's the first time that
anyone's had a chance to see it
and I just got so excited
for our discussion,
especially as someone
originally from Atlanta,
but is so heavily immersed in
the hip hop scene in Chicago.
I'm so interested in
learning about the beginnings
of the success stories that
we see today with Kanye West
and Chance the Rapper.
So without further ado, let's
welcome our panelists, Midway.
All right.
So why don't you tell us a bit
about how the film came about?
What started the project?
RYAN BROCKMEIER: Well, what
kind of makes everybody laugh
now is that it was a
project for me to get out
of the corporate grind
that I was doing.
I was working for a
marketing company.
It was just kind of
sucking the soul out of
me and I wanted
to do something--
I wanted to do something--
music and film and hip hop
have always been right there
towards the top of everything
that I've ever been involved in.
So this is one
thing that kind of
combined all that, along
with me being a history nerd
and everything else.
And I was a journalist
at one time,
so it kind of combines
all that stuff.
And I think the
catalyst for doing
this was seeing this
documentary series on hip hop
on one of the main,
you know, VH1, MTV,
one of those types of channels.
And it was like four episodes.
And of course, the
first episode was
on New York hip hop,
or the birthplace
of hip hop and everything.
But then when they got
into, oh, well, then hip hop
expanded into these other cities
and they mentioned probably
seven, nine other cities.
Chicago wasn't even one of them.
And that was kind of like,
that's just ridiculous.
And I mean, I've known
Chad for about 20 years now
and like he said, I just
called him up and was like,
we're going to do this.
And he was like, cool.
And here we are.
And it started as
like, we're going to do
a two-hour documentary film.
And you know, again, because
we've come up in the culture
and in Chicago and we know so
many people, when we're sitting
there and we're trying to--
one of the first things to
do is you're writing a list.
Who are you going
to talk to, what
are you going to talk about?
And so we started
writing people down.
Who are the top 40 people
that we need to talk to?
And then it quickly it was like,
well, you can't leave them out.
And if you leave them, well,
you can't leave them out.
And so we're like,
well, I guess we'll just
talk to everybody, which
is kind of how it's
bloomed into being more
of an archival project
on top of the film.
And yeah.
And here we are, just
over three years later.
CHAD SORENSON: I looked
at him and saw that list
and I was like, dude,
this isn't going to work.
There's a lot more people
we need to talk to.
And we both agreed that
we needed to expand this.
And then, like he
said, it turned
into a massive archival
project, which now--
we're really grateful that
it turned into that, as well.
RYAN BROCKMEIER:
The first person
that I called to talk to about
working on this was Chad.
The second one was Kevin
Beacham, who's not here.
And some people may
or may not know Kevin,
but he's a DJ and
historian and he's
done a little bit of
everything in hip hop.
He was the host of Time Travel
on WNUR, Northwestern's college
radio station from '95 to 2002.
And he created the Chicago
hip hop timeline back in, man,
when did he do that?
Maybe 2000, something like that?
CHAD SORENSON: Yeah.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: And you
know, if for nothing else,
we would use that as
some sort of reference.
But I've known Kevin
for a long time
and I wouldn't feel right
doing it without him.
So he was the second
person that I called.
So me, Kevin, and
Chad, you know,
spent the first couple of months
kind of outlining and putting
things together before we
eventually, then, kind of
expanded the team
to what it is now.
THE FRANCHIISE: Got it.
So I was doing
some research and I
saw that there were
over 76 vignettes
that you've already put out
there on your YouTube page.
This is a massive undertaking.
How many people did you
end up interviewing so far?
RYAN BROCKMEIER: Well, we
are still interviewing.
THE FRANCHIISE: OK.
RYAN BROCKMEIER:
But right now, I
believe the number
is 192 interviews--
THE FRANCHIISE: Wow.
RYAN BROCKMEIER:
--that we've done.
So there are still
interviews to go.
There are still many
vignettes to go.
And some people do get
a little bit confused.
The vignettes are
not the project.
They're just to show what we're
doing and that it's coming.
So yeah.
CHAD SORENSON: The biggest
thing with the vignettes
are to show people that
it's still being worked on
and let people know that there's
been a lot of, like anywhere,
a lot of projects.
And it can be
overwhelming for people,
so people will start
something and then quit,
and that happens a lot.
And we want to make sure that
people see that we're committed
to this and we're continuing.
That's why we constantly
are spending time
with Barb and
everybody to continue
posting on social
media and showing,
and the vignettes are a way
to keep people interested.
And it's a good way to--
'cause our interviews are long,
usually, with people and they
can be anywhere from an hour
to two hours plus, sometimes.
So that information, we
got such great information
in that interview.
We want to make
sure we can use it.
It might not fit
in the film, but we
want to be able to use it
in some form or fashion
because it's information
that should be heard.
THE FRANCHIISE: Awesome.
And with 192
interviews, what have
been some of the most
interesting stories?
I want to get to the juice.
What has really
stood out to you?
What are some things
that people might not
know about these artists and
DJ's that are featured here?
CHAD SORENSON: Well, I mean,
there's so many, right?
And I got to say,
honestly, we haven't really
had a lot of bad interviews.
Everybody's had something
interesting to say.
Maybe in an hour interview,
maybe not everything.
Everything is kind of like--
an hour might not
be all interesting,
but they have something really
juicy to say, in a good way.
One of the great
things is seeing
how everybody is connected.
And I won't get into that
because it's kind of long,
but we have a connection from
someone who a lot of people
might not know that connects
all the way to Kanye West that
shows how if this person
didn't do what they did,
then Kanye may or may not
have been where he's at.
And I'm sure Kanye
probably doesn't even
know who this person is.
