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Street Dogs - State of Grace

Lupe Fiasco. Common. Kanye West. It seems like today's biggest names in conscious rap have all sprung out of Chicago. Following in the footsteps laid by the aforementioned artists, the Cool Kids are busting out of Chi-town just as hard as their forefathers. The duo consists of Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish, two kids who met on the Internet, recorded for two hours after meeting for the first time ever, and got picked up by famed underground producer Diplo after their first ever live gig. Diplo ended up releasing their first mix tape on his Mad Decent label.

This re-release of the Instant Classics Mix Tape, retitled the Totally Flossed Out EP and distributed through C.A.K.E. Recordings, is one hell of a debut for a relatively young rap duo. While most blooming rap acts are pumping the slower bass-heavy crunk/hyphy beats, Cool Kids have decided to look back further than UGK for their inspiration. Right off the bat you can tell that the group worships Run DMC, Nas and LL Cool J when the album opener "Black Mags" starts playing.

Though most of the critical attention has been focused on the album's beats, Mikey's rapping isn't anything to be scoffed at. His flow is delightfully relaxed and original, and his lyrics are fairly witty and...well...fun. Most of his lyrics are throwbacks to the Run DMC `80s era of hip-hop, and they've even devoted an entire song (aptly named "Gold and a Pager") to gold rope necklaces and outdated pagers ("you know if my phone is off you can page my ass"). While not quite at the level of uber-poeticism and intelligence of Black Star or KRS One, Mikey lands some witty one-liners here and there ("I don't use bad grammar / so please excuse this / I'm just trying to let niggas know 'who I is'"). The duo are also fans of BMX bikes, and you'll catch many references to Dyno bikes, wheelies, and pedaling throughout their songs. Imagine Lupe's "Kick Push" with two wheels instead of four.

Overall, this EP is a refreshingly original release that outshines most of the other rap releases of 2007. Don't expect Cool Kids to stay underground for long, as they've already been on tour with M.I.A., Lupe and Kanye. I would expect huge things both musically and monetarily from this duo. But until their LP debut drops this fall, I would suggest you try and find this EP at your local music shop or (more than likely) you local file sharing network and bump it as loud as you can.



People who liked this also liked:
Shook Ones - Facetious Folly FeatTurbo Fruits - Turbo FruitsCeremony - Violence ViolenceMental - Planet MentalMinutemen - Double Nickels on the DimeWeezer - The Blue AlbumThe Weakerthans - Reconstruction SiteBlack Lips - Good Bad Not EvilFeist - The ReminderBrutal Knights - Feast of Shame



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    Posted by TeaEssAre on 2008-04-26 22:02:24

    they is mad hipsterish

    Posted by rkl on 2008-04-23 15:30:14

    its been about 10 years since common has been worth anything

    Posted by wentz_equals_death on 2008-04-22 12:22:56

    whatever man frisco represennnnnt

    Posted by HonestAbe on 2008-04-21 23:39:11

    Do people from Chicago really call it Chi-town and shitty variations of that?

    No, it's like San Fran or something....nobody who lives their would ever say that

    Posted by icapped2pac on 2008-04-21 20:12:43
    My Score:

    I'm bored. These beats sound like Madlib passed out off a fat joint before finishing them, and I'm not even THAT big a fan of his. I guess I don't like really old-school beats either. Give me some '98 shit. Any of you guys hear Statik Selektah's album from last year? I slept on it because I thought it was another shitpile from another shithead mixtape DJ, but it's SO much more. It's called "Spell My Name Right". Check it out. Seriously.

    Posted by Hey_Asshole on 2008-04-21 12:10:53

    no one from Chicago calls it "Chi-Town" (or any other variation).
    retards from the suburbs are a whole different story.

    Posted by damnitsderek on 2008-04-21 02:31:47

    Kanye West-also one of the biggest names in arrogant doucheness.

    Posted by douglas_is_rad on 2008-04-21 00:41:41

    I probably should have finished that second paragraph. I meant to explain that they make some very modern rap beats that draw serious inspiration from older DJ's. For instance, '88' uses a Kanye or Neptunes-esque back beat that quickly gets mixed with an Nas/LL Cool J-esque guitar riff. So it's not the up-beat electro beats that RUN-DMC was throwing around in 83', but it's not the choped-and-screwed crunk/hyphy beats that are so popular now.

    And obviously, I didn't catch the N.W.A reference... do'h.

    The more I listen to this album, the more I like it.

    Posted by Archangel on 2008-04-20 19:42:57

    Do people from Chicago really call it Chi-town and shitty variations of that?

    Posted by asxyouxwish on 2008-04-20 00:41:58
    My Score:

    so bad. downright embarrassing.

    Posted by marcusd on 2008-04-19 21:17:44

    "gold and a pager = NWA reference?"

    yup the song features an nwa sample and when i saw them they did a verse of fuck tha police and then went into gold and a pager

    Posted by canaandrumzz on 2008-04-19 19:26:36

    Love these guys. Freshest beats out there. I'd take them over any other chicago mc any day.

    Posted by wentz_equals_death on 2008-04-19 14:33:54

    gold and a pager = NWA reference?

    Posted by Hey_Asshole on 2008-04-19 14:16:00

    my last bowel movement > this record

    Posted by oldirtyfrush on 2008-04-19 14:15:15
    My Score:

    the lyrics are nothing really great but the beats are soooooooooooo dope. some of the best shit the neptunes never made.

    Posted by 24HourPriapism on 2008-04-19 13:04:59

    kanye west is "conscious rap?" kanye is the diddy of the 00's, and you can fucking quote me.

    that said, i was kinda disappointed by the cool kids. judging by their pictures, i was expecting some super throwback furious five/run dmc electro shit, but i just got some boring raps about riding bikes. i guess i'm just getting old.

    Posted by inagreendase on 2008-04-19 12:46:55

    Video I was shown the other day reminded me of a modernized Kid 'n Play.

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