In honor of 30 Days in Chicago being in full swing and the strong hip-hop community represented during the festival, Red Bull Sound Select has put together “This and Nothing More: Chicago’s Hip Hop Scene.”
The documentary is an intimate portrait of three people in the Chicago hip-hop community: up-and-coming, about-to-break female artist Ravyn Lenae; influencer/curator Andrew Barber; and poet/educator Kevin Koval. These Chicagoans are committed to living their lives driven by and in pursuit of their one true passion, hip-hop.
Using an all-access, unfiltered and immersive lens, Red Bull takes audiences inside the lives of these three unique characters, articulating their different perspectives on the hip-hop world in one of America’s cultural epicenters. They delve into how each of them lives, what they love and how following their passion has become a way of life.
Cast:
Ravyn Lenae – A recent graduate from the Chicago High School for the Arts, she crafts thoughtful and highly lyrical electronic soul. She sings about life as a dreamy, sometimes- melancholy teenager in a softly assertive voice. Her album, Midnight Moonlight – which released in the Spring of ‘17 — delves into more romantic concerns with the same quiet grace. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Lenae sang in church and studied guitar and piano before she linked up with producer Monte Booker, who helped assemble her two EPs.
Andrew Barber – Founder of the critically acclaimed and ultra-popular music blog, Fake Shore Drive, devoted to Chicago’s hip-hop scene. If you’re a rapper or music producer and you’re in Chicago (or the Midwest for that matter), you want to know Barber.
Kevin Coval – the face of the Young Chicago Authors program, Coval was called “the voice of the new Chicago” by The Chicago Tribune and The Boston Globe says he’s “the city’s unofficial poet laureate”. He teaches at The University of Illinois-Chicago and his book A People’s History of Chicago is due out in the Spring of 2017.
Information provided by Grandstand HQ