By the mid-2000s, I began feeling under-recognized and burnt out as a “true-school” hip-hop artist. I consider my 2008 Steppenwolf Theatre performances to be my last as a fully active artist (before my transition to broadcasting). And while I still can’t bring myself to outright use words like “former” or “retired” —I prefer the term “semi-active”— they may best describe my “indefinite hiatus” from recording and performing.

Here’s a live version of ONION RINGS (below), performed with soul sisters Africa and Maggie Brown, and a fly jazz quintet (Shawn, Kwame, Duané, Dexter, David). I was honored to participate in this celebration of their dad, the iconic Oscar Brown Jr. —he’s a personal influence and our families are friends. This is just my brief feature; the entire show (produced & directed by Sylvia Ewing) was dope (s/o bro Keith) and garnered positive previews and reviews.

This live version approximates the self-produced, studio recorded OB&FP remix (below), track 02 from my album Driving Songs Volume One (DSV1), on which singer Ka-Di provides the soulful, Mavis Staples-like vocals. The song title references Chicago’s lesser-known “Wild Onion” nickname, derived from an interpretation of the area’s original Native American name. It represents living in and moving around the city, and the lyrics exemplify my usual rap style —a blend of observation, introspection, urban life/sociology, spirituality and witty sh*t talkin’. The overall theme here is determination and triumph, with a little melancholy reflection, on a foundation of civic-pride.

I’d already written the 1st verse for DSV1, when Panik of The Molemen invited me to feature on their 2002 Chicago City Limits record —an important release in Chicago hip-hop history that I’m proud to be on. I finished the 2nd & 3rd verses and recorded all three over Panik’s beat (with DJ PNS‘ Premier-like scratches). The Molemen version (below) was released first and is the de facto, original version of Onion Rings. I later added a live audio intro and bonus verse (from All Natural’s Chatham) for inclusion on my Urban Myth Revisited compilation (track 07).

My second time at Steppenwolf (below) was a scaled-down event in the Garage Theatre, a more intimate, less formal space. But the audience was amped and the entire lineup was tight (the energy kinda felt like Def Poetry or BET Teen Summit).

I’ve explained that my media career is preceded by an extensive urban arts background, and that I liken my transition to that of a sportscaster who’s a former athlete. I refer to myself as a “media hustler”, to honor the transferable skills, sensibilities and insights I’ve brought with me. In that regard, Anthony Bourdain was (is) one of my primary influences, and his passing hit me harder than expected, for someone I didn’t actually know.

I was lucky to meet him once in 2013 (with his friend Eric Ripert); he was as cool as you’d imagine and graciously spoke with me for a while. We discussed achieving a successful media career as a “second act”,  the idea of “What’s a journalist?” (he famously maintained that he wasn’t one), and the all-important question —“Who gets the investment and uninhibited creative freedom to tell cool stories?”— which he addresses in the Fast Company interview below.

I brought up Studs Terkel, another primary influence. Both creative hyphenates were beloved for their genius media work (and for their politics and humanitarianism), though neither were considered conventional journalists (Studs is primarily regarded as a historian). We agreed that their storytelling and interviewing styles were comparable, and that key ingredients are curiosity, respect and integrity. Yes, I still call myself a journalist (reporter-presenter-correspondent-producer-documentarian-etc.), but whatever the title, I’m really just trying to do similarly truthful and insightful work…

Here’s the Parts Unknown opening theme and a cool behind-the-music story about it…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Awesome Youssou N’Dour show at Millennium Park (Chicago)! See my slideshow (above) and short backstage video (below)…

For the unfamiliar, he’s a global superstar who epitomizes the title “ambassador”. He’s a longtime ambassador of Senegalese and African music (like Baaba Maal). He’s an ambassador for luxury brands like Rolex and Turkish Airlines. He was also a UN Goodwill Ambassador, before a run for Senegal’s presidency, and a stint as Minister of Culture and Tourism.

We’d met briefly before (s/o Doudou Sarr). This time, our Talks-at-Google interview didn’t happen as planned, but it was great to finally sit and build with him. We’ll film a more “official” interview sometime in future. Also s/o David Chavez, Africa Brown and @kyndredstudio.

KRS-One is a global, “true-school”  hip-hop icon and one of my early influences as an MC (along with Rakim, Chuck D, Big Daddy Kane, and others). This was a fun, informative conversation —have a listen, then check out the dope, international music video: “Hip-Hop is Hip-Hop”.

I caught the amazing Mauritanian singer Noura Mint Seymali and her band at WTTW studios, during their recent Chicago residency with OTSFM and IMAN (click pic to enlarge). I checked them out online after, which led me to the cool Rhythm Planet program at KCRW.

I was familiar with the station’s eclectic music programming, but I started listening to its other shows. An interesting segment about logos and branding inspired the KCRW tee-shirt design below. It’s of course derived from the original British WWII graphic.

Here’s a beat I made, inspired by the CREED movie. The horns (obvious) and the guitars (not-so-obvious) are samples from Gonna Fly Now, the original ’70s Rocky Theme.

I called it Stay Fly, to salute the original (and composer, Bill Conti), but once I remembered the 3-6 Mafia jam of the same name, that became the subtitle —so here’s Champion Legacy. Stream via the player below, or click the pic to download (automatic on some devices). Enjoy, hit me on Twitter or Instagram…

JBTV is a long-running, Chicago music television program (and production studio), named for founder, host and executive producer, Jerry Bryant. Since 1984, he’s showcased some of the biggest names in modern rock, like Arctic Monkeys, Dave Matthews Band, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, No Doubt, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, and many more. I joined in 2010, as a co-host and producer, to add some hip-hop, neo-soul, “world music” and other funkyness (my first booking was Senegalese great, Baaba Maal).

During my brief run, I curated an eclectic line-up of great guests, and established a strategic partnership with Red Bull Music Academy  (see this LinkedIn post about Tinariwen, by former MTV exec, Nusrat Durrani, and our dialogue in the comments).