Place in Sound

Anthony Valadez explores the musical DNA of Chicago. In this four part original series from TuneIn, we dig through the past, present and future of music and life in the Windy City

To begin our journey, we take a trip through Chicago’s music history in the early to mid 20th century, learning how the Great Migration brought jazz and blues to the city, which in turn fostered continuous cycles of creativity that never went away.

In Episode 2, we look at how issues of racism, segregation, violence and corruption have haunted Chicago for nearly a century, investigating how a city with such a rich output of music and culture also has a bad reputation for crime.

In Episode 3, we look at Chicago’s music scene in the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s, exploring how house, juke, indie rock and hip-hop—and the breakout success of Common and Kanye West—helped lay the groundwork for the vibrant scene we see today.

In our season finale, we explore the unique and inspired hip-hop scene bubbling out of the Windy City today, breaking down the music, relationships and politics of artists like Chance The Rapper, before looking back at everything we’ve learned.