So we're able to,
with this film,
we'll be able to kind
of connect the dots
and show the importance of
how everybody is connected.
That's what's been
really cool for me.
THE FRANCHIISE: Does anyone
else have any really interesting
stories they'd like to share?
CHAD SORENSON: Do you want
to tell the Rubber Room?
SPEAKER 2: Well, the
Rubber Room story
was a really emotional
story for me,
and I think a lot
other people that was
able to listen to Rubber Room.
Rubber Room is an awesome group.
What year did they
come out, Chad?
CHAD SORENSON: I mean,
mid-'90s, they started.
SPEAKER 2: Yeah.
And the sound is kind of
like an industrial sound,
like an industrial
hip hop sound.
And that sound directly
influences the sound
that we hear today.
If anybody is out that's into
a group called Run the Jewels,
Run the Jewels is
directly influenced
by a group called Rubber Room.
CHAD SORENSON: Yeah, yeah.
LP will tell you
that completely.
SPEAKER 2: Yeah, sure.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: Just a funny
quick side story to that.
But one of the first sessions
that Chad and Kevin and I had,
we're talking about people
who we want to talk to.
We were talking to people that
are also not from Chicago that
may have worked
with Chicago artists
or have some sort of
relationship there.
And one of the people that
I wanted to put on the list
was LP.
And they were kind
of like, OK, why LP?
And I'm like, because
when I talk to him in 2004
or '03 or whenever
it was, he directly--
he told me himself how much
of an influence Rubber Room
and the Opus
production was for him.
And then Kevin was like,
that's kind of funny
that you mentioned that
because I gave LP a Rubber Room
demo back in like '95.
So that's where--
SPEAKER 2: He stayed
with LP and gave him--
and they traded demos.
So he had the
"Funcrusher Plus" demo.
LP gave him-- Kevin-- the
"Funcrusher Plus" demo,
and then he gave him the
"Gothic Architecture" demo.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: Yeah.
But sorry, back to
the Rubber Room story.
SPEAKER 2: So I think we all
got emotional around the time
that--
I guess they had a deal.
And I think Chad can tell the
story a little bit better.
CHAD SORENSON: Well,
OK, so they had a deal.
And everybody from
Chicago was really
rooting for Rubber
Room at that time.
If you were ahead in that
era, you loved those guys.
And they were getting touted
as the next thing to blow.
"Rolling Stone" did a
big huge article on them
and everybody was
getting excited
because this was one
of-- outside of Common,
this was going to be the next
group that would represent us
and we were all
happy about that.
They were a great
representation of us.
And we felt like these guys
could come back and reach out
to other people and try to help
expand the city's exposure.
And the label called in
the middle of their tour
and folded.
Said, you know, they still
had, whatever, 10 cities left.
They said, it's over, come home.
So [? Metamo, ?] he's one of
the main rappers, he flies back.
He gets on the L to go home.
And he said he rode the
train all night, you know,
back and forth, back and forth.
And he was afraid to
step off the train
because the second he knew he
put his foot on the ground,
it was over.
It was over for him.
And he felt like
that was their shot.
So people are
putting, literally,
their blood, sweat, and tears
into this music and culture.
And you know, we got emotional
because not only have
we been a part of
this community,
but you wanted them to win
and you just felt his pain.
And it really, in the interview,
it really bleeds through.
SPEAKER 2: Yeah.
CHAD SORENSON: Sure.
SPEAKER 3: And
hopefully, that story
does a lot to dispel
the myth that Chicago
is full of a bunch of haters and
we don't have each other back.
That's always been
a wives' tale to me.
Because just due to the fact
that there's collaborations
that's going on here on the
stage, as Rhymefest said,
that Kanye may have been the
king of the collaboration,
but he did learn that
from the culture here.
Now, there was
beefs between crews.
That's just natural.
I'm fresher than you.
SPEAKER 2: It's competition.
SPEAKER 3: Yeah.
My crew could get
up more than yours.
But when you came down to
it, it was that bridging
of all of the different
cultures and all
of the different
segregated areas
of the city that made
Chicago hip hop what it is
and what it was.
And it's just inescapable.
And my joy about being,
pretty much, the archivist
and the curator
of the exhibition
is that we get to see
this interconnected story.
It's just funny, looking
at who really, really
were the seeds that
germed Chicago hip hop.
It'll make a lot of
people drop a lot
of their pretenses about
race, ethnicity, and culture
and who's really
down for the cause.
It's just a beautiful thing.
And one of my favorite
stories is, I guess,
Iomos Marad said it best.
We were all about staying fresh.
You had to be original.
The way he would
tell that, we would
go and try to put on
layaway our new Polos.
You know, I was not a good dude.
You know, I used to get my
khakis with the braided belt.
Tongue out on the gym shoes,
my cap with the bent brim.
Just trying to look fresh.
And then you see somebody
else doing it harder
than you and you're like--
CHAD SORENSON: I
think, do we have that?
RYAN BROCKMEIER:
We do have the--
CHAD SORENSON: Do
you want to show it?
We do have that clip.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: You
want to show Iomos Marad?
CHAD SORENSON: We can show
you a clip of the Iomos Marad.
Yeah.
THE FRANCHIISE:
Let's take a look.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- That's where I first
seen legends of Chicago,
like [INAUDIBLE], Twilite
Tone, Anthony Anton, Juice.
That's the first time I
saw a Juice and Akbar.
And Kanye was the one that
took me to the barber shop.
First time we went
and we sat in the car.
I never forget,
we sat in the car.
And we used to get
our polo from TJ Maxx,
you know what I'm saying?
And we put it on
layaway because we
didn't have no money for Polos,
you know what I'm saying?
