Sidewalk Chalk
Chicago, Illinois, United States | SELF
Music
Press
"Satellite" featured on gowherehiphop - gowhere hiphop
"Corner" featured on 2dopeboyz - 2dopeboyz
Sidewalk Chalk is a jazz/hip-hop group I found through the message boards at Okayplayer. After listening to them, my first thought was, this group has to play in Montreal at the Jazz Fest. They offer lots of free live shows, and I really hope Sidewalk Chalk puts in a submission. I feel like they’d bring a whole new dimension to the Jazz Fest.
“Movement of the Mind” is probably their most popular song. You can download it for free on their Bandcamp page, and you can view the video they made for it. Their MySpace page has a lot of minute long samples of them playing live. It gives you a good feel for their live sound, which is impressive. Sidewalk Chalk also has a Facebook fan page, so you should be a fan. And while you’re at it, become a fan of everydaymusic.
I’m really looking forward to more music from Sidewalk Chalk. They seem like a legitimate jazz-hop talent, playing a game that has few players in this day and age.
- Everyday Music
"Sidewalk Chalk is one of the Chicagoland bands people should be paying more attention to."
- Marc from Company of Thieves - Chicagonow.com
Best Local Hip-Hop Artist
Sidewalk Chalk - The Chicago Reader
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Coming together in the Spring of 2008 after meeting at Columbia College in Chicago, Sidewalk Chalk has become a shining star in the burgeoning Chicago hip-hop scene.
Fronted by MC K'neqta Dots (Rico Sisney) and vocalist S-Star (Margaret Vagle), Sidewalk Chalk's sound is a unique blend of jazz, soul, and hiphop. The group is rounded out by Charlie Coffeen on keys, Garrett McGinn on bass, Tyler Berg on drums, and the Bootskate Horns (David Ben-Porat
on Trombone and Sam Trump on Trumpet).
Further contributing to the inspiring stage show put on by Sidewalk is tapdancer Jumaane Taylor. Taylor describes his own role in the group as “to be an instrumentalist; to be another piece, another color, in the picture being created”.
The band's rhythm section (often playing their own sets of classic hip-hop instrumentals under the name “The Ephelon Trio”), combines with the Bootskate Horns and Jumaane Taylor to paint soundscapes as compelling as the performances of the vocalists.
Despite their average age of less than 25, the 8-piece band has experience beyond their years. Be it as music director for Brother Ali, singing behind Leigh Jones in Europe, or touring with Jazzanova, every member of the group is in high demand in Chicago and abroad.
2009 saw the group release the Snacktime EP and embark on the Freida Hites Tour. One year later, the Chicago Reader named Sidewalk Chalk the “Best Hip-Hop Act in Chicago”. Just months after that announcement, K’neqta Dots was selected to represent Chicago and the United States at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China as an MC.
The band is currently in the studio with recording engineer Greg Magers (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liqour) recording a completely fan-funded full-length album to be released in 2011. Armed with a collective love of music and a relentless ambition to shift the lines between so-called genres, Sidewalk Chalk is creating a sound that will know no shelf life.
Links
