Blog Background: Andrew Barber

Andrew Barber deals almost exclusively with young men who have come into money. Some are newly rich; some started poor and worked their way to comfortable; and others, arguably his bread and butter, are not wealthy yet but stand to make a chunk of change. Some, he finds, and some come to him. Six years ago, he was a rap-obsessed 20-something from Indiana, selling advertising in Chicago for the FX network, hoping someday to work his way into a record company A&R job, developing established artists and looking for new sounds. But he had zero contacts in the music business, never mind in the cloistered world of hip-hop. Now, at 32, Barber is editor of Fake Shore Drive, the website he created in 2007 devoted to Chicago rap. Barber is the contact now. At a glance, Fake Shore Drive is basically a music blog, a compendium of local rap news, a smidge of criticism and assorted music videos and lists (“The 30 Best Young Chop Beats of 2012”). But it's also the first place Chicago rappers go to leak new music, send mixtapes and test new beats. While the site has been locally popular for years, the past 12 months have been especially good to Barber: He became MTV's Midwest correspondent. He landed a spot on the regional board for the Grammy Awards. Then came Barber's list of “10 New Chicago Rappers to Watch Out For,” written for Complex magazine and posted to Fake Shore. It came out in February 2012; by December, nine of the 10 rappers were signed to major labels. As Andrew Barber continues to rise to the top, Fakeshore Drive will be continuing to grow.