First let me tell you, Chi-town was good for me as usual.
I love Chi. Always have, always will. I used to spend spring breaks there almost every year.
I had a few goals in mind for this trip.
1. Find a certain gentleman's cap.
2. Find out the name of the steppers' song I heard back in July during my family reunion.
3. Get some Harold's chicken (crack!).
I didn't get Harold's but I wasn't trippin. I can get that shipped down any time.
I did manage to grab some hats (well...six) but not the particular one I wanted. Yes, I've been told you I have an addiction lol. I went for one and came back with six (and not even the particular one I wanted). But, now I know the name of the hat and I can stop callin it a "Bear" Bryant. So if anyone see's a Kangol New Market Trilby in size XL, get at me.
I managed to pick up some lime green socks. Now, I know you're wondering, "what the hell you gonna wear with lime green dress socks?" Whatever the hell I want lol. See my city's conservative but dressing up is a recurring affair in Chi so to find these there was like, "enh...might as well grab'em."
Lastly, I found my song, the stepper's song. I'm not even gonna ramble on about stepping. If you haven't figured out by now, after R dedicated damn near a whole album this cultural aspect of Chi, you'll never understand. I'll just say that's it not merely a dance in Chicago. It's a lifestyle. The dress, the pagentry, the music, the mentality of being cool as a fan...it's just them.
I keep calling it the steppers' song because that's how it kept being described to me.
"You ain't never heard this?"
"Son I ain't from here."
"WHAT? But this is the steppers' song!"
Real talk, the song is that damn smooth. As a matter of fact, I picked up a cd full of the steppers' songs and all of them are mellow. If you've ever seen a video of steppers or actually seen cats step, this cd will create a visual in your head easily. Complete with midtempo rhythms, this is the shit.
I played the hell out of my song...."Love's Gone Last" by Jefferee. However, there's a few more that are just as smooth and strong, most notably "I Can't Cry Anymore" and "Haunted House".
I won't say too much more. All I'll say to finish is if you like good melodic R&B, this cd is for you. It shouldn't dissapoint.
Chicago Dusty Volume One
Life In The Country - The Ebonys
Everybody Loves The Sunshine - Roy Ayers
Be Thankful For What You Got - William Devone
Soft & Easy - The Blackbyrds
Haunted House - War/Lee Oscar
Fruitsong - Jenny Reynolds
Mr. Fix It - Jeffree
Blackcrow - Aja
School Boy Crush - Average White Band
Jones's - Temptations
Key To The World - L. J. Reynolds
Love's Gonna Last - Jefferee
Chicago Dusty Volume 1
Big ups to...
Sid's Clothing
My whole family and friends in the city
Big extra love and manhug to my cousin Heavy who always gives me the key to city, holds me down on whatever I need and, real talk, one of the few cats outside of my elder elders that I admire. Everybody's got that "cool" cousin who they wanna be like and that's who Heavy is to me.
