AirGo

We 'Go: A Chicago Showcase and Celebration is 11/4/15 at the Silver Room. Come through! https://www.facebook.com/events/1509483092707298/ Kush Thompson writes resistance. Her "bathwater influenced" poems stand tall with love, and her soul shines on canvasses and pages. The semi-autobiographical pink-haired protagonist of her paintings appears thoughtful and carefree. Recorded Live at WHPK 88.5FM o...

NOTICE: We 'Go, AirGo's first live event, is at 7:30PM on Nov. 14 at The Silver Room in Hyde Park, Chicago. Catch the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1509483092707298/ On her Facebook page, Bella Bahhs does not call herself a rapper–rather, she uses the phrase "rapping public relations specialist." She communicates in the streets and on the stages of Chicago, bringing bars and hooks th...

Ravyn Lenae makes elegant music. The ChiArts High School student released Moon Shoes, an EP largely produced by 20 year-old Monte Booker, a couple months ago, and the eight-song project has been an AirGo favorite since it dropped. Her elegant writing fits Monte's production so well that Chicago heavyweight Saba said, "Ravyn and Monte together [are] damn near the best collab in music.” She swings b...

This week's guest is the sister of one of AirGo's hosts–let's see if you can guess which one. She is also an accomplished and ferocious playwright, poet, and organizer whose newest play Octagon, a critical depiction of the slam poetry scene, recently premiered in London. Kristiana Colón has been using her Strong Young Voice for years in Chicago, reshaping the artistic and organizing communities fo...

Comedian Just Nesh appears on stages across the city, bringing a laissez-faire comedic voice to some of the struggles of being a working comic, and a Black woman, in the City of Wind. In addition to her role hosting and performing all over Chicago, she's also the voice behind some of the funniest parody songs the AirGo crew has ever seen. In short, she's really funny. Recorded Live 10/1/15 at WHPK...

After an AirGo bye week, Damon and Daniel return to the air with Dwamina Drew, the mastermind behind Chicago's Enstrumental clothing company. You may have seen the brand's famous "Rap–Lies=Hip Hop" shirts and stickers around town–the tee is unquestionably fresh–and Drew's work declares important statements about identity with the concision of a poet and eye of a master craftsman. He jumps on the a...

Add-2's debut album Prey For The Poor, released on 9th Wonder's Jamla Records, is settling into playlists and headphones across the city in the week since its release. The Chicago emcee couldn't be happier. Every social media post seems to be a grateful and relieved celebration, which he has certainly earned after years of consistent bars and beats on the vanguard of this era's Chicago renaissance...

After a last-minute switch last week, we welcome singer and rapper @ThatsJeanDeaux to the program. Some of Chicago's Strongest Young Voices are also some of the city's sweetest and most somber. Jean's most recent project Soular System Vol. 1: Dark Matter[s] feels like weaving on Lake Shore Drive in a moment of reflection, grounded and free at the same time. Touted as one of Chicago's "Next Big Thi...

How does a Strong Young Voice from the city of Chicago reshape the culture of spaces and institutions across the country? Eve Ewing is a teacher, writer, artist, research scholar, and BreakBeat Poet whose voice has taken her into middle school classrooms, through Ivy League lecture halls, onto stages, and to the alternative learning spaces across the country. Currently working on her doctorate fro...

The first non-native Chicagoan to be showcased on AirGo, Reginald Eldridge, Jr. is a writer, multidisciplinary artist, curator, educator, and artist who plays an integral and interesting role in Chicago's contemporary renaissance. Whether on the canvas, behind the lens, on stage, in front of a classroom, or with a pen in his hand, RJ doesn't shy away from challenging himself or his students, and h...

Ethan "Ethos" Viets-VanLear is a poet, organizer, peace-circle keeper and prison abolitionist hailing from Rogers Park on the north side of Chicago. Whether he's performing on stage or marching through the streets, Ethos has established himself as one the boldest voices in the city. His organizing work has allowed him to travel the world at a young age, including a trip to Switzerland where h test...

What illuminates the people who bring light into the world? Jasmine Barber has found a light source that she shares as a writer, educator, friend, and pillar of the Chicago creative community, and she carries her torch with honesty and openness. A Young Chicago Authors teaching artist, Jasmine is working on her first children's book. Aired live 8/6/15 Music on this week's show: HC Saba - Temporary...

Nate Marshall is from the Hundreds. He stands in front of his house on the far south end of Chicago, completely at home in a stretch of the city often overlooked in the city's narrative. Marshall is bringing the city's triple-digit stories forward in his new poetry collection Wild Hundreds. In addition to his poetry, Nate is a Visiting Professor at Wabash College and a rapper, whose project Grown...

Prison abolitionist and hip hop artist Ric Wilson is a Strong Young Voice working in the studios and streets of Chicago. He has also moved across national borders in his activism, heading to Switzerland as part of group We Charge Genocide last fall to testify about police torture in front of the United Nations and traveling to Cambodia to transform harm caused by state and interpersonal violence a...

Raych Jackson is a teacher in every sense of the word. From the classroom to the stage, her nurturing buoyancy shines through, turning every person into a thoughtful student and every space into a home for joyful learning. An educator, poet, and member of Chance the Rapper's #STAFF, Raych engages every day in reshaping the stories and communities of Chicago. Find out more about the show and corres...

AirGo premieres this week with Malcolm London, one of the most vocal voices in Chicago's rich arts and activism community. Called the "Gil-Scott Heron of this generation" by Cornel West, Malcolm is an internationally recognized Chicago poet, activist & educator. He shares his thoughts, spits a great new poem, and shares a track off of his upcoming mixtape. Aired live 7/9/15 Thanks: Ben Niespod...