Back when fellow Chicagoan Chance the Rapper headlined the 2015 Pitchfork Music Festival, rapper/singer/activist Ric Wilson, who was more of an activist than a music artist at that time, was sneaked into the show by his cousin, who worked for the show’s security team because Wilson could not afford a ticket.
“I saw Chance headline, and it was one of the best f- - - - - g shows I’ve ever seen. That was my first experience with Pitchfork,” recalled Wilson during a recent chat.
For something that was probably hard for him to imagine during that time, he made his own Pitchfork debut in 2019, where his musical influence, Lauryn Hill, headlined.
Wilson returns to the festival this weekend in Union Park for a set Friday night.
Wilson says he’s coming back bigger and better in 2023, and fans can expect more of a beefed-up spectacle as his performance on the Blue Stage will have an elaborate stage design, lights, and even a surprise guest. And he will be performing his newest EP “Clusterfunk” (a joint effort with Chromeo) in its entirety for the first time.
“I feel like I’m one of the lucky ones. I feel super-duper blessed to be getting booked for stuff and people still wanting to see me live and discovering me.”
Wilson will perform fan favorites like 2017’s “Hang Loose,” where he usually turns the crowd into a humongous “Soul Train” line. For him, it’s a surreal feeling to gear up and perform these songs at the festival again along with newer songs he released during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When we came back for the first shows we did, it was weird. We headlined Wicker Park Fest in July 2021, the first festival to happen since COVID in Chicago. We did the ‘Soul Train’ [line], and people act like it didn’t happen. Fast-forward, and we go on tour with Yellow Days in 2021, and we couldn’t do any ‘Soul Trains,’ couldn’t talk to any fans, couldn’t sell my own merch. Going into 2022 after that last strain happened, it felt weird, but now in 2023 it feels ‘regular.’
“It’s interesting because now there’s a s - - - ton of new artists, and there’s a sense of discovery. That’s another reason why I love this festival, because you’re discovering so many new artists. It’s a lot of people who didn’t make it during the pandemic, and it’s a lot of people who did and grew during the pandemic,” Wilson added.
With Wilson being such a hometown favorite, Pitchfork editor-in-chief Puja Patel says that he epitomizes the “community-spirited” element of the Pitchfork Music Festival, which debuted in 2006.
“One of the best parts of our festival is that it uniquely feels community-spirited, which extends to our team’s artist bookings,” Patel said. “Not only is Ric Wilson a local favorite who often works with other Chicago musicians (including fellow fest performer Sen Morimoto), but his live sets are fun, uplifting and perfect for a summer dance party.”
Wilson, who’s working on his full-length solo album debut, said Pitchfork is all about having fun.
“Me and the band just have a lot of fun at these shows,” Wilson said. “A lot of people see me smiling, and that’s because [we] have a lot of fun, and that’s because we make sure the music’s good. And if the music’s good then the next thing you gotta worry about is having hella fun. And the band is super raw, some of the best players in Chicago, so we’re not really worried about nobody messing up [except maybe] me messing up some words. That’s why it’s so much fun, because even if we do mess up, no one even notices because it’s still good.”
