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“Did you know? There are many States where you can get certified for a medical cannabis card online, including Illinois. The process is quick, simple and HIPAA compliant. Learn more here. The process is quick, simple and you need not leave the comfort of your home. Follow these 5 steps to get your Illinois medical marijuana card … Go to https://leafwell.co/medical-card/illinois/. Register online with Leafwell and speak to an Illinois-licensed physician or qualifying health professional (such as advanced practice nurse or physician’s assistant)....

Twenty-one-year-old Norwegian singer-songwriter Jakob Ogawa titled his 2017 debut EP Bedroom Tapes (Diamond Club), and that’s a pretty good summary of both his methods and his interests. Ogawa’s music is warm, woozy indie pop designed as a soundtrack for cozy loving—think Belle & Sebastian lounging with an extremely chilled-out Pizzicato Five. His first single, 2016’s “You’ll Be on My Mind,” sounds like island music treated to high-gloss production and a fair amount of controlled substances; when he sings “No worries when I’m with you / No raindrops within my view,” he’s not delivering a weather report as much as he’s sharing his ethos....

Rising rapper Lil Keed grew up along Cleveland Avenue in Atlanta’s Zone 3 neighborhood, which has also been home to one of the most colorful and creative forces in the past decade of hip-hop: Young Thug. At 21, Keed is part of a youthful crop of Atlanta MCs who’ve studied Thug’s work and learned how to wring a rainbow of emotion out of a single syllable. Keed buckled down and gave rap his full attention in 2016, and since then he’s ridden that style to fame....

In our 2016 Best of Chicago issue, Brianna Wellen wrote about the joys of Logan Square’s Comfort Station: “Just as the building itself has remained untouched, so has the creative spirit that now drives the space.” Built in 1926 as a warming station, it’s since become a hub for independent arts events in the neighborhood: Comfort Station screens shot-on-video oddities, displays art by local illustrators, and even hosted a recent reunion performance by Chicago underground rap pioneers Stony Island....

This past weekend saw the release of Us, writer-director Jordan Peele’s first film since his breakout feature, Get Out. Us arrives on a wave of hype and anticipation, and the question on everyone’s mind seems to have been, “Will Peele be able to repeat the success of his debut or will he fall victim to the dreaded sophomore slump?” That curse, of course, is not unique to filmmakers, as creative figures in most artistic media who make a splash with their first major work buckle under the pressure of having to repeat or even top themselves with their follow-up....

In the second half of the 20th century, the North Lawndale community area on Chicago’s west side was devastated by redlining and other racist lending practices that led to civil unrest among the neighborhood’s by then booming black population. Fifty years ago this summer, Martin Luther King Jr. moved his family to an apartment in the neighborhood to highlight the need for fair housing and other improvements in black areas of northern cities....

When New York rapper Katorah Marrero, aka Young M.A, released “OOOUUU” in 2016, its low-key braggadocio, minimal instrumental track, and easy, in-the-pocket flow quickly made it inescapable—and turned Young M.A into one of the most celebrated names in hip-hop. The following year, she included the song on the 2017 EP Herstory, and she’s spent most of the past two years working on her debut full-length, Herstory in the Making (M.A. Music/3D), which dropped in September....

Courtesy the artist Implodes: Justin Rathell, Emily Elhaj, Matt Jencik, Ken Camden Chicago hasn’t heard much from borderline gothic post-shoegaze band Implodes since the release of the album Recurring Dream in 2013. But this week, excellent Oshkosh label Gilead Media put out the EP Reverser, which consists of two unreleased tracks from the Recurring Dream sessions and two freshly cut songs. Local filmmaker Lori Felker has made a shadowy, almost surreal video for “Out of Reach,” shooting at the Music Box on expired stock whose grainy, murky, saturated look complements Implodes’ sound....

Michael Gebert Chef Erik Anderson at an El Ideas collaborative dinner in 2013 Imagine if there were a day when crazy stuff right out of Wackyland could be reported as real news. That’s what it’s been like in Chicago the last day or so! Chefs leaving, chefs coming, chefs getting awards, places closing, pranks backfiring . . . • A Chicago-born chef is coming to Intro—to preview his restaurant that will be in Minneapolis!...

