For this week’s Reader music feature, I traveled around the city with Save Money rapper Joey Purp, visiting places that have shaped him and his music. Part of the impulse for that project came from all the writing I’ve seen from outsiders to Chicago that reduces the city’s hip-hop scene to a few bullet points and a handful of easily recognizable names. Though I cover local hip-hop week in and week out, my knowledge will never be complete, and I thought it would be good for me to learn about a local rapper (who’s receiving more and more national attention) by listening to him talk about his experiences—otherwise it’s distressingly easy to fall into the kind of facile, well-trodden narratives peddled by people who learn about Chicago exclusively from websites based in New York.
The streak of humor in the Palmer Squares’ work could help explain why they don’t attract as much press attention as they warrant (I’ve noticed that rap writers seem allergic to MCs who like to be funny). Not that these guys need to get crammed into a trend piece to reach a big audience—clearly people know how to find them. The Palmer Squares open for Felly at the Portage Theater on Friday.Planet of the Shapes by The Palmer SquaresLeor Galil writes about hip-hop every Wednesday.
