If you were commuting from downtown last week or happen to live within walking distance from Grant Park, then you were in Lolla Land. At the top of every August, South of Wacker Drive is a madhouse with rippling effects throughout the entire downtown area—slowing down traffic to a complete stop.
Chicago residents can find the third largest music festival in the U.S. somewhat obtrusive with its thousands of young attendees scurrying across Michigan Ave. to see their favorite musical acts. Fortunately, I knew where to park and how to get in and out of the congestion so it didn’t stop me from enjoying the four-day festival.
Lollapalooza started out as a traveling tour in the 1990’s with a diverse mix of both Rock and Hip-Hop talent on its line-up. I had the pleasure of attending shows at Tinley Park so I have witnessed firsthand the festival’s continual growth. They have continued the tradition with an entirely new generation of music attendees, adding an array of musical genres to the event including a heavy emphasis on the EDM genre.
Although the 400,000 attendees who came out each day were predominately White attendees, festival organizers premiered more hip-hop performances this year than in past years. From the first day’s performances by the Migos, Wiz Khalifa and Lil Uzi Vert throughout Sunday’s final day featuring Xavier Omar, NoName, Big Sean, Duckwrth and Rae Sremmurd. But hands down, Chance the Rapper KILLED IT, headlining the Grant Park stage on Saturday night.
It was simply M-A-G-I-C. Accompanied by a live band, he opened up the set with a short clip of news soundbites of the 24-year-old’s philanthropic achievements. Performing to a packed-out crowd of 50,000 crammed into the South end of the park, continual fireworks lit up the sky as he rocked the stage. At one point in his performance, he informed the sea of millennial bodies to “hold your politicians accountable.” Hmmm…I wonder if Chancellor is preparing for a possible bid for public office in the next few years? He definitely has both parents who could easily fill the shoes as his campaign managers.
We want to give a CRAZY shout-out to Red Bull TV for sharing their live streaming of Lollapalooza’s performances and interviews throughout the weekend on chicagodefender.com. Please make sure to check out Red Bull TV’s weekend recap and photo highlights from the festival.
If you didn’t have an opportunity to cop a ticket to this year’s Lolla but enjoyed the parties around town, it’s because where there’s large numbers, there’s crazy influencers.
Toyota did it up on Friday morning with a live remote broadcast of SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning show at the Chop Shop.
A reported $4.7 million was made during the sold-out music festival weekend for the Airbnb community in Chicago. This is double the amount during the World Series games which drew $2.6 million in revenue for Airbnb hosts. But out of the 15,000 guests staying during Lollapalooza, only 3,000 guests were staying at South Side locations.
Executives at Airbnb are doing their due dilagence to increase those numbers in predominately African-American neighborhoods.
Emanuel vs. Trump
We saw it coming and now it’s here for the courts to handle. On Monday, the City of Chicago filed a federal lawsuit to prevent the Department of Justice from pushing through a federal crime prevention grant on unrelated and unlawful immigration enforcement actions.
“Chicago will not be blackmailed into changing our values, and we are and will remain a welcoming city,” said Mayor Emanuel.
In other words, unless the city’s law enforcement units comply with 45th’s federal mandate to cooperate in the investigation of enforcing immigration laws, federal funding allocated for public safety will be drastically reduced.
Unfortunately, this is one of the main reasons why Trump supporters voted him into the oval office. We are still a country divided and there are some mixed issues on this topic. Meanwhile, the federal monies needed to increase public safety in our most dire communities are being compromised by 45th and the DOJ. In the end, Black lives continue to NOT matter to this GOP administration.
Meanwhile, Supt. Eddie Johnson announced earlier this week CPD’s new recruitment plan to apply for the 2017 police officer test. For more information, visit: chicagpolicedepartment.org
Break up to Make up
CPS announced on Monday they will be laying off 900 teachers due to the state’s budget funding. However, teachers who are laid off can reapply for the 500 open positions. Wow…how does that work?
Birthday Shout-Outs
We are in full Leo season—the season of the “boss.” Yes, Leos are lions but boy are they bossy as heck. They are beautifully confident and love style, grace and showing off their stuff. Happy birthday to my former Universal Music Distribution colleague Inger King and favorite local R&B vocalist Simone Green on August 8. The speakers boom for 106.3 on-air personality and House DJ Lil’ John Coleman along with record producer Doc Little and singer Dre Day as they celebrate on August 9. Bang the box for another wonderful DJ on the move Rae Chardonnay on August 10. Best wishes to Soul singer and stepper favorite Slique Jay Adams on August 11. Another wonderful colleague from the KBA Marketing days Jenny ‘JV’ Vincent and the beautiful Jennifer Bridgeforth—both celebrating on August 13.
Celebrity Sightings
CNN contributor and speaker Van Jones was in town on Tuesday on the WE RISE Tour powered by #LoveArmy and in partnership with Roc Nation. He addressed the prison system and the importance of helping returning citizens with opportunities.
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