So we would put out,
we put our money
on Polo, a bunch of Polo shirts.
We think we flossin', like,
we in the car like, yeah,
you looking bad, like
yeah, you look bad, man.
Word, we good, you
know what I'm saying?
And then we would get to the
spot and see Anthony Anton
and his brother walk past, or
[INAUDIBLE] walk past and you
want to burn your shirt because
them dudes did it on a level
where--
we was like, where are they
getting this Polo from,
you know what I'm saying?
Like where-- they can't
be getting their Polo
for what we getting our Polo.
You know what I'm saying?
It was just like, where are they
getting these polo pieces from?
We just want to burn our shirt,
you know what I'm saying?
And I used to just idolize them.
Them dudes was like
superheroes to me,
you know what I'm saying?
[END PLAYBACK]
THE FRANCHIISE:
Aside from staying
fresh, being original, and
the sense of community,
were there any other larger
themes or threads that you
noticed throughout
the interviews
that you want audiences to take
away with them after seeing
the film?
RYAN BROCKMEIER: I
mean, some of the stuff
that we're talking about is--
[INAUDIBLE] touched
on it earlier,
is the segregation
within the city.
And you know, and there's
a lot of different levels
of segregation, whether it's
race or ethnicity or gangs
or any of that kind of stuff.
And hip hop was the thing that
brought everybody together
for it.
What Andrew was saying,
people were doing hip hop
to get out of that stuff.
And it was allowing you,
it was giving you that pass
to travel from the South
Side to the North Side
and to be part of that group
and it was all-inclusive.
So we're touching on
themes like that here.
We're trying to do more
than just a straight,
this person put out
a record or painted
this wall that led to this.
We want to get a little
deeper on what makes Chicago
different from other cities.
CHAD SORENSON: There's
two running themes
that are very unique
to Chicago's experience
in being hip hop.
And like you said, segregation.
Segregation really
played a role.
Our city is divided up
into kind of three cities,
with the East Side
kind of being--
I kind of put that
with the South Side.
But you know, the
segregation is so important
because here, you got
a city like New York.
And all the MCs,
it doesn't matter
where they're from, what
borough they're from,
they're New York MCs.
You kind of know they're--
everybody's kind of the same.
Chicago, you have
the West Side, which
is completely different in
culture, in style, and in rap.
It's called a cadence, the way
a rhyme pattern is put on track.
And then you have the South
Side, which is very different
and you have the North Side
which is very different.
Everybody has their
own influences.
While they'll work
together at certain points,
it still was like three little
cities within one major city.
And that can be
divided, like you
said, by race, even ethnicity
within race could break up.
Because if you grew
up in the city,
you may know that it's
a Polish neighborhood
or an Irish neighborhood, a
Puerto Rican neighborhood,
Mexican neighborhood.
And then those are divisions.
Then you have gang
divisions, which
again, played a major
role in how people
moved through the
city and how they
became involved in hip hop.
And then also, you can't forget
this is the birthplace of house
music, all right?
So that played a major role in
how hip hop, or you developed
with hip hop.
Some people hated
the house movement.
Some people loved
it and embraced it.
But either way,
it doesn't matter.
We're Chicago, it's the
birthplace of house.
So the way you moved through the
city, house had a role in that.
Yeah?
BARBARA KALICKI: To camp
onto what you just said,
in almost all of the
interviews we were in,
we heard from people
that these guys,
if they weren't part
of hip hop and they
were going through one part of
the gang culture in one gang
area to another gang
area, they may have
gotten attacked or messed with.
But because they were
a part of hip hop
and they knew them from
the different gangs
from hanging out
at the shows, then
oh, no, leave that guy alone.
He's part of that crew or
he's part of that crew.
SPEAKER 2: So Barb, I used
to graffiti back in the day.
And--
SPEAKER 3: Just a little bit.
SPEAKER 2: And there were
places where we would get up
and cats would come by like,
yo, what are you doing?
Like, yo, I'm just
trying to do this piece.
And they would be like,
yo, like, they're hip hop,
like leave them along.
You know what I mean?
So that let us travel,
you know what I mean?
CHAD SORENSON: And that could
be a life or death situation.
We had [INAUDIBLE] Fresh tell an
amazing story about how he got
ran up on and a gun pulled on.
And they were-- him and Akbar--
were literally made to rap.
And if they couldn't, you know,
they had to prove themselves,
right?
And that's happened--
a few people
have that very similar story.
One thing that I do
want to specify too,
though, is while we do talk
about the rapping and DJ
culture, this is the
whole hip hop culture.
That's what's made
this project so big.
We're covering the dancing,
the b-boys, the breakers,
and we're covering
the graffiti aspect.
So it encompasses the whole
culture and the movement,
as opposed to just the
rappers or the DJs.
THE FRANCHIISE: And
blues music also plays
a major role in Chicago.
So in addition to
house and blues,
did you notice a lot of people
pointing to certain other older
artists as their influences
and shouting them out
in the interviews that might
be surprising to us here?
RYAN BROCKMEIER: I can't
say we had too much.
SPEAKER 2: We just
had Crucial Conflict.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: I'll
let you talk about that.
SPEAKER 2: But Crucial
Conflict was one of them.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: Yeah.
Before telling
that story, I just
want to say maybe
not specific artists,
but that's another theme that
we've been talking about,
how Chicago used to be the
mecca of music, especially
the blues and we had
record row all up and down
Michigan Avenue.
And that's one of the things
that stunted at least the music
part of hip hop in Chicago,
was that a lot of that industry
went away in the late
'70s, early '80s.
And so we're talking about that.
