My Favorite Player

Derrick Rose is from Englewood and reps Chicago to the fullest. When he got hurt last season, his injury broke the city's heart and not because it meant the Bulls' playoff run was over. It was like a family member got injured. Even my mom (who has never watched a single basketball game in her life) called me upset. He's not the first pro athlete to play in his hometown, but I don't think a city has ever bonded with a local star like Chicago has with Rose. You can see some of the reasons why in this video. At a moment when he should be hyping his new shoe and counting that adidas money, he spontaneously breaks down and thanks his fans. If you don't like D.Rose, then you don't like basketball (or humanity).

And You Say Chi-City

I violated my personal "no rap shows" policy this weekend to see this kid Astonish. He performed like he was on stage at a sold out United Center even though the room only held 100 people. He just dropped this video, which has a perfect end of summer vibe. Salute!

Growing Up Calabrese; Chicago stand up pt. 3...

So it still ain't all good in Chicago.. This was on NPR's Fresh Air a couple weeks ago.. If you don't have the attention span, "Mob Wives" will be on at 9....





Listen to the whole interview here... It's pretty good, not to mention a true story.

Horrible Rap Wednesday: Neiman Marcash

Wow, I thought I kept my ear to these Chi City streets, but I somehow missed the Neiman Marcash movement. Young Neiman put the whole city on his back with this one. He really took things to a new level by filming on location outside of the South Loop's Icon movie theater parking lot. On his Facebook page, Neiman says "ladies say I'm hot like hot sauce," so you know dude has similes for days.

Some confusion in the DMD offices as we can't tell if he's Latino or Assyrian/Armenian and pretending to be Latino. I once worked with a guy called Gino who said his parents were Sicilian. He went so far as to wear Italia track suits and a gold horn necklace. I never bought it as he tried too hard to rep for Italians while bringing hummus for lunch every day. I once caught a glimpse of his driver's license and his real name was Nazar.

Anyway, if boo in the video wants to get with "Downtown's Finest," she should holler at DMD.

IRONLAK SWAGGERBALLERS IN CHICAGO

The boys at Supervision have done it again and cooked up some marvelous shit to get your collective mouths watering... Great Job KC and Noah. You guys can still keep your jobs -for now... -But don't sleep on my boy 'Angles'. -Homie's ruthless with the macro lense...

Ironlak Team USA in Chicago | Sept 2009. from Ironlak on Vimeo.

OBAMA VICTORY, GRANT PARK, NOV. 4th 2008

LOA's Chicago ambassador/ My main man KC Ortiz, was lucky enough to be in Grant Park tuesday night to celebrate Barack Obama's presidential victory. KC is an amazing photographer and an all-around good dude. These were a few of my favorites, -really powerful stuff:Check out more of KC's photos here.