Pivot Gang/Photo: Pivot Gang
“I’m not trying to start a fight, bro/But Pivot is the best rap crew in Chicago.” This is how I imagine the next full-length album from Pivot Gang begins, and, given how tight-lipped the collective has been about their follow-up to 2019’s debut (and hip-hop highlight), “You Can’t Sit With Us,” my imagination is almost all I can go on.
True, the individual members of Pivot Gang have never stopped dropping new singles and other substantial projects, and there’s even been a surprise Pivot single here and there in the past few years. Today, this group of independent artists (Saba, Joseph Chilliams, Frsh Waters, MFnMelo and DaeDae), based out of Chicago’s West Side, are nothing if not busy.
All of the members have been collaborating and releasing projects and singles recently (and Saba will also celebrate the ten-year anniversary of his “Comfort Zone” album next month at Lincoln Hall).
They’re still involved in supporting the John Walt Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by the founding member’s mother after he was murdered in 2017 at the age of twenty-four. Born Walter Long, Jr., John (dinnerwithjohn) Walt started Pivot Gang along with his cousins Saba (Tahj Malik Chandler), Joseph Chilliams (Jerrel Chandler, Saba’s brother), friends MfnMelo (Logan Yutters) and Frsh Waters.
While Waters was locked up (he did a stretch of four and a half years), Pivot Gang released their 2013 mixtape “Jimmy” named in his honor (his real name). Waters was released in 2017, not long after John Walt was killed.
Like the rest of Pivot Gang, Frsh Waters and his late younger brother SqueakPivot (Javunte Wheeler), who came on board as a producer and DJ, originally hailed from the Austin neighborhood of Chicago.
Tragically, in August of 2021, Squeak and his uncle, twenty-seven-year-old Darion Hood, were shot to death. Squeak’s younger sister told the Chicago Sun-Times that surveillance video showed that Squeak and Hood were visiting their grandmother in Austin when another passenger in Squeak’s car shot them both and drove off in the car. Squeak was twenty-six.
Given all of that, it’s easy to understand why Frsh Waters has since decamped to Los Angeles, and also why production on a follow-up album might have been delayed.
Then, two years ago, there was a video posted on YouTube of Pivot Gang back in the studio, and although some of that material has since dropped as singles, not all of it has come out.
Just last month, Pivot Gang assembled to curate T.I.P. (Teens In the Park) Fest sponsored by the John Walt Foundation next to Buckingham Fountain during Lollapalooza. During an interview with Vocalo, they hinted that they would be sharing new music at their show this month. Also in an August interview, MfnMelo told Jayy Marie of NFO Cyphers that there would be new Pivot Gang music out before the end of the year.
So, given how epic (and sadly under-recognized at the time) that “You Can’t Sit With Us” was in 2019, our best bet to hear music that will properly follow that up as a sophomore record may be on Friday, September 20.
Also on the bill of Vocalo’s Summer Finale are internationally acclaimed trumpeter (and South Side native) Marquis Hill, and beloved multi-genre singer-songwriter Kaina.
The event will take place at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Gates will open at 5pm, followed by live performances, including DJ Lady D. The event will begin at 6:30pm. No advance registration is required; the event is free and open to the public.
Attendees are encouraged to bring picnic blankets, lawn chairs and food and drink to celebrate the summer with this evening of live music.
This event is part of the park’s twentieth-anniversary summer season and the second year of the Millennium Park Residency Program. Vocalo is one of five organizations selected by the program to present free programming this summer.
Vocalo’s Summer Finale will be co-hosted by afternoon host Nudia Hernandez and Bekoe, founder of illanoize.