But Chicago hip hop
culture has been here
since the beginning since
it started in New York.
It's just been more, you
know, graffiti and dancing
was the big thing in
late '70s and '80s.
But to this story,
we've been very
fortunate to be able to
film some of our interviews
at the legendary Chess Records.
And just for us being music
fans, the first time that we
went in there and were able
to look at that, I mean,
I think all of us got chills
when we were just walking up
those stairs, knowing the
history of just that building.
But we just-- we recently
interviewed Crucial Conflict
and I think they were
taken just as much
as we were by the thing.
Because they were
taking pictures,
they were so excited,
and just like--
they were like kids who were--
CHAD SORENSON:
Being in that room,
the hair will stand
up on your arm
because you're in the birthplace
of what becomes rock and roll.
You have Johnny B. Goode
was recorded there.
It was written in the basement.
Chuck Berry recorded a
lot of his records there.
You have Etta James,
you have Muddy Waters.
SPEAKER 3: Didn't the Beatles
cut their first American record
at Chess?
CHAD SORENSON: The Beatles.
No, that was VJ
across the street.
SPEAKER 3: That was
VJ across the street.
CHAD SORENSON: But
Fleetwood Mac recorded
there, the Rolling Stones
recorded a big record there,
and Aretha Franklin's very
first record was recorded there.
If you guys get
a chance, go down
to Willie Dixon's Blues Museum,
the original Chess Records.
It's amazing.
Thank you to Julia, too,
for hooking that up for us.
THE FRANCHIISE: We were talking
a bit before we started here
and you were telling me
about some artists that
were from Chicago, originally.
Like I didn't know that
David Banner was born here.
Are there any other artists
that you were able to interview
or that you plan to
interview that people
might be surprised to know that
they're actually from Chicago?
CHAD SORENSON: Yeah, definitely.
Go ahead, Ryan.
You can-- I just
dumped it on him.
Yeah, go ahead.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: Well, I mean,
Chali 2na from Jurassic 5,
who everybody knows them as
being a Los Angeles group.
But he was born in Chicago.
He's part of Shy Roc Nation.
As far as who we're
going to interview,
I know that there's some
on there, but to be honest,
our list is so long with
people that my brain is
getting a little scrambled
trying to pinpoint--
CHAD SORENSON: I
can tell you one.
Mr.-- the Rappin' Duke.
RYAN BROCKMEIER:
That's a good one.
CHAD SORENSON:
The Rappin' Duke--
some of you guys might
be a little young,
but if you remember
the Rappin' Duke,
he put out a record in 1986.
His name was Shawn Brown.
His record was called
"The Rappin" Duke."
He raps-- it's kind of
a novelty record-- he
raps like John Wayne, right?
SPEAKER 3:
[IMITATING THE RAPPIN' DUKE]
I'm talking here and now.
Playing with the cattle
and rustling the cows.
You can bet your sweet willie,
I'll be dancin' in the street.
CHAD SORENSON: There you go.
SPEAKER 3: Sorry.
CHAD SORENSON: But yeah,
it was immortalized
in Biggie's "Juicy"
record, where he--
what's the line?
SPEAKER 3: Remember
Rappin' Duke?
Da-hah, da-hah.
CHAD SORENSON: So yeah, he went
to Morgan Park High School.
He's from Chicago.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: He's in
Atlanta now, actually.
CHAD SORENSON: Shabba-Doo from
the movie "Breakin'," Ozone,
born and raised in Cabrini.
And he's very excited
to be a part of this.
We haven't filmed
him yet, but we've
been going back and forth.
And he's really excited
to tell his story
because he brought a lot of--
from style of dance to
style of dress to LA,
really kind of gets credited
as being the LA thing.
And he's like, he
tells me, it's funny.
He's like, man, there were
no Puerto Ricans in LA.
He goes, I'm the one that
brought all that there.
And I mean, I believe him.
And he was very specific
on certain styles
and he formed the LA Lockers
with Rerun Barry and Mickey
Basil, yeah?
They were a very
popular dance group.
But yeah, go ahead.
Sorry.
SPEAKER 3: Wait a minute.
That's something I didn't know.
You saying that Chicago had
something to do with the rerun?
THE FRANCHIISE: I also
learned that there
have been a lot of documentaries
about the story of hip
hop in Chicago that haven't
actually been finished
or get deterred for
whatever reason.
So how has this
project been different?
How have you managed
to raise funds
for such a massive undertaking?
And how do you
keep moving forward
with such an important story?
SPEAKER 3: I'm the last one
to join the project so far,
and from what I've
seen, the project
is different in the
fact that it's not
just one particular crew of
individuals doing the work.
And when I say that,
you'll hear people coming
from one side of the town.
You'll hear people
telling the 63rd Street
story of hip hop, the North
Side story of hip hop.
We come from all
sections of the city,
so we're invested
in representing
hip hop in a holistic
sense, in its entirety.
So I see that being
a tad bit different.
And we're not not including
any section of hip hop
that's born here, from the drill
music to some of the hip house,
to the conscious rap.
CHAD SORENSON:
Everything's included.
SPEAKER 3:
Everything's included,
so we're not
picking and choosing
who it is that we're
trying to represent.
We're here to
represent Chicago hip
hop in its multifaceted forms.
We all like it to
knock in the trunk.
And if it got a message behind
it, some of us like it better.
If it's getting rah-rah
others of us like it better.
So the difference is
that we're actually
trying to tell the
entire story of hip hop.
Not just the rap side, not
just the DJ culture side,
not just the breaking side.
But everything.
CHAD SORENSON: Yeah.
We're covering all the different
styles of hip hop here.
And like I said, there's
a lot of unique styles.