The chill of November is here, but there’s plenty to do this week; here’s some of what we recommend: For more things to do this weekend—and every day—visit our Agenda page.

Last fall Governing magazine published a survey of America’s first-year governors. Most were doing well, but two were “struggling.” One struggler was Nebraska’s Pete Ricketts, the other was our own Bruce Rauner. You might suppose Illinois would chew up Pete Ricketts and spit him out, but his family history suggests something different. I asked managing editor Shamus Toomey about DNAinfo’s biggest accomplishments, and he sent me an interesting list. It ranged from Mark Konkol’s trailblazing coverage of the Jackie Robinson West Little League scandal to Tanveer Ali’s imaginative data-visualization projects—such as this one that lets readers draw their own Chicago neighborhood maps....

The Reader‘s archive is vast and varied, going back to 1971. Every day in Archive Dive, we’ll dig through and bring up some finds. On the subject of Return of the Jedi, he writes, “Interestingly, the advent of sexuality in the Star Wars universe (with the revelation of Carrie Fisher’s navel) is coupled with a resurgence of infantile imagery (with the swarms of teddy-bear Ewoks).” Perhaps naked Chewie finally broke him....

On their new self-titled debut album, Muzz simultaneously challenge listeners and envelop them in gentle, sublime atmospheres. The New York-based trio formed out of the long friendship of vocalist and guitarist Paul Banks (Interpol), multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman), and drummer Matt Barrick (Jonathan Fire*Eater). Individually, these artists are known for their musical malleability, and their chemistry together is undeniable. Banks is a master at concocting disarmingly murky anthems tinged with just the right amount of melodrama, and in Muzz he leans into malaise with precision....

On a sunny afternoon last week, a couple of men walked into Jessica’s Western Wear, a large store stocking rainbows of cowboy boots in every type of leather, button-down shirts, wide-brimmed hats, and a variety of other clothes, shoes, and personal grooming items. They spoke in Spanish with owner Rigo Romero, 56, about getting some patches on their ripped, light-wash jeans. Afterward, Romero, who’s run the shop near the corner of Clark and Lunt in the 49th Ward for 25 years, said the alterations “keep the store open because the retail business has been so bad....

We’ve heard both versions of the story too often, tragic trajectories that begin with being a young Black man in Chicago and end in murder, either by police or by somebody else. In March 2016, as the city was reeling from the Laquan McDonald scandal and entering what would be its bloodiest year in two decades, 22-year-old Courtney Copeland wound up with a bullet in his back in front of the 25th District police station in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, on the northwest side....

Philip Montoro Music editor Leor Riot Fest started in clubs, grew into a major outdoor festival, and moved to Douglas Park in 2015 following the fallout in Humboldt Park. Riot Fest is also far from cheap, and its aims are less community driven. Though I know its organizers have worked to give free tickets to anyone who lives close by. Leor That’s a Band-Aid. A nice Band-Aid, but it doesn’t solve the fundamental problem with Riot Fest and every other for-profit festival that blocks off public parks in Chicago....

“J,” a pastry chef who grew up in Kuala Lumpur, says that her husband “M,” a savory chef who grew up in Kane County, is making problems for other couples with his food. J comes from a food-obsessed family. Her father moved to Kuala Lumpur as a young man and found work selling Hainanese chicken rice at a kopitiam, one of the region’s ubiquitous coffee shops. He wooed her mother with extra chicken wings—her favorite part—whenever she came around....

There’s never much debate about whether or not a new Robyn album is a party—it’s rather about what kind of party it is. With her 2010 trio of Body Talk releases, the Swedish dance-pop phenomenon unleashed a rank of futuristic club bangers, several of which, including “Dancing on My Own” and “Call Your Girlfriend,” are still rightfully queued up on TouchTunes jukeboxes as a way to boost bar vibes when bar vibes are badly in need of boosting....