Chicago's hip-hop/R&B duo have people excited about listening to radio again with their blend of catchy love songs about music, women, and the Windy City.

12 MP3 Songs in this album (51:11) !
Related styles: HIP-HOP/RAP: Street Rap, URBAN/R&B: R&B Pop Crossover

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Chicagoâs spoken-word poetry king, Armond McWilliams, aka Armen Rah, had only one question to ask as he listened to some of HANIBLâs demo tracks for their debut album, âBig Windy.â âWhat exactly are you guys?â

HANIBL is the earth-shattering collaboration between African-American rapper Ralph McConnell, aka Phee, and Korean-American singer/rapper/producer Peter Kim, aka soundtrack. They were introduced in late 2006 by a mutual friend who thought that, together, the duo could truly make some remarkable things happen. Only a few months later, their demo is done and theyâre about to kick things off with a breakthrough performance at the Chicago Korean Festival.

McConnell, who had been rapping on street corners and at SubTerranean in Chicago for about 10 years, had assumed that talent and skill was enough to build a career in music. As his friends gave up on their musical dreams to concentrate on other careers, he realized that it took more than just talent and hard work. There was a difficult transitional period, as he thought about his narrowing options in the music industry. âI didnât know how much work was involved in creating an album until I met Peter. It takes a lot of skill to write a good song, but now I understand what needs to be done, and we have a product that I can be proud of.â

Kim, meanwhile, was haunted by ghosts of disapproval. He had gone to graduate school, and worked part-time as a deejay, thinking that this was only way to stay involved in music while âhaving a real career.â But he battled depression and insomnia in a losing battle to suppress his true love: to create beautiful music that, as his pseudonym suggests, would create a âsound trackâ for peopleâs favorite memories.

McConnell was surprised, initially, to discover that his musical twin was an Asian-American. But when they finally sat down at soundtrackâs home studio, he was amazed by the potential of their partnership. In less than a week, âBig Windyâ was finished.

âPeople donât realize,â says Phee, âthat producing an album means more than just recording a couple of people with a microphone. Itâs nothing like karaoke. I have to give credit to Peter, for making the rhythms, recording the keyboard parts, and re-arranging all the layers of vocals we recorded. But heâs the only one who couldâve created this sound⦠heâs the only one who couldâve done it in such a short time, and itâs still head-and-shoulders above whatâs on radio right now.â

Meanwhile, McWilliams was so impressed that he agreed to perform custom-made spoken-word poetry for the album. His efforts resulted in a narrative that solidified âBig Windyâ as a conceptual album about hope, victory, remorse, and their love for music and for the Second City. Meanwhile, McConnell; notes, âsome of those who have more rapping skills than me are still on those same street corners. They havenât gone anywhere, because they donât have the right producer, and they never learned how to write good songs. With Peter, I think HANIBL has a chance to be something special, because nobodyâs doing anything that sounds like us.â

âThe best part for me,â says Kim, âwas realizing that I could say proudly that a Korean-American constructed this album, which could have mainstream appeal. People are surprised to discover that an Asian is responsible for this album â but Koreans have been in America long enough, itâs about time a Korean-American produced a hip-hop CD. I may be the first Korean-American to produce an American hip-hop album, but I wonât be the last. Iâm proud of what weâve accomplished, too, because I think thereâs something on this album for everybody.â

âHip-hop is still evolving, creating a culture that is universal. Itâs big enough that the color of your skin doesnât matter, even though historically hip-hop has a certain ethnic origin,â Phee adds. âBut if you understand the language of struggle, passion, and frustration - which Peter understands very well â then weâre no longer talking about just hip-hop: weâre talking about creating original music. Weâre talking about love songs, dance music, and everything in between. I can appreciate how historically significant it is that the son of Korean immigrants can create something this profound. But overall, Iâm excited because it finally feels like this is what we were both meant to be doing, and itâs just our demo!â