If It's Too Loud...

The latest track from Chicago's  rapper, poet, educator, actor  Mykele Deville's upcoming album is a throwback to a very specific period of late 90's hip hop. "Free Soul" combines the jazz inspired rap of Guru with the positive throwback vibes of Dilated Peoples and Jurassic 5. It's a fantastic song with looping horns throughout and the closest thing to an R&B chorus is the scatting in its place. The song is a tribute to Chicago but also calls out the clique mentality of the city's arts scene. I can't think of any other modern day rapper that has a diss track for his city's arts scene, but that is one of the reasons we love this song. You can watch the video for "Free Soul" below. Maintain , the new album from Mykele Deville, will be out February 22 on No Trend Records. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Mykele Deville, check out his website .

Photo by Zakkiyyah Najeebah The latest single from Chicago's Mykele Deville sounds like something I should hate. It's an uplifting rap song that, according to the press release, "...  imagines a world where we are taught to fall in love with ourselves before we fall in love with others." Plus, it's quite heavy in R&B, which I hate in modern rap. The difference is that "Type Love" is a truly great song. Deville has the laid back flow of someone like Snoop Dogg, and "Type Love" has an uplifting, near hippie vibe of Arrested Development. The accompanying video was directed by McKenzie Chinn, and has a message all its own. According to Chinn: "   "By using imagery and improvised choreography outside of a traditional narrative, we were able to create a dynamic and expressionistic portrait of black, masculine tenderness and softness - a mode in which black men are not often portrayed, but which is critical to dismantling toxic mas...