Lulu Be's bounce echoes continents. The rapper layers rhythms from across diaspora with hyper-referential and indubitably fun raps that reverberate self-confidence and self-determination. The first generation Ethiopian American Chicago native put out the make-you-move bop Lululand last fall.
Episode 132 - Brandon Johnson
You know that line that naysayers always say to activists? About how "real change happens from within the system?" Well, Brandon Johnson is about to find out. The longtime educator and centerpiece organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union recently won the Democratic primary for the Cook County Commissioner of the 1st District, and will be running unopposed in the general election. His new jurisdiction covers much of the West Side and western suburbs.
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Episode 131 - AmbI Lyrics
AmbI Lyrics has brought all the pieces together, and is ready to share. The St. Louisian DJ, producer, and certified Pivoter just dropped Study Hall, a wonderful project with some certified bops with a super dope squad of collaborators including Via Rosa, Joseph Chilliams, Nosidam, Lamont Anderson, Sean Deaux, theMIND, Smino, Saba, and Jean Deaux. She pops by a couple days before her upcoming After School Special show at SubT on April 8th, which you should definitely attend.
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Episode 130 - Luke Titus
Singer, drummer, and songwriter Luke Titus is just trying to flow. As a percussionist, he has kept the pocket for brilliant Chicagoans like Noname, Akenya and Ravyn Lenae. He released his debut project, Aside of Love, last year, and will be opening for Ravyn on her upcoming Crush tour.
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Episode 129 - Maceo Haymes
Maceo Haymes swings, growls, and whines like no other voice in Chicago. He's the soul of Chicago soul band The O'My's, and has collaborated with damn near any Chicago rapper, singer, and musician you rock with. A stalwart of the Chicago music scene, Maceo swings by to talk sound, color, art, and more.
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Episode 128 - Check-in #3
Daniel and Damon catch their breath and take some time to check in. The convo bounces around from parents, to love, to growth, to much more. You get a guest every week–we should be enough for ya.
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Episode 127 - Burns Twins
The Burns Twins glint. The duo stands in the midst of much of the most engaging, shining, exciting art echoing through Chicago's music scene, bringing their trumpet, drums, and production to collaborations with an impressive cross-section of Chicago's next wave. They most recently put out the first in a series of EPs with Bedows and Elton Aura entitled Sun Shower, which is an absolute banger, and perform in the bands of many of Chicago's best.
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Episode 126 - Shellyne Rodriguez
Shellyne Rodriguez is a badass visual artist, organizer, and Bronxite. She organizes with Take Back the Bronx, a collective of creators and citizens fighting gentrification, and has visual art featured all over the city. Her visuals remix and reimagine the material representations of community, loss, and false hope into collage and sculpture, connected yet levitating. She works with the Museum of Modern Art's Educational Programming, overseeing organizational and school partnerships across the five boroughs.
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Episode 125 - Our Liberation Summit
AirGo had the honor of cohosting the Our Liberation Summit, a convening at Sarah Lawrence College. We conducted 10 interviews with presenters, producers, and participants, seizing this shared moment to bring their voices and ideas beyond the confines of the campus. The episode above contains a few of their stories–you can hear all of the episodes below. Thanks to Natalie Gross and Cody Ross Romero for their wonderful hospitality and vision!
Episode 124 - Bria Royal
Bria Royal is a mythmaker. The artist, media journalist, organizer, and spacemaker creates worlds through comics, animation, and paintings that reimagine the relationships between liberation, the natural world, gender, mental health, technology, and more. She works for the youth media and journalism nonprofit Free Spirit Media, and is a member of Chicago-based organizations The People's Response Team and For the People Artists Collective.
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Episode 123 - Ashley Ray
Ashley Ray is open. The comedian, writer, and cultural critic shares the stories, questions, insecurities, and challenges many of us struggle to ask about relationships, monogamy, and sexuality, and spins them hilariously toward a liberatory perspective. In addition to doing standup all over Chicago, she writes about television for the Onion, and has a day job where she spins your public data into profit.
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Episode 122 - Tanji Harper
Tanji Harper's light shines real bright. An OG of Chicago's creative community, she is one of the most genuine, kind, and creative mentors and communal creators in the city. She is the Artistic Director of the Happiness Club, an all-ages youth dance crew that operates as a family and lights up stages all over the Chi. She's also the Founder of Blu Rhythm Collective, a squad remixing the theatrical space for the more equitable.
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Episode 121 - Dewayne Perkins
Dewayne Perkins is bubbly as hell. The actor, comic, and writer is Chicago born and bred, and has come up through the city's comedy farm system–he's an alum of the iO and of Second City, where he featured as part of their touring company. He recently was a cast member on MTV's Wildin' Out, and has a hilarious web series through OpenTV called Starving Artists.
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Episode 120 - Korporate
This week's guest probably gotten you to stop scrolling before, which is no small feat. Korporate is the mastermind behind Chicago Be Like, a hilarious video series showcasing the absurdity of the city's lingo and culture, from juking in parking lots to hitting a stain at the bus stop. He's also a very dope rapper, and speaks in CPS classrooms across the city.
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Episode 119 - Femdot
Quite simply, Femdot raps his ass off. The up-and-coming rapper has gathered a whole bunch of buzz over the last couple years, performing on stages across the city, and has been featured on Fake Shore Drive and Pigeons & Planes. He's also rocking his way from one lab to another as a student at DePaul, where he studies Biological Sciences.
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Episode 118 - Glenance Green
Glenance Green shades in the nuances and contours through her work as a poet, playwright, filmmaker, scholar, and activist. She directs A G Thing, a creative performance agency, and is also the creator of Melanin Voices, a performance collective series of poetry and live literature purposed to showcase the local, unsung voices in literature and highlight the narratives illuminated from their writings. These largely scripted shows, inclusive of poetry, short stories, vignettes, fiction, and non-fiction work of various Chicago artists, are weaved together to create a beautiful narrative. She is producing Melanin Voices for Puerto Rico, a live show and benefit at the Breathing Room space on 51st and Bishop, this Friday evening.
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Episode 117 - Mother Nature
Mother Nature is up and running. The Chicago rap duo, consisting of emcees Klevah and T.R.U.T.H., has brought forth some banging recent releases, just rocked the Reggies stage, and just got back from a New York-area run of shows. The pair pops up to AirGo to talk movement, creating as artist-educators, and more.
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Episode 116 - Cqqchifruit
You might be able to spot Cqqchifruit from a mile away. The DJ, visual creator, and space-creator wears an aesthetic that sparkles, shines, innovates, and reimagines concepts of gender, Caribbean diaspora, and nightlife. The cofounder of Pilsen party standout Trqpiteca, she DJs across the world. She is also a certified Reiki Master.
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Episode 115 - Brandon Breaux
Brandon Breaux is a visual artist whose dynamic work across media has become immensely recognizable across the city and beyond. He is the visionary behind Chance the Rapper's album artwork, and has recently created painting, sculpture, web, video, print, and interactive media projects. He also appeared as a gallery contributor at AirGo's very first We 'Go Chicago Showcase and Celebration, way back in 2015. Is this appearance the basis of all of his success? Perhaps...
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Episode 114 - Coriama Couture
Coriama Couture goes there, without any fuckery. She is a writer, style envisioner, activist, and host/creator of Sex KiKi, a regular gathering and podcast in different areas of the city at which open, moderated, and meaningful conversation around sex and sexuality flourishes. She's also getting ready to launch a new talk show, which she discusses with Damon and Daniel, who may be out of their depth on this one.