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Flying Lotus, Flamagra

One might think of Flamagra as Ellison’s Apocalypse Now, or The Wall — it shows an artist at the height of their power, able to realize their most over-the-top imaginings, delivering a sprawling near-masterpiece teetering at the brink of overkill. The cast is full on: jazz fusion icon Herbie Hancocke ancock and P-Funk mastermind George Clinton represent for the old school; Solange, Tierra Whack, Anderson Paak, and Shabazz Palaces’ Ishmael Butler provide varying shades of the new. Will Hermes

Cate Le Bon, Reward

Cate Le Bon’s fifth studio album,...

Chicago r&b poet Jamila Woods generated her first major who is she?! moment beside Chance the Rapper in the “Sunday Candy” video by Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment; her LP debut Heavn answered that question a year later with a personal set of gospel-tinged rap-soul hybrids. Her new Legacy! Legacy! views the personal through a lens of cultural history. Songs are named for giants: “Miles,” “Zora,” “Eartha,” “Baldwin,” “Basquiat,” and if the connections aren’t always obvious, they’re always inspired.

Take “Zora,” which quotes folk singer Malvina Reynolds...

Chance the Rapper made his big screen debut in the werewolf pizza horror comedy Slice earlier this year. Not content with that being his defining mark on cinema, the hip-hop artist has found his next big screen project. He'll be taking on a new musical with his producer Pat Corcoran. And it sounds pretty interesting.

Told through original music from Nico Segal and his collaborators, Hope follows a group of Chicago teenagers that band together to turn art into action within their community.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures (MGM) has acquired the rights to develop the feature musical Hope with three time Grammy Award winner Chance the Rapper and his longtime manager Haight Films' Pat Corcoran who partnered with Tradecraft's Scott Bernstein (Straight Outta Compton) for the project. The announcement was made today by Jonathan Glickman, President, Motion Picture Group, MGM. Carlito Rodriguez will pen the original screenplay.

Grammy Award winning...

Chance the Rapper is adding to his already lengthy list of side projects by developing a new movie musical called Hope for MGM. The story is close to Chance’s heart as, according to the studio, it follows a group of teenagers who turn “art into [community] action.” Since Chance’s rise to prominence, he’s also turned his attention from music to politics and activism. Most recently, he teased a bid for the Chicago Mayor’s office before ultimately endorsing Amara Enyia. ““Very narcissistically,” he said, “if I back you,...

Exclusive: Chance The Rapper is at the center of Hope, an original movie musical that MGM will develop and finance. The three-time Grammy winner is partnered as producer with Haight Films’ Pat Corcoran and Tradecraft’s Scott Bernstein, latter of whom was a producer on Straight Outta Compton. Scripting will be Carlito Rodriguez, whose credits include the Fox series Empire and HBO’s The Leftovers. Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Nico Segal (formerly known as Donnie Trumpet) will oversee the creation of the film’s original music. Segal is a longtime collaborator who with Chance formed Chance and The Social Experiment in Chicago and broke through with the 2015 album Surf. The pieces were put together by MGM Motion Picture Group president Jonathan Glickman.

Told through original music from Nico and his collaborators, Hope follows a group of Chicago teenagers that band together to turn art into action within their community.

Chance the Rapper...

Grammy-winner Chance the Rapper is developing a feature musical titled Hope that is set up at MGM.

Chance's longtime collaborator Nico Segal — the Grammy- winning writer-producer formerly went by stage name Donnie Trumpet — will oversee the creation of the film’s music. Empire writer Carlito Rodriguez will pen the original screenplay.

Hope will follow a group of Chicago teenagers who band together to turn art into action within their community.

Also attached to the project is Chance's manager Pat Corcoran and his Haight Films, as well as Straight Outta Compton producer Scott Bernstein and his Tradecraft banner.

Motion ...

Grammy-winner Chance the Rapper is developing a feature musical titled Hope that is set up at MGM.

Chance's longtime collaborator Nico Segal — the Grammy- winning writer-producer formerly went by stage name Donnie Trumpet — will oversee the creation of the film’s music. Empire writer Carlito Rodriguez will pen the original screenplay.

Hope will follow a group of Chicago teenagers who band together to turn art into action within their community.

Also attached to the project is Chance's manager Pat Corcoran and his Haight Films, as well as Straight Outta Compton producer Scott Bernstein and his Tradecraft banner.

Motion ...

The O’My’s have been a band for more than a decade, shuffling through many members and releasing a fair amount of music in the process. But the experimental Chicago soul duo would prefer you view Tomorrow, their spacey and sensual new album, as their true starting point. “I finally feel comfortable giving this to somebody and saying, ‘This is what we do,'” says singer-guitarist Maceo Haymes, 29, who founded the group in 2008 with keyboardist Nick Hennessey, 28. “If you can’t get it now, then you’re probably never going to.

Chance the Rapper unveiled a lush reworking of "Blessings (Reprise)" on The Tonight Show Monday with the help of Ty Dolla $ign, D.R.A.M., Anthony Hamilton and Raury.

The Chicago Mc's four guests provided a gorgeous mix of background vocals, while Ty and Raury contributed bass and guitar to the Coloring Book track. Chance cut through the ethereal gospel vibe with verve: "I speak to God in public/ He keep my rhymes in couplets/ He think the new ish jam, I think we mutual fans."

As "Blessings (Reprise...