Jeff Baraka, NBC Chicago Street Team
“Yes, yes y’all!” This weekend, Chicago is the first stop for two major, national festivals featuring hometown hip-hop heroes:
First up, the Dew Tour, the first ever action sports tour (skateboarding/BMX/Motocross), now in its 5th season. It’s made up of 5 major events that take place in 5 different cities over the course of 5 months (June-Oct.). The Chicago event happens during the day in Grant Park, Friday (6/26) and Saturday (6/27), and features some of the top BMX athletes in the world.
The Dew Tour Music Series concert takes place on that Friday at The Chicago Theatre (8pm). Lupe Fiasco is the headliner, Lady Sovereign is the opener, DJ Flipside (of B96) will be spinnin’ and yours truly is the host (yay!).
Also on Saturday (6/27), the 11-city Rock The Bells Festival rolls into town, so you may need to flip a coin or consult a psychic to decide which event to choose. It’s happening at The First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.
RTBs is the nation’s premier hip-hop music & culture fest, featuring some of the biggest names in the game. Nas, The Roots, Busta Rhymes and Big Boi of OutKast are all on the bill. Common will represent for Chicago, as will Chali 2na, who rose to fame with LA acts Ozomatli and Jurassic 5, and is now embarking on a solo career. He’ll also rock the House Of Blues around 9pm.
Later that night (10pm), The Roots’ Questlove spins an afterparty at The Marmon Grand Loft, 2230 S. Michigan Ave (props to the homey Mark Fullaflava for puttin’ that together). With so much action-sports and hip-hop royalty in town, no tellin’ who might fall thru.
Leave a comment