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Tyra is a passionate and skilled storyteller with interests in music, pop culture and entertainment reporting. She has experience writing artist profiles, reviews, concert/festival recaps and more. 

MDRT •

MDRT - Profile in courage

The financial services profession can be unpredictable and challenging — even in the best of times.

Award-winning resilience expert Heidi Dening acknowledges that advisors have had to change the way they have always done things recently because of circumstances around the pandemic, but even before that, working in the financial services profession is full of uncertainties from the ever-fluctuating markets. “They’re forever having to adapt,” she said, noting that both courage and self-leadersh...
Chicago Reader •

Reader Bites: Gyro cheeseburger at Baba’s Famous Steak & Lemonade - Chicago Reader

If you were to ask me what my favorite foods are, I would basically just list out the entire menu of Baba’s Famous Steak & Lemonade. Serving Chicago fast food staples like  super Philly cheesesteaks, Italian beef, pizza puffs, and gym shoes, my love for Baba’s began about a decade ago when I was a high schooler living in the south suburbs. My friends and I were frequent patrons of the location on 183rd Street and Cicero Avenue in Country Club Hills, and at that time, the Italian beef was my go-t...
Chicago Reader •

Oluwaseyi Adeleke, The Universe Builder - The People Issue 2024 - Chicago Reader

Graphic designer and founder of the streetwear brand Prgrssn, Oluwaseyi Adeleke, who goes by Olu, is building a universe rich in Blackness. With each piece he creates, the 28-year-old first-generation Nigerian American hopes to educate and inspire. His shop is in L1, a creative business accelerator program and storefront spearheaded by U. Chicago, located under the Garfield Green Line el station. Adeleke has turned the lack of support and direction he felt from the program into a positive by uti...
Chicago Reader •

Damager celebrate rock ’n’ roll camaraderie with Forever or Else - Chicago Reader

Damager play rock ’n’ roll with meaty hooks and riffs as big as a cruise down I-94. If this exuberant Chicago band reminds you of Japandroids—specifically their 2012 album Celebration Rock—well, that’s intentional. “I’ve been a huge fan of them for a really long time, and that album in particular was such a big moment for a younger me,” says Damager front man Dan Stewart. “Cloud Nothings, Titus Andronicus, Diarrhea Planet, and bands that were, like, this garage rock, classic-rock thing happening...
Chicago Reader •

Jazz saxophonist Isaiah Collier retires the Chosen Few with a fiery new record - Chicago Reader

Chicago jazz saxophonist and composer Isaiah Collier began writing The World Is on Fire, his new album with the Chosen Few, before COVID-19 hit the States. His approach to the music took its shape in part from the pandemic and from racial-justice protests spurred by extrajudicial killings of Black people (George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sandra Bland). “There’s a whole lot of stuff going on,” Collier says, “and it’s no longer up to interpretation if it affects us or not.” This direct...
Chicago Reader •

Vocalo sends off summer with a top-shelf lineup of free Chicago music - Chicago Reader

Maybe this stretch of sunny 80-degree days has you feeling like summer will never die, but Gossip Wolf has bad news—the equinox that defines the astronomical end of the season falls this weekend. That doesn’t mean that the fun is over, though! Millennium Park’s 20th-anniversary summer season coincides with the second year of its residency program, which chooses five cultural organizations to host a diverse series of free events. Vocalo, the city’s urban alternative public radio station, is one o...
Chicago Reader •

Sima Cunningham of Finom drops a solo album more than a decade in the making - Chicago Reader

On Friday, August 30, Chicago singer-songwriter Sima Cunningham will release the long-gestating solo album High Roller via New York–based label Ruination Record Company. “I’ve been working on the solo record for the better part of a decade,” Cunningham says. “Some of these songs are ten-plus years old, some are five years old. Some are more fresh, from the last couple years.” In 2014, she and Macie Stewart founded Finom (the art-rock duo formerly known as Ohmme), and that’s been taking up most o...
Chicago Reader •

Mix series I-94 unites dance musicians from Chicago and Detroit for its first live event - Chicago Reader

Chicago DJ Hannah “Vitigrrl” Viti frequently visits Detroit to hear or play dance music, and a couple years ago she dreamed up a project to highlight the connections between house and techno from Chicago and Detroit. “My first time on the soil, I was really inspired and felt called to figure out my authentic place in the community,” Viti says, “but also to amplify and bring back what I’m learning [with] actual opportunities for Detroit DJs here in Chicago.” 

