City Guides Spotlight: Chicago

A dose of art, music, fresh cuisine and more in America's "Second City"

Sponsored content: It’s time to dismiss the “Second City” nomenclature, as Chicago takes the backseat to nobody. As a haven of early modern architecture in the US, with towering historic structures lining the Loop over looking the Chicago River, the city’s knack for design and mindful aesthetics started young—much earlier than most of our standout cities, in fact. In more recent years, as home to …

Cory Jreamz: Alive

XXL's Playlist For The Government Shutdown, Sam Valenti's nostalgic #PrivateJam, Darkside's "Paper Trails" and more

Hailing from Houston, TX, unsigned artist Cory Jreamz dropped a haunting new track called “Alive” this week. The dark video—which Jreamz made himself—avoids big budget antics in favor of a staring contest-style rap along, while still managing to be theatrical enough to retain audience attention. With a James Brown sample in the intro of the Treyshawn-produced track, and nods to various chopped and screwed stylings …

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XXL's Playlist For The Government Shutdown, Sam Valenti's nostalgic #PrivateJam, Darkside's "Paper Trails" and more

Darkside: Paper Trails When Darkside remixed the entirety of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories this summer, it was clear they were warming up to something much bigger. Producer Nicolas Jaar and multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington have been concocting a musical experiment since their 2011 EP, and new singles “Golden Arrow” and “Paper Trails” are evidence their work will continue to blur genres and break new ground …