Chicago emcee Rhymefest has been on fire lately. From his recent message board war of words over politics with fellow Chi Town emcee Lupe Fiasco to his Michael Jackson dedication mixtape, Man in the Mirror, ‘Fest is giving fans plenty to look forward to with his sophomore effort, El Che.
After selling only 120,000 copies of his debut, Blue Collar, ‘Fest is pulling no punches with the follow up, which is described as a “heavier” and “angrier” album.
“I was named after a revolutionary [Che Guevara],” he said in a recent Chicago Tribune article. “How else can I have a revolutionary album? I can’t call myself ‘El Che’ and not come hard.”
Despite declining sales in Hip Hop, Rhymefest feels like this album will give him the shine he deserves. He compares the years when Hip Hop dominated the charts to baseball’s “steroid era” and believes the good music will rise to the top now that the playing field is even and virtually no one—from commercial label artists to underground acts—are moving major units.
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“It’s a new day. The wonderful thing about records not selling on the rap side is that it puts every one of us on a level playing field. I wasn’t on a level playing field in 2006. [Gimmicky] rap was the rule of the day. Now, let’s see if Rhymefest can win the baseball game when everybody ain’t juiced up like Barry Bonds.“
On the other side of the world, Lupe Fiasco, riding high off the success of his sophomore set, The Cool seemed to be competing for the world’s hardest working emcee title last night in Las Vegas.
After rocking the House of Blues, Lupe made a rare club appearance at Jet Nightclub inside The Mirage hotel to perform the album’s lead single, “Superstar.”
Lupe hit the red carpet with First and Fifteenth crooner Matthew Santos at midnight and took the stage a short time later to an excited crowd and chants of “Lupe!”
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Santos serenaded the ladies before Lupe launched into the track with the capacity crowd rapping and singing along with both artists.