In July, Viti launched the mix serie...
Chicago Reader •

Finding liberation in sound - Chicago Reader

Poet, teacher, and community activist Marguerite L. Harrold takes readers on a trip to the city’s underground house music scene with her new book, Chicago House Music: Culture and Community. In the introduction, she states her intention to “explore the music and culture from its roots to the present day, and to highlight local community members, their experiences, and their contributions to the culture.” She does this effectively by taking a deep dive into Black music history and honoring the Bl...
Chicago Reader •

Pookie Crack Cakes sells out every day - Chicago Reader

As I stood in line on 47th Street, just east of Michigan Avenue, I heard a lady a few spots ahead of me exclaim, “They’ve been selling out every day!” It was a sunny Thursday morning in the middle of a hot July, shortly after 11 AM, the time Pookie Crack Cakes is scheduled to open. Those a bit closer to the woman smiled and nodded their heads in approval, as we all waited patiently for our turn to see what the hype was about. 
According to the owner, Dedra Simmons, that’s been the everyday routi...
Chicago Reader •

New Morality Zine boosts Chicago hardcore with a Rumble preshow - Chicago Reader

Nick Acosta started publishing New Morality Zine in 2014 and launched a record label, also called New Morality Zine (NMZ), in 2018. Since then the label has attracted a cult following among fans of hardcore, alt-rock, and shoegaze. In 2022, NMZ partnered with Texas label Sunday Drive Records for a two-day joint showcase. Madison Woodward, who helps book Los Angeles punk fest Sound and Fury, reached out to Acosta to kick-start the showcase, which was held at Programme Skate & Sound in Fullerton,...
Chicago Reader •

Jeehye Ham of Precocious Neophyte plays her last show as a Chicagoan - Chicago Reader

Precocious Neophyte has become a vital part of Chicago’s growing shoegaze scene since singer-songwriter Jeehye Ham self-released Home in the Desert in 2022. The project began as a solo effort that Ham developed in her apartment, and she still records almost everything herself—but these days Precocious Neophyte also has a full live band with bassist Ethan Waddell, drummer Clinton Weber, and guitarist Brenden Romanowski. When they play the Logan Square Arts Festival on Saturday, June 29, it’ll be...
Chicago Reader •

Daniel Villarreal and Vivian McConnell finally drop an album as Valebol - Chicago Reader

Singer-songwriter Vivian McConnell developed a curious problem with Valebol, the effervescent pop duo that she and percussionist Daniel Villarreal founded around seven years ago. Valebol has performed live sporadically since 2019, landing gigs in part on the strength of the members’ pedigrees: McConnell makes gentle indie rock as V.V. Lightbody, and Villarreal is not only one of the leaders of Latine fusion group Dos Santos but also performs and records under his own name. McConnell and Villarre...
Chicago Reader •

J Bambii makes space for everybody at south-side party the FiFi - Chicago Reader

Inspired by her family and the get-togethers, birthday parties, and other celebrations they held throughout her childhood, south-side rapper J Bambii began curating fun, healing spaces for her community a decade ago. One of her recurring events is the FiFi, a party she started in spring 2022. Bambii says it’s grown to attract more than 200 people, and the Summer FiFi will take over the Promontory on Saturday, June 1. The entertainment will include a performance from singer Melvin Knight and a he...
Chicago Reader •

Miranda Winters and her band of women roar and sing on the debut Mandy album - Chicago Reader

For years before Chicago singer-guitarist Miranda Winters cofounded beloved noise-rock group Melkbelly in 2013, she was already making music as a solo artist. In 2018 she released a cassette called Xobeci, What Grows Here? via Sooper Records where she performed all the parts herself; it emphasizes her nimble guitar playing and subtly emotional singing, which can be sublime and unsettling. The following year, after becoming a parent, she developed a newfound desire to focus on material she develo...
Chicago Reader •

Sunroom marks three years of its Monthly Flyer Club with a gallery show - Chicago Reader

Five years ago, visual artist Clare Byrne and musician Jacob Stolz formed Sunroom as an umbrella for their creative collaborations. Sunroom has since released records by Pool Holograph and Central Heat Exchange (two of Stolz’s bands), sold shirts and hats, and published zines and even a crime novel (David McCoubrey’s Detective Detective). In May 2021, Sunroom launched its Monthly Flyer Club, mailing subscribers a small Risograph print for $5 per month. On Friday, April 5, Sunroom hosts an openin...
Chicago Reader •

