Chicago’s Closed Sessions Announces Vol 3. w/ Open Mike Eagle track

Quintessential Chicago Hip-hop label Closed Sessions, the folks responsible for releasing Jamila Woods HEAVN, Kweku Collins Nat Love and many other important Chicago releases, have announced Closed Sessions Vol. 3 due this coming November. The first song features fellow Chicagoan Open Mike Eagle for a track called “Whisky and Push-ups” produced by Boat House who handles production work for the entirety of the compilation. The compilation features Kemba, Kipp Stone, Mother Nature, ShowYouSuck, Khary, Dave B and others to be announced closer to release. As is tradition with the compilations, the label has also released a documentary with “Whisky and Push-ups” giving an in-depth look at Open Mike Eagle’s creative process and approach.

Closed Sessions was born out of the blog era, where many artists were breaking out online that had never been to Chicago. There was a strong sense of community amongst the blogs and artists frequenting the sites, so Alexander “DJ RTC” Fruchter (who ran RubyHornet at the time and co-founded Closed Sessions) started inviting the blog heavy artists to come to Chicago and rap next to him in the DJ booth at his monthly parties and then hit the studio, as an intro to the Chicago Hip Hop Scene.

“We did our first ‘closed session’ in July of 2009 with Curren$y (“Rapper Weed”). We didn’t know what we had, but we knew we had something. We established ourselves by putting great artists in the studio and then getting out of their way as they create. From 2009-2012, we released 3 compilations of music and documentaries featuring some of Hip Hop’s most exciting new artists. We pivoted a bit after to focus on building a more traditional label, but the foundation has always been those intimate sessions and experiences. To commemorate our 10-year anniversary, we wanted to get back to our roots, have some fun, and invite new and exciting artists to participate. The result is Closed Sessions Vol. 3, kicking off with “Whiskey and Push-Ups” featuring Open Mike Eagle who came out to Chicago during our polar vortex, rocked our party at Empty Bottle to a sold-out crowd, then hit the studio with BoatHouse.”

The compilation proceeds Closed Sessions Vol 2. which featured Action Bronson, Raekwon, Freddie Gibbs, Blu, Vic Mensa, The Cool Kids with a documentary that aired on MTV2 Sucker Free and Closed Sessions Vol. 1 which featured Curren$y, Bun B, Amanda Diva, Tanya Morgan, BJ The Chicago Kid and others.