Because people are like, are you
going to cover the drill scene
or are you going to cover this?
Because they really didn't
think we were going to.
And we're like,
yeah, even hip house,
it's connected to
Chicago hip hop.
But one thing, I do
want to say it again.
I go back because the graffiti
and the dance culture,
Chicago didn't really have a
rap scene until, I would say--
there's not a real way
to exactly quantify it.
But there was a bunch
of releases as 12
inch singles and
people were rapping
and there were singles
as far back as '82.
And there was a lot of stuff.
And then one of the first
albums I just had posted
was MF Boys, 1988,
late '88, early '89.
But really, it was
kind of scattered
and there wasn't necessarily
a huge scene here.
Before that, hip hop was
held down by the graffiti
and the dance
crews and the DJ's.
And the graffiti
and the dance crews
were really the start of
the hip hop movement here,
as far as the culture, as far as
what you call hip hop culture.
And then you had groups
like Ill State, which
was one of the earliest crews,
Purple Mansion on the South
Side.
Yeah, they were crews that--
Shy Roc Nation, in the
mid '80s, late '80s,
everything started kind of
coming together and forming
more cohesive crews.
And yeah, here we are today.
[INAUDIBLE]
RYAN BROCKMEIER: No?
Go ahead.
GRAYSON WAMBACH: Well,
to answer your question
about funding around this film.
BARBARA KALICKI:
Thanks, Grayson.
GRAYSON WAMBACH: The unique
thing about this project
is I can say and
I think we can all
say this is a legitimate
independent film that's
being made.
And what I mean by that is we
have no-- as of right now--
it's definitely being worked on.
But we have no funding.
It has all been out of pocket.
It has all been based on the
relationships that we all have.
And it is a grassroots
project that
has taken a lot of time,
a lot of dedication.
And it's one of those projects
that you can honestly say--
when independent film, in
the way that it's used,
has been skewed in the
last 10-plus years--
I can honestly sit
here and say that we
are developing and creating
an independent project.
But by all means,
though, that doesn't
mean we don't need the funding.
CHAD SORENSON: It's
definitely independent
when we go, hey,
can we do this trip?
Let me see how much
money I got in my pocket.
It's literally coming
out of our pocket.
GRAYSON WAMBACH: And to
honestly finish the film
and to finish telling the
story that we want to tell
and that we want to
bring to the world,
we will need to
secure that funding
to finish a project like this.
Because it is a feature film.
THE FRANCHIISE: How can
people contribute financially,
like people in this
audience, perhaps?
RYAN BROCKMEIER: I mean,
currently, there's two ways.
You can go to
patreon.com and it's
P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com/midwaydoc.
And that's kind of like a
monthly subscription type
thing, so if you want to give us
$2.00 a month or $5.00 a month.
And then you can get little
things like video updates
and stuff like that, or you
can just give us a one-time
donation through Paypal, which
is just paypal.com/midwaydoc.
But to kind of, real
quick, piggyback--
I know we're running out of
time-- but to kind of piggyback
on what everybody was saying,
what makes this different is
that there's been
little documentaries
on a specific crew or
on a specific scene.
I think this is--
we're going to
finish it and it's
going to encompass everything.
We want to make sure that
we encompass everything.
And as we said, we've been
working on this for a little
over three years now.
We've been filming
for over, about almost
two and a half years now.
So it's like, that's
why we're doing-- again,
that's why we're doing the
vignettes because we don't
want-- we didn't want
to film somebody in 2015
and now it's 2017 and we're
like, whatever happened to it?
I don't know.
So you know, we're
still doing that.
I guess this is
all of our project.
But since I'm the
director, I'm directing
it and I left my
job two years ago--
a little over two years
ago now-- just specifically
to work on this.
So it's definitely
a labor of love.
It's a passion project.
But we want to--
and we obviously have to thank
the community, the hip hop
community.
Because everybody has been
so gracious with their time,
with their knowledge, with
their contacts and everything
like that.
Because we know a lot of people
and we've definitely used that.
But we wouldn't be where we are
without the community support,
too.
CHAD SORENSON: This is
the community project.
This is the city.
This is a city of Chicago and
this is the hip hop community's
movie.
This is their story.
This isn't his film, it's not
his film, it's not her film,
it's not my film.
It's not EC's film,
it's not Kanye's film,
it's not Common's film.
It's the community's film.
And this film, as
I always say, it's
going to be as good as the
community lets it be and shares
and helps us make it.
And we've gotten nothing but
great help from everybody.
I mean, in any way
possible, we've
gotten help from the community,
so I can't be more happy.
And that's totally against
what people say this city is.
SPEAKER 2: Right.
THE FRANCHIISE: Awesome.
RYAN BROCKMEIER:
And lastly, it's
like it's perfect timing to
do a project like this, just
with the success of-- you know,
Chance is just blowing up.
There's no other way
to describe that.
And as much-- he'll be in
the film and Common will be
and that.
And as much as we want to
celebrate those successes,
we also want to
celebrate everybody
that built that
foundation for them
to stand on where they are.
I mean, you know, Chance is
doing everything independently
now and it's great.
But there's a lot of people that
did it independently before him
that he's learned from and
learned what not to do.
And that's kind of been
the Chicago thing, too.
You know, not to use
the cliche, but it's
the blue collar mentality of
kind of do-it-yourself type
of thing.
And that's one thing that
Chicago has always had
and it's definitely been
part of the hip hop culture
and so we want to
shine a light on it.
CHAD SORENSON: And
one thing I just want
to say before time
runs out, too,
is this is also an
archival project
and we partner with the Center
for Black Music Research.
And we are collecting flyers,
posters, literally anything.