Rapper Jay Wood invites you to his room with his first art installation - Chicago Reader

On Sunday, March 17, rapper Jay Wood invites fans to take an intimate peek into his life and creative process with his first art installation, which has been a year in the making. Last spring, while planning the release of his November EP Nowhere, Fast, he reached out to his friend Oluwaseyi Adeleke, owner and designer for the clothing brand Prgrssn, to help create merch and find ways to bring it to life. After sending Adeleke a few demos, Wood mentioned that he records his music in the comfort...
Chicago Reader •

Rapper-producer Sidaka throws two parties for a debut album five years in the making - Chicago Reader

Earlier this month, Chicago rapper, producer, and songwriter Sidaka dropped his debut album, Resurgence of the Bliss (Creative Mansion), where he raps with stubborn poise atop warm, clattering instrumentals. He’ll celebrate its arrival with two events this weekend: Miyagi Records hosts an album-listening party at 4 PM on Friday, February 23, and Sidaka headlines the Empty Bottle on Sunday, February 25. 

Sidaka began working on Resurgence of the Bliss in 2019. By the time he finished it last sum...
Chicago Reader •

Born Yesterday Records calls it a night - Chicago Reader

Great Chicago indie label Born Yesterday Records announced on Thursday, January 19, that it would cease operations. Cofounders Kevin Fairbairn (who plays bass in Deeper) and Greg Obis (who fronts Stuck) posted a farewell message on Born Yesterday’s social media accounts, and Gossip Wolf called them up to learn more about their decision. “Late 2022—fall—is when we started having these weighty conversations about what exactly it was that we were doing,” Obis says. “It was starting to feel like the...
Red Bull •

Red Bull Dance Your Style National Finals recap

This past Saturday night, people from around the world packed Chicago’s Morton Salt Shed to help decide who would take home the title of Red Bull Dance Your Style USA Champion. After months of qualifiers in eight cities across the country, 16 regional champions came together to go head-to-head in a single-elimination bracket for the win. This culminating event brought the nation’s best dancers to Chicago, offering local creators an opportunity to celebrate and uplift the Midwest and its dance co
Red Bull •

Red Bull Dance Your Style Battle Night recap

Blue and red lights twirled around Avondale Music Hall in Chicago as a buzzing crowd gathered on stage this past Friday night. It was the eve of the Red Bull Dance Your Style National Finals and the excitement was almost tangible. The room looked and felt like one big party. Everyone was dancing, hugging, singing, nodding their head or snapping their fingers. The crowd was gearing up to see a 2v2 all styles mixed battle. Each pairing would be a combination of two different street styles, allowin
Red Bull •

Dance Your Style National Finals: Creator spotlight

This upcoming weekend, on Saturday May 20th, Chicago will be hosting the Red Bull Dance Your Style National Finals for the first time. This global all-styles street dance battle will test the freestyle and musicality skills of 16 regional champions and runner ups for a spot at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final in November. The battle will be held at the new Salt Shed venue and will feature a curated pop-up shop, The MRKT. To have Chicago be chosen as the backdrop of this year’s National
Chicago Reader •

Tink comes home to thank the fans who’ve stood by her from the start

This Sunday at the Chicago Theatre, Tink began her sold-out show by dimming the lights, hushing the murmur of a crowd of thousands. Her voice filled the space as she thanked an ex-lover for his deceit and betrayal: “Thanks for showing me I could survive, I could thrive without you,” she sang. “Thanks for nothing.” A red hue illuminated the stage, and from a couple rows behind me, I heard a young lady exclaim, “I’m finna cry.”

Four dancers in red leotards strutted to their spots and struck poses
Pitchfork •

Latto: 777

At 16, Latto won first place on a reality show called The Rap Game, but turned down the prize—an offer to sign with Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def—believing that she was worth more than the deal offered. After a slew of mixtapes, the Clayton County-raised rapper made her breakthrough with the lively 2019 single “Bitch From da Souf,” which became inescapable that summer and led her to sign with RCA for her studio debut, 2020’s Queen of da Souf. Nearly two years later, Latto, now 23, has continued to
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