OLD TOWN — Chelsea Dagger is so 2013 ... at least according to one Chicago comedy rapper.
The self-proclaimed No. 5 comedy rapper in Chicago is trying to knock off the da da da da bada with his own version of the Chicago Blackhawks' anthem.
Kirk Sells, CEO of Chicago and Los Angeles-based group White Chedda, dropped a video for the group's ode to the Blackhawks Stanley Cup run Thursday morning.
"We should have an official rap for this epic dynasty," Sells said.
It's Stanley Season in Chicago (again) & Chelsea Dagger is so 2013...#BlackHawksRap@fb/WHITECHEDDA
Posted by White Chedda on Thursday, June 4, 2015
Sells left a job in medical sales about three years ago to pursue his dream to be a comedy rapper. He also runs an after-school music program in Pilsen.
The 28-year-old moved to Los Angeles where he gets by performing live rap for donations on the street and flies back to his hometown Chicago once a week, made possible because his mom works as a flight attendant, he said.
"As a creator, the winters kill me," he said. "It's harder for me to be inspired. Chicago doesn't leave the primary forefront of where I want to build that name and presence the most."
Most recently, Sells racked in $165 in donations during a day of rapping at Do Division Fest.
He landed in Chicago, spent the day rapping, took a train to the airport at 2:30 a.m. and was on a 6 a.m. flight out.
"It would be different if I was doing something that I wasn't fully passionate about," Sells said. "It's part of my life. I'm basically a bird."
Sells' six-person rap comedy crew, White Chedda, has three members in Chicago and three in Los Angeles.
The group performed its first live show at Schubas in January to a full house and will be back Friday July 24 for a show.
Sells, who considers himself the Eminem to his group's D12, wants to localize the genre in Chicago, as he sees the city as the center of comedy.
The rap comedy genre is still being formed and the most well known example is Andy Sandberg's group, The Lonely Island.
"It's still really this undefined space," he said. "My goal is to define it."
White Chedda has a number of songs with professional-grade produced videos that focus on relevant modern topics such as "Two Facebooks" and "My iPhone is Killing Me."
Rapping isn't the only thing Sells does while in Chicago. The Northwestern University grad also runs the after-school program Music Unites at Benito Juarez Community Academy where he leads a guitar and vocals club as well as a "JuarezRaps!" club.
Sells is bringing that rap club on stage for his upcoming July show at Schubas.
Sells hopes the Black Hawks Rap will take off: He's taking to the streets of Chicago rapping and promoting the video with giant signs.
"We picture our whole operation as a bomb with a fuse. It's just about what's going to light the fuse," Sells said. "We have so much standing behind it there's no way it’s a one-hit-wonder situation."
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