Kanye West Stories

Obama’s “Hometown” Playlist Includes JC Brooks, Chance The Rapper, Tom Waits and More

Throughout his presidency, Obama was known for assembling playlists that showed a keen taste of music, both old and new.The Obama Foundation has continued this tradition by posting a new playlist to Spotify featuring songs inspired by his hometown of Chicago.Guest-curated by Chance, Mavis Staples, Jennifer Hudson, Nick Offerman, Dan Ackroyd and more,...

Album Reviews | February 2016 Releases

By: Alex WoodDr. Dog- ThePsychedelic Swamp [2/5]For their newest full-length, indie-rock staple Dr. Dog have reworked and rerecorded their unreleased debut album, initially written 15 years ago. As one may expect, the resulting album doesnt sound like the Dr. Dog fans have come to expect, which is unfortunate, given that the band seemed to be hitting...

The Barn's Great Chicago Song Mixtape: Stream on Grooveshark, Spotify & MOG

It was with certain amount of amusement, and shameful delight, that I watched the "reviews" roll in for the Umphrey's McGee "Chicago tourist anthem" last spring. Admittedly I was excited to hear a band that I liked pay tribute to the city I love, but the final product was a bit of a head-scratcher.It...

The Great Fan Overlap: A Kanye / Nickelback Venn

One is a critically acclaimed, though public relations challenged (misunderstood?), and innovative hip-hop artist. One straddles the line between huge commercial success and equally charged public hatred for their formula-driven hard rock.Oddly, as newstats.com attempted to prove, fans of Nickelback and Kanye West aren't all that different. Upon deeper consideration, when artists cast...

Your Favorite Rappers as Kids

Okay, so hip hop is not our usual beat, but when I saw this over at the I Love Charts tumblog, I felt it was so incredible in so many ways that I just had to share.Who pissed in Lil Wayne's cheerios the morning of school pictures? My guess: Usher.