The Screwston Soundtrack

Since I moved over to the near Southwest side, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the South Loop. When I drive to shows downtown, I ease on up to town on 288, and I have a little ritual: Every time I’m on the tall interchange from 610 to 288, I dial up Trae and Hawk’s “Swang” on my iPod. It’s perfect dusk in H-Town music; the hypnotic laid-back jam is the ideal background music for watching the big red sun sink, bathing Screwston’s glittering skyline in gold.

As Valerie Alberto mentioned in her article this week on Lower Life Form, there’s a most welcome trend now of rappers performing with live bands. Trae is at the forefront, as this live video of “Swang” attests. (It was filmed at the Gatsby, not the most trill of venues, and the sound is far from great.) Is it better than the studio version? Take a look at let us know in the comments.

Life Goes On, Trae’s second Rap-A-Lot release, drops September 25. – John Nova Lomax