“There’s a lot of talent here in the city,” says Salvador “Sage” Solache, co-owner of the McKinley Park-based Breaking Bread Entertainment. “But for some reason they don’t just get out there….We want to get Chicago artists recognized–hopefully sooner rather than later.”
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In the early 1990s Solache, Benjamin “Phunk” Todd, and John “Swift” Tirado were part of 40 oz. Dreams, an informal crew of about 20 DJs, rappers, producers, and graffiti artists from across the city. Solache, an MC, describes the group as simply “friends trying to make it in the music industry,” and they succeeded to a degree, performing with first-tier acts such as KRS-One, Wu-Tang Clan, and Eazy-E at the Oak Theatre and the Riviera. But the crew started to splinter in the mid-90s as people got married or, in Todd’s words, “got busy with everyday life.”
A year and a half ago Todd and Tirado, who work part-time as security guards, moved into the second floor of Solache’s southwest-side three-flat. Solache and his family live on the first floor; the recording studio–complete with couches, cable TV, and a PlayStation 2–is on the third.
