Rapper Mike Schpitz has been making a name for himself on the Chicago rap scene, but he hasn't forgotten his hometown roots. The Topeka native is paying homage to the city where he grew up with the release of his latest project - The Prize Package Vol. 1. Named for the quirky little burger joint at 1420 SE 6th Ave., Schpitz thought the title perfectly captured the diverse nature of the tracks collected for his new release.

"Basically, it's a compilation of songs and features on other people's songs that I've done pretty much in the past two years. They weren't a part of any of the projects I've released like Sunday Drive, Love Potion and Stanley Ipkiss, but I still wanted to put the music together so people could download pretty much all of the other stuff I've done. Now it's all in one place. It seemed kind of logical to call it The Prize Package - just a bunch of songs that aren't specifically made to be together, but put together like an actual mixtape. Twenty-one tracks – it's a pretty cool project. It will be available March 30 on DJBooth.net. They'll have a page with the tracklist, production credits – all of that stuff. Just check it all out – you can actually stream it before you download it."

Schpitz has plenty of fond memories of The Prize Package from his days in Topeka.

"It's basically just a little dive. I'm sure every city in the United States probably has its own little hidden gems that only people in the community know. It's just this little white building that looks rundown, but they have the most amazing greasy burgers, onion rings, okra, fries – just a ton of different stuff. And they also sell like lottery tickets, cigarettes, you know... it's kind of like a burger/convenience store.

I kind of wanted something specific to Topeka, where people that lived in Topeka or were familiar with Topeka – they would know what it was, when other people would be like, 'What the hell is The Prize Package?' I mean to me, it just kind of sounded like a mixtape title, too. I think it has a little something for everyone. I thought it would be a good tribute to Topeka."

This tribute to a beloved Top City destination got the SPLASH! team wondering what other spots Schpitz makes a point to visit on trips back to Topeka, and he was more than happy to oblige. Read on for his Top Ten picks – proof that this Windy City rapper is still a Topeka boy at heart.

Mike Schpitz's Topeka Top Ten

Favorite Bar
Bullfrogs Live is the major place where I feel like, when you're in town, everyone goes to. I like it because you know you'll see a lot of different people, especially when I come back to town, a lot of people who I haven't seen in a while. But I also like The Celtic Fox, especially when we're going to perform there. Spanky's – you can also get Headaches pretty cheap. The Rooster Tail – we went there and saw a blues band and it just seemed like a really nice bar. They did a great job of fixing it up.

Favorite Restaurant
I always go to Tortilla Jack's – that's probably my favorite, as far as cheap, good, always consistent. It's pretty much the same every single time I have it. Obviously, The Prize Package. I like Taco Casa. Probably the best restaurant in Topeka is The RowHouse. I really like that place – if anyone's in town looking for really good food, I'm like, 'RowHouse – definitely.' It's different, too. It's not a typical Topeka – that's why I really like it. I also like Tacos El Sol a lot. Another restaurant I go to is Hanover Pancake Palace. It's one of the only really good straight breakfast places you can go in Topeka. There's not that many of them – but that's one that I really like.

Favorite Late-Night Spot
The bars pretty much close at 2 a.m., so I feel like house parties are the way to go. I know a lot of times after the show on Thanksgiving we had at The Celtic Fox this year, people were going to different house parties and stuff. I don't know anywhere that stays open too late.

Favorite Music Venue
The Celtic Fox has been a really good venue. My buddy Sean Spinelli (DJ Ranx), he's been doing a lot of like reggae/hip-hop DJing sets all over. He's really opened doors to a lot of venues that I wouldn't have considered playing. I guess they do a Block Party at College Hill Tavern now in the spring and summer. It sounds really cool. I'd love to be able to make it back and perform there.

Favorite Local Institution
Tortilla Jack's is my favorite – I literally have dreams about it. I think if you grew up eating it, you love it. I make sure I go there every time I'm back.

Favorite 2 a.m. Breakfast Spot
IHOP is really the only place open that time of night. We used to go to Taco Bell on Wanamaker late at night. I know a lot of people go to IHOP after the bars.

Favorite Annual Event
ReThink Topeka – I guess they do this whole downtown thing where different shops and things are open and there's a bunch of art on display. I think that sounds like a really cool idea. It seems like a really cool event. I would love to be a part of it if I could make it back. I tried to make it back last year, but I had to go back for my buddy's wedding like the weekend before, so it would have been two weekends in a row that I had to get back. Then this year, I just got contacted to do ReThink Topeka – I think April 8-9. The only reason I won't be able to go is my son is being born April 19, so I'm trying not to leave too close to the day. I think if I missed my son's birth because I was performing in Topeka, my girlfriend would not be too happy.

Favorite High School Hangout
There used to be a club out in Forbes called Pure Energy that we used to go to. It was an interesting place. To go to a nightclub when you're in high school, they didn't serve alcohol, obviously. We always had fun there. It wasn't open for that long. I think they had some problems with, you know, fights or whatever, but used to love the one there.

Favorite Outdoor Spot
We used to hang out in Westboro Park quite a bit. And then we used to hang out a lot in – it's not the Jardine parking lot – but there's a church above Jardine on that hill, and they have a big parking lot. We used to hang out in that parking lot a lot. So I guess parking lots and parks were the best places to hang out in Topeka when you're in high school, other than people's house parties. Those were places we hung out a lot – probably more than we should have.

Favorite "Only in Topeka" Place
We used to love the Electric Cowboy, but this was like, maybe 4-5 years ago. I don't even know if it's open anymore, but it was pretty amazing. It was really just a random, random assortment of people. I think they had a dollar night at the Cowboy, and I would always drink dollar Coronas the whole night. I had to go to work the next day, and would be clearly hungover the next day. On Wednesday night they would play a mix of hip-hop and country music. When country music would come on, people would be line dancing, and then when hip-hop music would come on, all the people who liked country would pretty much clear the floor and everyone else would come out on the floor. It was a really interesting group of people, but we always had a good time there. There aren't a lot of places that play a mix of country and Top 40 rap. Also, White Lakes Mall is an interesting place. I guess it's an abandoned mall now. There used to be an arcade – after every single thing in White Lakes closed, there as an arcade in there. I think it was Aladdin's Castle... I feel like that's where everyone's birthday party was.