Dr. K gave us an original
1991 Ill State varsity jacket
that's one of the
coolest things I've ever
seen because I haven't
seen one of those,
except on an album cover,
like, 20 years ago.
So the stuff we're
getting is amazing
and people are contributing.
So we're collecting
and preserving
the culture because
it doesn't need
to be in somebody's basement.
And God forbid, they pass
away or a flood or something
happens.
We need to have--
this is bigger
than all of us now.
The culture and the
scene we've created
is bigger than one crew.
It now deserves to be put away
so people can learn from it
and we can continue.
And it's everything-- like,
I'm donating my whole record
collection, as far
as Chicago hip hop.
So again, it's bigger
than all of us.
THE FRANCHIISE: Definitely.
Definitely.
All right.
Well, thank you so much
for answering my questions.
Now I want to give
the audience a chance
to ask questions of their own.
If you could just
step up to the mic
if you have a question in mind.
Yes.
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: I have a slight
question, but also just
a proclamation.
My name is Carl West.
I am the guy that created
Chicago's, so far,
only hip hop and R&B awards
that lasted for 10 years.
And most of the artists
that you guys mention all
graced the stage in
their early career.
And that was part of
what I wanted to do,
was to create a venue
for emerging artists
to have an opportunity
to be saluted.
And so it was an
amazing transformation
for me and artists.
I mean, it opened my
eyes up to so much.
So I wanted to make
sure that if possible, I
can make sure that--
I got video of a lot
of performances early
on with Kanye and Common
and so many people.
I've got the footage of
Kanye actually being Kanye.
It was one of the first times
he had a platform like that
and he was cursing
the radio stations out
because they wouldn't
play his music.
And so I kept it
to myself because I
didn't want to embarrass
the brother because it
was pretty graphic,
after he had performed.
And I still won't release
all the footage, right,
because we want to honor that
brother because he's been
so powerful to our community.
But hip hop was a labor of
love for me, that awards show.
So I just wanted to make sure
that I put that out there.
And also, I mean, I've
been blessed over the years
from that experience.
I want to know what I can do
to be an executive producer
on the movie.
CHAD SORENSON: OK.
Well first of all, salute to
you for doing that and giving
people a platform at that time.
Yeah, and
footage-wise, anything.
Anybody with footage.
Anything we can get to that
will help make the film better.
And obviously,
the whole point is
to make people make
Chicago look good,
so we want to use stuff
that's in a positive light.
But you know, talk
to Ryan and I mean,
we can definitely talk about it.
But we much
appreciate, A, for what
you did for the community and
B, for helping out in any way.
Again, a community
project, guys.
THE FRANCHIISE:
Thank you so much.
AUDIENCE: Hello.
THE FRANCHIISE: Hi.
AUDIENCE: Googler here.
My favorite documentaries
tend to have a story arc,
regardless of the
fact that it's kind
of a nonfiction piece of work.
So I was wondering if
there is a clear story
arc that you're aiming for or if
it's too early in the process.
And then my second question
is what your hope for Chicago
is, post-documentary?
What is an ideal world look
like as a result of your work?
RYAN BROCKMEIER:
I'll definitely speak
to the story arc, in
that we definitely
want to create a story arc.
We've got an outline
for that and it's
going to come together with
the voices of everybody
that we've interviewed, talking
about a particular subject.
And that, I think if
there's one theme, maybe,
to take away from what
we're trying to do,
it'd maybe be like underdog.
You know, Chicago
having that success
and making it happen despite
the lack of major record
labels or just the
infrastructure to do that.
A lot of Chicago
graffiti artists
really paved the way as far
as that culture and that art
and that look being
mainstream today.
You know, Chicago had a big
part of that, so we want to--
so that's probably, I
would say, the theme.
There's definitely going
to be, like I said,
we definitely want to get away
from the linear storytelling as
possible and we want
to make it compelling.
I want this project
to be accessible
and somebody find
interesting who
lives in Montana or Wyoming
who has no idea about hip
hop or Chicago to,
at the very least,
find the story interesting.
CHAD SORENSON: Yeah, it's
a struggle story, for sure.
Because a lot of these
people, they give everything,
and Chicago is a
very blue collar--
it's a midwest, blue collar,
hustle, hardworking city.
And everybody's story
kind of fits that.
And you know, you have
someone like Chance
who did it on his own.
So this is kind of
everything the story
arc is going to be
based on just leading up
to where we're at
today and the success
and all the struggles
that happened beforehand.
And what I would love to see
happen at the end of this
is just the community to
start embracing all of us.
And when I say all
of us, I mean like--
because right now, there's
a tendency to be like,
let's say, you see
a pizza, right?
And you have little
pepperonis on it, right?
And we have little circles.
And everybody is kind of in
community, their own little hip
hop circle.
And I want to try to
make that disappear
and make a little
bit more unification.
I think the film--
people will learn
a lot more of their
history they can take away.
Especially the younger
kids will learn
why Ill State is one of
the most important things
to ever happen to their
life that they never
knew was important.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
THE FRANCHIISE: Thank you.
Any other questions
from the audience?
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: I've got a question.
So you guys talked
about the original ideas
for it being just a documentary.
And then it grew and now
it's an archival project.
You talked a little bit
about your partnership
with the Center for
Black Music Research,
but I wonder if you can talk
a little bit about the Midway
brand.
Because I know there's
also Midway radio.
So a little bit about
how it's expanding
and how we should
look out for Midway.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: Sure.
As far as the partnership
with Columbia,
when we started putting
it together, we wanted--
my first vision was just to
have the Midway website be
kind of like a place for
people to go just to learn more
about Chicago hip hop.
