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Wyatt Waddell dropped the remarkable new single “Fight!” on Wednesday, June 3, and it vibrates with the grief, rage, and revolutionary purpose that millions of Americans have been demonstrating since the killing of George Floyd. “This song is me looking at what’s happening and what I’d tell the people protesting,” says the local singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Waddell recorded the track–with its pumping funk instrumentation and a roof-raising choir of his multitracked vocals–alone in a single day. “I hope that it can be an anthem for my people,” he adds. “Fight!” is a pay-what-you-want Bandcamp download, and he’s pledged to pass all donations along to the Chicago Community Bond Fund, Black Lives Matter Chicago, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. He’ll also stream a set as part of the first virtual Do Division Street Fest on Friday, June 26.
Chicago rapper Femdot launched the nonprofit Delacreme Scholars in 2018 to help Black and Brown college students; this past semester, it gave six Illinois and Indiana students scholarships and clothes. Last week, after CPS briefly suspended its food-delivery program, Delacreme Scholars began food-distribution efforts serving the west and south sides. Those in need can e-mail [email protected]; you can use that address to donate via Zelle or QuickPay (or use $delacremescholars on Cash App).
On Friday, Chicago polymath Nnamdi self-released the EP Black Plight through Bandcamp. Snaggletoothed guitars, rambunctious bass, and athletic drumming tangle in its freewheeling protest songs–the seesawing “Rage” conveys the anger and anxiety he feels seeing police kill people who look like him. Black Plight sold so well on “Bandcamp day” that Nnamdi made more than $10,000; he’s giving $4,000 to Assata’s Daughters and to EAT Chicago and directing the rest to Chicagoans who need help with food or housing. v
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