S. Samuel
With the Chicago rap scene on fire as of late courtesy of artists like Rockie Fresh and Chief Keef, SOHH recently chopped it up with former Shady Records rapper Ca$his for a take on his hometown.
Although relocated to the West Coast, Ca$his said he is definitely up on what’s going down in the Windy City.
I’m very connected to Chicago. That’s where I’m born and raised. That’s where I get my game from. That’s who I am. I talk like a n*gga from Chicago, I dress like a n*gga from Chicago. I think like that. That’s just my mentality,” he told SOHH. “As far as the music culture out there, of course Twista. My favorite n*gga ever from out there is R. Kelly, musically. He’s a beast, man. He’s a monster. But on the rap side, it’s Twista. I’m a huge fan of Twista. Of course I have love for all the legends from the city like Pyschodrama, there’s a gang of folks. Common, of course. He’s a legend. I don’t know how anyone couldn’t rock with Common Sense coming out of the city. I like everything like that and the young dudes putting up stuff. I’m not too much up on the new material but I do hear their presence. That’s good. They’re knocking doors down and keeping it street.” (SOHH)
Recently, music veteran R. Kelly weighed in on the new talent stemming from Chi-Town.
“I feel really good that Chief Keef and all of those guys, those guys are from my hood, so I’m definitely proud of the fact that finally Chicago has got the light on ’em,” Kells told MTV News when he paid us a visit in July. All of the hoopla surrounding his hometown has the R pretty excited about the future of Chi’s music scene. “I guarantee that once these guys come up that light is never gonna go out,” Kelly promised. “There’s a lot of talent in Chicago, a whole lot of talent.” (MTV)
Recently, Chicago rap newcomer Rockie Fresh acknowledged the lane he is paving for future local stars.
“I feel like everyone is really getting what they deserve right now. Slowly but surely. And that’s even with me and my own career; I may have felt that I should have been getting more recognition outside of Chicago sooner than I did. But God works in his own way, and I think we would all be ungrateful if we weren’t thankful for the progress we are making as a city. All the faces that are getting on right now are the ones that are supposed to be getting on right now, and the ones that are not, their time is going to come and keep making the city bigger and better.” (Pigeons & Planes)
A few weeks ago, Grammy-winning rapper Lupe Fiasco gave his thoughts on newcomers like Fresh and Chief Keef blowing up in his hometown.
“I don’t know too much about Rockie Fresh — Chief Keef scares me. Not him specifically, but just the culture that he represents, specifically in Chicago,” Lupe said when asked for his take on Chi-Town newcomers. “And I don’t speak this about any other city because I’m not from there. But like my family lives in Chicago. So my nephews, my cousins, my friends, and my peoples they all in those hoods that he represents. When you drive through Chicago the hoodlums, I don’t want to call Chief Keef a hoodlum, but ‘the’ hoodlums, the gangsters, and the ones you see killing each other — the murder rate in Chicago is skyrocketing and you see who’s doing it and perpetrating it, they all look like Chief Keef.” (#Rap Attack)
Check out some recent Ca$his footage below:
