AirGo

Felonious Monk is a comedian and commentator who has built some of the city's most vibrant, subversive comedic rooms. His work with Dave Helem on the Blipster Life comedy series, produced in venues across the city, has brought comedy into the movement, and has created in-between spaces for one of America's most segregated art forms. He is a regular contributor to The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmor...

L.A. VanGogh is a multitalented rapper, vocalist, producer, and musician whose fantastic new collaborative project with producer and DJ Ambi Lyrics is entitled safensound presents L.A. VanGogh. The project's sound, birthed from both artists' hands, ears, and minds, is grounded in this sonic moment more completely than most, and is in self reflection that dodges Drake-like corniness in favor of hon...

As a moment continues to transition to a movement, one of the most pivotal questions is how a generation of people fighting for liberation can maintain their spirits, bodies, souls, and presence while still actively doing some of the most difficult work one can do. Black Girl in Om is an organization that creates "spaces for women of color to breathe easy" through their online publication and pop-...

Summer Fields is a student at the University of Chicago, where she has seemingly been making cool stuff since she first showed up. She is the founder of The Quad, a podcast telling the stories and sharing the voices that are often unheard at UChicago. She also works as an intern at Hearken, "an audience-driven framework and platform enabling journalists to partner with the public throughout the re...

Highness is a band and collective whose unique sound, which they call omnisoul, lights up stages and eardrums across the city. With each show, their appeal and energy becomes even more undeniable. Daniel and Damon go offsite to interview the band at the rehearsal studio as they prep for the release show of their new The Highness Collective EP. Recorded 3/31/16 on WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music on th...

Poets are expected to be in touch with their emotions. A stoic poet is viewed as holding back or guarded. As a result, some folks tend to manufacture the markings of emotion–a crack in their voice, a tear down their face, shoulders shaking with emotion. When real passion is performed, however, the result is far more impactful. Emon Lauren Black doesn't hold back, on stage or off, and is becoming a...

This week's guest has been mentioned on AirGo more than anyone else, for good reason. Kevin Coval is a poet, educator, and community builder who is the artistic director of Young Chicago Authors and the co-founder of Louder Than A Bomb, the world's largest youth poetry festival. He has worked to center the stories of strong young voices from Chicago and beyond for decades, and the legacy of art an...

Fatimah Asghar is a poet, photographer, and writer whose forceful presence and fierce work from stages, on pages, and behind lenses have made her one of the city's strongest young poetic voices. She is a member of the Dark Noise Collective, a teaching artist at Young Chicago Authors, and is the creator of Let Me Love Me, a "a nude photo project for people of color to talk about [their] bodies and...

Akenya is a singular talent in the Chicago music community. She commands the stage like a combination of James Brown, Billie Holiday, and a hungry MC conquering a cypher. She has collaborated both with Chicago hip hop stalwarts including Chance the Rapper, Noname Gyspy, Mick Jenkins, Eryn Allen Kane, Donnie Trumpet, and the O'My’s, as well as performed alongside contemporary luminaries like Espera...

Chante Linwood fills rooms across the city like Chance the Rapper's Open Mike, Louder than a Bomb, and nightlife hotspots East Room and Mad River with good music, and perhaps equally importantly, a wonderful, hilarious spirit and smile. The DJ, filmmaker, and mother is one of the cofounders of We Are Cliché, a self-described "collective by women for women." Recorded live 2/25/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in...

Many of the organizations and groups mentioned on AirGo have developed in response to ways that existing institutions have failed to successfully serve the purpose they claim to serve, from the classroom to the corner to the studio. News media has also largely failed its purpose of honestly, fairly, and accurately telling the stories of Chicago. This week's guests, Andrea Hart and Darryl Holliday,...

In the performance spaces and venues of Chicago's cultural renaissance, it becomes easy to tell who has the work ethic to keep growing, learning, performing, and moving forward. Couple that work ethic with undeniable talent and a warm soul, and you get Sam Trump. The soul singer and musician takes a break from creating very rare vibes across the city, and touring the country with band Sidewalk Cha...

After 28 episodes, we've started to hear some consistent threads and ideologies emerge. In a city with a broken education system and a massive amount of misinformation, these Strong Young Voices have to have learned these shared ideologies from somewhere. Mariame Kaba is one of the city's great mentors and community builders–she's the founder and director of Project NIA and co-founder of We Charge...