And as the project grew, it
always was in the back of mind
that I wanted to
partner with some sort
of educational institution.
Because that's really
something that's
becoming more and
more popular now
because Cornell's got a
big hip hop archival thing,
the Smithsonian--
I think the University of
Tulane does the southern hip hop
stuff.
So that was always something
that I wanted to do and Chad
and I were lucky enough,
we were on a panel--
well, not a panel, but
we were part of a group
to help kind of develop a
hip hop minor at Columbia
College, Chicago.
And through that,
I started talking
to people in the music
department, which
led me to the talk
with the Center
for Black Music Research.
And they were like, we want
to be your partner with this.
And I said, that's perfect
because Columbia's got
such a huge history
with Chicago hip hop.
That's the perfect
marriage with that.
So if anybody doesn't know
about the Center for Black Music
Research, they've got
one of the largest
jazz collections and
blues collections
and it's just an
amazing institution.
And people come from
all over the world
to do their thesis papers on the
stuff that they're working on.
So the fact that they
want to do, they want
to preserve hip hop is great.
So we're working with
them to kind of funnel
what we're finding and
what we're researching
so they can archive
it, you know,
for people to
learn from forever.
And then to the second
one, for the Midway brand--
[CLEARS THROAT] excuse me.
Yeah, that's kind of how we're
looking at it as a brand.
Again, just to kind of create
awareness because we want to--
and to go back to the
question about where
we want to see Chicago be after
this, we're all in Chicago.
We're all from
Chicago and we want
to reverse those negative
stereotypes that are out there,
whether it's from hip
hop culture or just
for the general Chicago
violence and that kind of stuff.
We want this film to be a very
positive light on Chicago.
And part of that
is just expanding
the awareness of this project.
So we started
Midway Radio, which
is a video podcast we
do almost every Monday
night at 8 o'clock.
And we've had a lot
of really cool guests
and we just have a
general conversation
that's more current
as to what's going on,
where our interviews
are more historical
and talking about the past.
But yeah, and we've
got some other ideas
and we've got some other
things that are coming up
that we can't quite say yet.
But yeah, we're always
looking to expand.
CHAD SORENSON: I just
want to say one last thing
and he had kind
of touched on it.
I love my city.
I love the people
that are in this city.
I love the culture of the city.
And I'm really just over
the national narrative
that they portray of my
city that's just inaccurate.
So with this film,
we're hoping to show
that there's a lot of love
and peace and positivity
that comes through a
culture in this city.
That's what I want
to definitely want
to make sure people
get when they see this,
at the end of it.
THE FRANCHIISE: Perfect.
I think we have time for
one more audience question.
AUDIENCE: Hello.
Just exactly going off
what Mr. West was saying,
moving forward,
what are some things
that you guys are looking for?
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
RYAN BROCKMEIER: As far as
the production and stuff goes?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: Yeah,
well, like I said,
we're still interviewing,
so we still have that to go.
And then we're looking for
archival stuff for both film
and for the Center for Black
Music Research and that stuff.
So that's anything from
flyers to photos to videos.
You know, we've
got a lot of people
donating stuff on
Hi8 and VHS tapes
and some DVDs and
stuff like that.
Any posters, all
that stuff is going
to be scanned at museum quality.
Because that's another thing
that we want to do when
the film is done.
We want to do a joint exhibit--
a Chicago hip hop exhibit
along with showing
the film and stuff like that.
So we want to put some
of that stuff on display.
CHAD SORENSON: We're
going to make that happen.
AUDIENCE: One more.
Did you guys think about
creating maybe a saga?
Because if you truly want to
dig deep into Chicago's roots,
we're going to need
more than one project.
And if you go
back, I was hearing
you say some of the
elder names, but I'm
a younger guy so I want to
get straight until like 2008.
Straight into-- 2008 to about
2016, I have direct archive.
I hosted radio for
about six years so far,
so I can be helpful there.
RYAN BROCKMEIER:
That'd be amazing.
AUDIENCE: But I
really want you guys
to take this and really
capture it because it's only
going to happen one time.
CHAD SORENSON: Look,
I'll tell you flat out.
We have, like I said,
we have interviews
that are an hour to, sometimes,
two-plus hours with people.
We eventually want to make
sure all this footage is
seen by everybody.
There's nothing we want
to leave in the vault.
So we're talking about
all different ways
to use it outside of
the film and make it
available for everyone to see.
We definitely feel like--
at one point, me and him
looked each other like, man,
we got a legit responsibility
now beyond the film.
This is a real community
responsibility.
But I'm fine with that.
It's not even a pressure.
It makes me feel proud.
And I can go out and--
you have someone like
a new kid like Saba
that needs to be celebrated
for all the great things
that he's doing.
AUDIENCE: Right in there.
And we got other kids that
didn't make it to that light
and are sleeping--
CHAD SORENSON: Certainly.
AUDIENCE: --that need to
be-- we need that light
to be shined on them that
tried to get to that point
but couldn't make it out.
CHAD SORENSON: You have people
like DA Smart, who might be--
well, for me, he's one
of the greatest rappers
to ever live on
planet Earth, period.
I'm comparing him with
Jay-Z and everybody.
But people don't know
him outside of Chicago.
And to me, that's like--
it's insane.
That's insane that
DA Smart-- but it's
just the breaks of
the city sometimes.
But we want to make
sure that, at least,
people are going to get
a chance to be exposed
on a different level to him.
SPEAKER 3: With that being said,
me being one from the Each One
Teach One generation, spread
the message out there, bro.
Let the little ones know--
AUDIENCE: I will, definitely.
