Leor Galil, Reader staff writer
Karin Pritikin and Kent Barker, The King & I: A Little Gallery of Elvis Impersonators True story: As a kid I was so obsessed with the King that for a short time I asked everyone to call me Elvis. This coffee-table book documents the first annual convention of the Elvis Presley Impersonators Association of America, which took place in Chicago in 1989. Pritikin thoughtfully weaves together her subjects’ backstories, and Barker’s tender portraits of the impersonators in costume capture the joy and passion of people who have dedicated their lives to making sure the public stays under Elvis’s spell.
Ayana Contreras,
DJ and host of Vocalo’s Reclaimed Soul, blogger at darkjive.com
The Natural Four, Natural Four This was released here in Chicago on Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label in 1974. The Natural Four was a group that came here from San Francisco to record because Chicago was a soul-music center. Unfortunately, aside from scoring a Top 40 hit with this album’s classic lead track, “Can This Be Real,” the group was unable to break through. Natural Four brims with loping strings, aggressive horns, and slinky harmonies.
Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap I’ve been very proud of Chance the Rapper ever since the days when I worked at YouMedia-DYN as one of his first musical mentors. Chance, Vic Mensa (who I also mentored), and the whole Save Money Movement are doing great things for the Chicago musical landscape. While I was working at Street-Level Youth Media, in a crazy serendipitous way I mentored Stefan Ponce too—he’s one of the album’s producers, and he’s on tour with Vic as his DJ. Acid Rap has replay value like nothing I’ve heard in a long time.