Ricardo Gamboa isn't here for hypocrisy. The Chicagoan artist, actor, director, and activist challenges the hypocrisies and half-truths of the city and nation's institutions through his work tirelessly, and his work has both exploraed and created space for others to explore diaspora in Mexican(-American) communities. His videos, productions, and performances have forcefully issued rallying calls a...

When did you first hear a voice that cut through madness and helped the listener heal and grow? Perhaps more so than any other person in the city of Chicago, Jamila Woods brings meaningful empowerment to the spaces and people with whom and which she connects. She's the Associate Artistic Director of Young Chicago Authors, an award-winning poet who is member of the illustrious Dark Noise Collective...

Petty. Britteney Black Rose Kapri is a poet, educator, and the Pettiness Queen of Chicago. A recipient of the 2015 Rona Jaffe Foundation's Writer's Award, she pushes every space she's passes through across the city toward less bullshit and more honesty. She teaches in classrooms across the city, including Nancy B. Jefferson Alternative School in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, and is a...

In the world of organizing, it can feel like victories are few and far between. Strong Young Voices participating in the work can sometimes find it hard to face these immense challenges with no guarantee of success. This makes moments of success, where objectives are met, very complicated. Veronica Morris Moore has organized around various injustices in Chicago, but her voice became heard clearest...

There's a small door on 115th Street and Broadway in New York City. For nearly a decade, hip hop's royalty passed through the door and climbed a fluorescent-lit stairway to WKCR, Columbia University's community radio station, and dapped up kings of the underground Bobbito Garcia and Stretch Armstrong. The two New York natives introduced the world to an unsigned Nas, Jay Z, Biggie Smalls, Wu-Tang C...

Families tend to come together around the holidays. Comedian Damon Williams chats with Junior and Daniel on Christmas, breaking down the twists and turns of his comedy career, which includes stops on BET's Comic View, the Kings of Comedy tour, and stages across the country. Most importantly, he has a cachè of embarrassing Damon stories. Celebrate just another Thursday with AirGo. Recorded live 12/...

Defcee has been raised in the renaissance. He is a rapper, educator, and mentor who has been a stalwart of the creative community in the city for years. He just released a tremendous new album called Damn Near Grown, his first in seven years–the project reflects both his own growth and the growth of the community. Cop Damn Near Grown on @Defcee's Bandcamp: defcee.bandcamp.com/album/damn-near-grown...

The Mind has lent his ear and voice to much of the best, most ambitious music to emerge from Chicago in the last few years. The vocalist is a core member of @THEMpeoplemusic, the collective of creators that Via Rosa discussed a few weeks back. Fresh off a world tour with Mick Jenkins, The Mind hops on AirGo for a conversation. Recorded live 12/10/15 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's...

Bryant Cross' thoughtful words dig in his personal intersection of "blackness & how it relates to being a man, an artist, a socialist, Christian, junkie, scholar, weed-smoker, American, chronic asthmatic, hip-hop, traumatized, army brat, writer, and bastard." Even Strong Young Voices contain multitudes. The Belgian-born, Southside-raised performance poet, writer, and activist seems to balance...

With Daniel back east for the holiday, Damon is joined by guest host Page May, who is one of the city's most influential and fierce organizers, to discuss the Laquan McDonald murder and the protests that have filled the streets of Chicago. Page, who is part of organizations BYP100, Assata's Daughters, and We Charge Genocide, talks with Damon about what has been seen, has been done, and where our c...

Based on Saba's breakthrough project ComfortZone, one can't help but feel like the chords of his music underpin the drastic growth he's made professionally over the last 15 months. The mainstream rap publication system is starting to take notice, leading to some recent features, but Saba's power stems from the stage–his Comfortzone Live shows have gotten bigger and better, bringing young people ac...

Via Rosa makes all kinds of things–some of which sound great, some of which smell delicious. The Chicago-based singer and vegan chef brings the recipe to her elegance to AirGo and discusses how she came to Chicago, how she linked with @thempeoplemusic, and talks about her amazing path to becoming one of Chicago's Strong Young Voices. Recorded live 11/12/15 At WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music on this w...