After a recent slew of local press and a great showing at CMJ, BBU are quickly becoming one of the top up-and-coming hip-hop acts here in Chicago. BBU is Illekt, Epic and Jasson, three dudes who are as much intellectuals and activists as they are masters of getting asses to shake in the club. They killed Debonair Social Club’s three year Anniversary and Halloween party Friday night, rocking some Mishka gear and performing the strongest set I’ve heard from them yet.

The staff tricked out the decor for the holiday, covering the venue in dead tree branches that cast some pretty badass shadows on everything.

I thought no one would dress up so I sort of pussied out on my costume and ended up regretting it. This guy had to order bottle service so he could stay plugged into the electric socket beside the booth all night.

Horny ladies are a must for any good party.

A few local DJs started off the evening and it was packed by the time BBU’s set began. Everyone in this city who sees BBU perform loves them immediately. It doesn’t hurt that they are also all insanely friendly and avid supporters of  everyone else in the Chicago music scene.

BBU’s “Chi Don’t Dance” is the current juke anthem of the city, and it was nice to hear the group drop in a couple more serious tracks before getting down to business.

People come out to a BBU show specifically to hear “Chi Don’t Dance” live. Every person on the dancefloor was moving, screaming and sweating.

This pic I snapped of Epic pretty much summarizes a BBU show for me. There’s zero pretension. Just get your hands in the air and let your body move.

After BBU I hung out for He Say, She Say, another great local act. Drea is the frontwoman of the duo. She’s super sweet and has this raspy voice that reminds me of a retro pop singing version of Stevie Nicks.

Million Dollar Mano is the other half of He Say, She Say. He produces the beats and contributes some backing vocals. I have never, ever seen Mano not wearing sunglasses and he always looks super serious. His beats are sick, but he kinda intimidates me.

On the way out I got a reminder that Bloglin faves Mixhell are playing a live set at Rehab, the venue’s Monday night weekly, which I definitely need to check out. I also ran into Mr. Clayton Hauck of everyoneisfamous so if you’re looking for a few more pics of the evening, he’ll have some on his site later this week.