SPEAKER 3: Let the
young ones know
that this is what we're
doing and expose them
to it so that they
know that they
should be helping with this.
Not saying that
we're getting old,
but we can only put so
many bricks in the wall
at this time.
And we're trying to
lay the foundation
so that those who come after
us can keep building on it.
CHAD SORENSON: Yeah.
We want this to continue to go.
After the film is
done, we're still
going to continue
adding to the archives
and filming
interviews with people
as new people come along.
So not just a two or two
and a half hour documentary.
We would like it to be a series.
But that takes time,
money, energy, and effort.
And I hope I'm not--
AUDIENCE: Most
importantly, dedication.
CHAD SORENSON: No, no.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: No.
SPEAKER 3: --by saying that--
CHAD SORENSON: I yell
at him every day.
SPEAKER 3: Yeah.
We're asking the community--
BARBARA KALICKI:
Sharing is caring.
SPEAKER 3: --to hold
us, to be beholden, make
us beholden to the community.
Check up on us.
BARBARA KALICKI: And
share on Facebook
and Twitter and Instagram,
and keep sharing out there.
The more people we reach,
the better our chances
are of getting this completed
in a timely fashion.
Not that it's not
going to be completed.
It will.
But we need everybody to share
and like on Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram.
THE FRANCHIISE: What's the
handle for people to follow?
BARBARA KALICKI:
@midwaydoc on Twitter,
@midwaydoc on
Instagram, and I think
it's Midway Documentary,
The Story of Chicago Hip
Hop on Facebook.
So follow and
share, share, share.
CHAD SORENSON: Ryan
hangs up on me--
I was going to say,
Ryan hangs up on me
probably once or twice
a week because my job
as a producer is to give
him unrealistic stuff.
I dream up things that we're
going to do and he's like, bro,
do you know how much money
that's going to cost?
I'm like, I don't care.
We're going to figure it out.
And we have been.
But literally, he's
like, no, we're not--
I'm like, yes we are.
And you're going to--
and I was like, and
you're going to do it.
And he's like, OK.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: And then I call
Grayson to vent a little bit
and see what we can do
and what we can't do.
So it's a team project.
CHAD SORENSON: It's
what a producer does.
He yells at the director.
RYAN BROCKMEIER: But
back to your question,
we do have thoughts of maybe
turning this into a series
or maybe even an extended
cut at some point.
Things may change.
We're not to that point yet.
I still would love
to do an actual--
like a two-ish hour feature
length documentary because I
still--
I think it's important to
get the Chicago story out.
And you know, you can't
screen a 10-hour series
in another state for that.
So I still want to be able to
do the feature length so we
can show that around.
But there's definitely
talks of all that stuff.
And at some point, whether
it's through the archives
or through another,
more produced, thing,
everybody will be
able to read or watch
all the interviews that we do
and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah.
THE FRANCHIISE: Awesome.
That's great to hear.
AUDIENCE: Well, thank
you guys, and good luck.
CHAD SORENSON: Thank you.
THE FRANCHIISE: And we
have time for one more
question from the audience.
AUDIENCE: How you doing?
My name is Isaiah.
I am the founder and
executive director
of Rise Urban Cultural
Centers of Chicago.
That's my dad and my
son sitting over there.
My dad's a board member
and my son's a hip hopper.
If you guys know Shadow
Master MC, he runs 606.
He's a board member in
my organization, as well.
Basically, what
our mission is is
to provide Chicago's at-risk
youth a safe and productive
environment to learn the
five elements of hip hop.
We just started in November.
This is our first year.
We hope, in the coming years,
to become a 501(c)(3) and gain
our own facility
and our own fleet.
Basically, what
we're going to do
is go out to alternative schools
in at-risk neighborhoods,
grab these kids up after school,
bring them to our facility.
And right now, we're
developing a program
based on the "Gospel
of Hip Hop" by KRS-One.
Now being that
we're in Chicago, we
want to bring our curriculum
and our program to our roots
and offer that to our kids.
All right?
So we're right along with
the mission of Midway.
I would love to
stand with you guys
and work with you
guys along the way
to make sure we get that
information to these kids.
Because maybe this generation,
they might snooze on it.
You know what I'm saying?
They might snooze
on it a little bit.
But the next generation--
those 9 to 15-year-olds,
we can grab them up, you know?
And teach them what
real hip hop is about.
Real hip hop, the five
elements, you know what I mean?
I think a lot of kids nowadays,
they look at the rap game.
They look at the rap
industry and they
think that's what hip hop is.
CHAD SORENSON: That has
nothing to do with hip hop.
AUDIENCE: I'm sure you all have
heard of mumble rap, you know?
It's all over, you know.
And sure, that's
an aspect of it.
The guy you were talking
about who got on the train
and took a step off
and knew it was over.
I want to be able to
change that mentality.
Community is what
hip hop is about.
DA Smart, he's the god.
That's the god right there.
It's not Vert or
[INAUDIBLE] or Lil whoever.
It's the guy that's
from your neighborhood,
you know what I'm saying?
So I just wanted to put that
out there and say thank you
guys, all of you, for
putting this together.
CHAD SORENSON: Salute to you
for doing community projects.
AUDIENCE: And I cannot wait
to see it when it comes
to fruition.
Thank you.
CHAD SORENSON: I
saw you beat boyin'.
BARBARA KALICKI:
Yeah, we saw you.
You didn't think we
saw you, but we did.
THE FRANCHIISE: So that
concludes our discussion.
Thank you both so
much for being here.
Again, you guys can follow them
@MidwayDoc on social media.
If you'd like keep up
with me, you can follow me
@TheFranchiise with two i's.
And thank you all for coming.
CHAD SORENSON: Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
