Order of the Day:Family Business (Side B)-UAES Album Review

During the blog era the “The New Wave” or the “Chicago Renaissance” that took place then created some of the most memorable moments that don’t get acknowledged enough. Artists like Chance The Rapper, KidsTheseDays, Mick Jenkins, TREATED Crew, Tink, ShowYouSuck, and so many others started pioneering what talent looked like in Chicago while the Drill music scene roared just as proudly. From 2011 to 2019 the Chicago music scene and organizing scene contributed some of the most important moments in history to the hip-hop genre and world culture overall. While all of these things and more are true the opportunity to become successful in the Chicago music scene for other artists was yet still very difficult. While some artists were recognized for their talents, their peers were not as successful. Not that these individuals weren’t working as hard, there was just a hard time getting more artists acknowledged in this era. With the 2020 pandemic however there was a huge shift in the Chicago community..

A lot of artists began speaking their truths on how they believed the structure of the city could be better. For the last three years the music scene and organizing scene has been transforming and challenging the cities standards when it comes to success and creating more opportunities for others. This came in the form of certain artists speaking on building more into a mentality that doesn’t exist in Chicago enough. The ability to collaborate more with each other and support each other’s businesses and platforms. This mentality in Chicago is not uplifted enough, and going into 2024, right after the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, artists that have been in Chicago for so long came together to form the new Chicago wave..

The New Chicago Wave kickstarted when artists in the scene began working together more and making sure the community being uplifted was the priority. Artists and curators like GQ tha Teacha, APJ Films, Brittney Carter, Joel Q and others started curating multiple shows in the past six months that have sold out ten times over because of the audience having a love for Chicago hip-hop and it’s many different genres overall. Artists and fans alike are coming together to keep uplifting the fact that everyone can be acknowledged at the same time for being amazing in your art form. All of this led to the artist Goalden Chyld being acknowledged in huge ways for his community work and being cosigned by community legends like Larry Hoover JR., just as his debut album “War Cry” charted to number three on the hip-hop charts. It charted past Ye’s “Vultures” album..

While all of this is taking place there has been one artist that has contributed to this wave’s momentum in the capacity of outstanding music and building on the history of the cities culture through forms of shows and building into new platforms that will change Chicago and how we receive information on our creative greats. That artist is the legendary Waterr.

To understand why Waterr is so important to the last twenty years of Chicago’s music scene/industry you have to understand his peers have helped pioneer how artists from the open mic and cypher scenes even became more polished artists. Legendary artists and curators like Brother Mike, Phenom, and K Love are just some of the folks Waterr has built with but that doesn’t even start to process just how powerful of an artist Waterr really is on his own. He has put out albums that have helped push the concept of quality that comes from the cities hip-hop scene. This year alone he has put out some incredible albums that have been given nothing but positive reviews by Chicago’s best when it comes to music. But the shows Waterr has curated this year have been a true highlight to how well he’s tapped into the Chicago music scene/industry. To his “Renaissance of the Culture” show, which helped inspire the Purple Box anniversary show by APJ Films, to the tribute show for the legendary curator GQ tha Teacha. Waterr has been very focused on making the presence of hip-hop be very visible not just in Chicago but the world. Not to even mention the podcast he created called “3riangle Offense Podcast”, which consists of legends like Sista Afrika and the emmy nominated video team Marsz Flight. Waterr has been taking his place as a true member of community that has been uplifting the history of Chicago so that we can understand it’s future. With just getting into the Chicago Reader and this new album he’s dropped he’s only still just getting started..

“Order of the Day: Family Business (Side B)” shows just how prolific of a emcee Waterr truly is. This project produced entirely by Tone Beatz is beautifully crafted for the true hip-hop listener but has so many teachable moments through it’s skits and bar play. The album speaks on what does it mean to go through struggle and how unity and collaboration will be how community will receive the resources needed to create generational wealth. While at the same time it speaks to how you must watch your surroundings at all times to protect you and yours. The production and bar play is so well synced that you can get lost in how sharp the tone and flows are. Waterr has truly outdone himself with this back to back album drop. Both projects show his true duality as an artist and just how much of a veteran he is when it comes to releasing a quality project..

Our favorite records to play in the office are “Wolves Under Moonlight”, “Family Business”, “Trust in Me”, “Audio Homicide”, & “Fire & Reload”..

Take a listen and let us know what you think..