{"id":1640,"date":"2022-02-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sofarsoundsblo.wpengine.com\/blog\/articles\/5-chicago-artists-we-cherish\/"},"modified":"2022-02-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T00:00:00","slug":"5-chicago-artists-we-cherish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/articles\/5-chicago-artists-we-cherish","title":{"rendered":"5 Chicago Artists We Cherish"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The windy city\u2019s known for a lot of goodness, music being high on the list. Hip hop, jazz, soul, pop\u2013\u00a0some of the most dynamic sounds seem to come out of Chicago. There must be something in that breezy air. Here are five Chicago artists from the Sofar community that we cherish. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>Mara Love<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Mara Love just <em>nails<\/em> her pitch and delivery\u2013\u00a0tone, vibrato, all coming together in a stunning vocal sound. It\u2019s no wonder the artist ended up on <em>The X Factor<\/em> in the U.S., along with providing backing vocals for the great Barbra Streisand. This Sofar performance of \u201cCrash\u201d is simple, leaving ample space for Mara\u2019s voice to take the lead in a subdued yet powerful way. <\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eqMXLvZWf3A\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/div>\n<h2><strong>Femdot<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u00a0Femi Adigun, aka Femdot, is a staple of the Chicago rap scene and it\u2019s apparent why\u2013\u00a0the artist moves fluidly through his verses between deep observations and lighthearted quick lines, and even some singalong moments. This performance of \u201cNo Scholarships\u201d encapsulates that multiplicity and ease. (When you\u2019re done watching this, go listen to his latest album, <em>Not for Sale<\/em>.) <\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EcDkJMKHMxY\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/div>\n<h2><strong>Lester Rey<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Lester Rey can\u2019t be pinned to a single sound\u2013\u00a0could be pop forward, hip-hop laced, or soulful songs held by Latin rhythms. The kaleidoscopic nature makes for a heck of a good show. This Sofar performance in particular catches Lester\u2019s sound in a more subdued, easy going pace, where the groove is wide and comfy, and the artist\u2019s voice just rings out (especially around the 3 minute mark). <\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t4W-Zh0IiaY\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/div>\n<h2><strong>Wyatt Waddell<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Complex yet unwavering\u2013\u00a0Wyatt Waddell\u2019s melodies feel like a magic trick. How can they be so lush and complex, but so conversational and simple? Take this Sofar, where with just a few lyrical lines the artist weaves a full tapestry of a tune. We could watch this thing on repeat (confession\u2013 we do).<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BpZWAkuopVw\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/div>\n<h2><strong>Violet Crime<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Fact: Violet Crime makes some of the sweetest retro pop tunes around. Just take a look at their cover of The Zutons\u2019 classic, \u201cValerie\u201d\u2013 rich voices coming together for those choruses, and a nice even keeled, laid-back rhythm to match, with the crowd leaning in on claps.<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KOMawMU4tkI\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/div>\n<p>Photo credit: Femdot, photo by Tim Harper<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The windy city\u2019s known for a lot of goodness, music being high on the list. Hip hop, jazz, soul, pop\u2013\u00a0some of the most dynamic sounds seem to come out of Chicago. There must be something in that breezy air. Here are five Chicago artists from the Sofar community that we cherish. Mara Love Mara Love [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","category-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sofarsounds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}