Summertime Chi is heating up, just like the month of July. From financial literacy seminars to music in the park, activities this weekend will cover all bases.
Let’s see what’s happening across Chicagoland this weekend.
Saturday, July 19
Maconomics Wealth Summit
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, located at 211 S. Laflin St.
The 3rd annual Maconomics Wealth Summit 2025, curated by Chicago-bred rapper and entrepreneur Ross Mac, is described as a weekend of events focused on financial empowerment, networking, and philanthropy. The three-day summit intends to teach Black Chicagoans the keys of financial literacy, offering best practices around saving, budgeting, credit scores, and investing.
Ross Mac is a South Side native and the creator of his own financial education company, Maconomics. Years ago, he was working on Wall Street before he moved back to Chicago, that’s when he realized that his friends weren’t familiar with some of the financial tools he’d learned along the way. While also making music at the time, he called himself ”The Wall Street Rapper.
“The Wealth Summit, which is truly the culmination of everything that I stand for, is bringing Wall Street to Main Street,” Mac told The TRiiBE. “[We’re] trying to help better educate our community by giving us the tools that historically have been kept from us.”
The list of summit speakers include popular Chicago social media comedian Korporate, former NBA player and Chicago native Antoine Walker, financial educator The Budgetnista, Mielle Organics co-founder and chief operations officer Melvin Rodriguez, “The CHI” actor Cortez Smith and more.
“[Attendees] are going to come to Whitney Young, my alma mater, and they should be able to leave knowing how to change their relationship with money from a psychological standpoint,” Mac said.
The Wealth Summit begins at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday at Whitney Young. And on Sunday, the Maconomics Foundation is hosting a celebrity basketball classic. More event details are listed here. All access weekend passes start at $249. Tickets to the main event, Saturday’s Wealth Summit, begin at $149.
KheemerFest
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Location: 13820 S. Lincoln Ave, Dolton IL
OK, y’all. This one is taking place in south suburban Dolton, but we know the south suburbs are an integral part of Chicago’s rap and hip-hop scene. So, don’t sleep. Kheemerfest is a live music festival for up-and-coming artists founded by musician and drummer LaKheem Trotter of the indie rock band Gorilla Social. The festival started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trotter, who goes by Kheemer, wanted to create shows during a time when live performances were put on hold. The band got a few other musicians together to perform outdoors at the first Kheemerfest.
“During that time, nobody had shows so he wanted to come up with a way to have a show, asked a few of our friends who are artists as well, and it ended up being a festival,” said local comedian and cultural archivist Larry Legend, an organizer of the festival.
Over the past five years, the festival has grown to feature artists such as Chicago-based rapper Rockie Fresh, producer and DJ Kincy, Grammy-nominated singer BJ The Chicago Kid, rap duo The Cool Kids, and Grammy-nominated R&B singer-songwriter Kenyon Dixon.
“Our festival is really dedicated to the up-and-coming artists to give them a festival-like experience and platform to perform,” Legend said.
This year, Grammy nominee Avery Wilson is headlining the fest. Perhaps most known for playing the Scarecrow on the 2023 Broadway revival of The Wiz, Wilson first blew music enthusiasts away on NBC’s “The Voice” competition in 2012. Since, he’s embarked on a solo career and famously sung background for R&B legend Babyface’s live Tiny Desk show.
Tickets are still available: general admission tickets are $50 and VIP tickets are $70.
