Cross-Street
Thursday November 25, 2010 by Offwhyte
The story for this entry begins here, at an inconspicuous grey building on West Lake Street in Chicago, just outside the Loop. Back when our Art Director JASH and I were students at UIC, we lived here in a loft with 7 other people - mostly graf writers and emcees, including G4 recording artists Serf400 and Dr. Spliffen. It was an eccentric crowd, and we definitely had some great times at 657B.
That was '96, before anything related to Galapagos4 had even begun to happen. Or had it? In my opinion, it was a time when the independent hip hop scene in Chicago was becoming more defined. When thinking back to what Chicago records were in rotation for me at that time, E.C. Illa's second album and the Talent Fest compilation are two that come to mind. I remember listening to Rhymefest's "How We Chill Part 2" for the first time just inside those second story windows. Those times, and the events that filled them, would personally influence my own music, and ideology of music, for years to come.
Fast-forward to the present day.. and I guess fate would have it that this small stretch of Lake Street remain significant to our crew. Across the street from the old loft, at 650 W Lake, is Crosstalk International, one of Galapagos4's largest distributors.
Crosstalk is both a distributor and a label, and their latest vinyl release is definitely noteworthy - Tokimonsta's debut album, Midnight Menu. Crosstalk is the exclusive distributor of this record, so act fast if you want to own a copy.
The company has been housed at this location for about 5 years now, and along with house and electro, they continue to move some of the best hip hop the city has to offer.
One cool thing about the office is that it has direct views of both the Willis Tower and the John Hancock building. Chicago skyline represent.
You may also find The Molemen's DJ PNS and Galapagos4's own Dallas Jackson up in the action around here.
I used to freestyle on top of that roof across the street. Now Galapagos4 ships its catalog of 70+ releases to destinations all across the world, from here. So in fact it has been quite a long journey moving from one side of this street to the other, and there are many analogies that can be made from it - youth to adulthood, playtime to business, South side to North side? haha
Any way you look at it, Crosstalk gets much respect from our camp, and not only because they move Galapagos4's records, but for staying true to themselves as a solvent independent business with integrity. There are definitely some businesses in the music industry out there that could take a cue from these guys. Keep up the good work, fellas.
