Straight up, the Cool Kids are diehard '80s babies who bring fresh, futuristic ideas to classic-style hip hop. Throwing minimal space-electro beats beneath their throwbacky jams - when was the last time you heard a young rapper shout out the Smurf with a straight face? - these cats sound extra smooth, slow-cadence gangster in their raps about BMX bikes and downtown b-boy bangers. Two Chicago based producer/rappers known as Mikey Rocks, 19, and Chuck Inglish, 23, the Cool Kids have been tearing it up onstage with their surprisingly hard stage presence, recently wrapping the Fool's Gold tour (with their Chi-City sistren Kid Sister), currently filling the opening slot for Sri Lankan-British toaster M.I.A. They're about to drop the "88 / I Rock" single on Fool's Gold Records (the label run by DMC Champ/Kanye West's DJ A-Trak and Jerz-or-die DJ Nick Catchdubs) with a full-length to follow in '08 on Chocolate Industries.
This is my story:
Mikey Rocks: I'm from the South suburbs of Chicago, and we met over myspace because I liked his beats.
Chuck Inglish: I'm from Detroit, but we moved to Chicago when I was like, 11. I broke my ankle in half and I couldn’t do nothing else, I was bed-ridden. I had to have two surgeries. And I had had a Sidekick and I had nothing to do all day except take Vicodins and play with my Sidekick. So I decided to rap. I had a lot of time to practice, because I just laid in a bed for 18 hours a day.
This is my influence:
Mikey Rocks: When I was growing up, my mom used to listen to a lot of older Slick Rick and 2Pac. That's all I would ever hear, and it came to the point where I could recite every word of some of those songs. I didn’t even really know what most of that stuff meant, I didn’t know what they were talking about. But I knew all the words and my mom thought it was funny. My dad, on the other hand, was more of a Nas and Biggie fan. It was a collection of what my family listened to, ‘cuz when you're a kid you don’t really go out and find your own stuff until you're a little bit older. I listened to what they listened to. Thankfully, it was good.
Chuck Inglish: What my parents were listening to: the Police, and that whole Talking Heads, Clash style. And Red Hot Chili Peppers
and then a lot of soul like the Gap Band - not the singers. When I was in kindergarten, there was always a video channel on. I remember the first time I saw Black Star's "Children's Story" and Special Ed's "I Got It Made." I would sit in front of that, mesmerized all day. I had a wide array of stuff and I think it turned out for the better, because now I know where to pick and choose what I wanna do from some of my favorite styles of music.
What I listen to now:
Chuck Inglish: I just bought that Kenna album and it's amazing. And I'm gonna listen to it till I'm sick of it. Jay-Z's new song is ill as hell.
Mikey Rocks: Yeah, Kenna's new stuff is crazy. Jay-Z's stuff is crazy too. I definitely think he's getting back into some older type of Jay-Z stuff, especially with his word play and his cadence.
This is why we're hot:
Chuck Inglish: 'Cuz we're not! (Laughs) It's not about us, it's about the music that we're doing. That's the cool part. We don't suck. And anyone that can't stand us won't have to be worried about us fucking you, because that's our motto: Let's not suck. (Laughter) When you try not to suck, it becomes a lot easier to not suck, and people like your music.
Watch "Black Mags":
VIBE: What's up with all those people holding the signs on the highway behind you [2:50 into the video]?
Chuck Inglish: That's animation. Those aren't real people. I'll seriously hand $100 to anyone who can pick out all the animations in that video. There's like 13 of them. There's a fake fire hydrant. There's a fake cat! I guarantee you can't find it. Our video is like a fucking cool "Where's Waldo?"
Mikey Rocks: Do you hate us now?
I'm shattered! So if the signs were real, what would they say?
Chuck Inglish: "These guys don't suck."
Mikey Rocks: "They don't suck" or "Pay your bills," or... I'd have just random messages up there like, "Feed your cat." (Laughter)
Chuck Inglish: "I took off work today."
Mikey Rocks: Things that could help you in life – "Don't smoke crack." Life lessons.
If you could clone yourself twice, and you have two other dudes that are also you, what would you be doing with those dudes?
Mikey Rocks: Oh man, I would make one dude a farmer, and he would make a gang of food and stuff. And then I would have another dude get all the food and cook it. (Laughter) Straight-up slavery type stuff. (Laughter) I would just use them to my advantage. Our biggest problem over here is eating food, 'cuz we can always go out and eat food but we ain't got nothing in our refrigerator most of the time. So food is the concern. And this dude stopped eating everything just now. He doesn't eat nothing but like fish and vegetables.
Chuck Inglish: A friend of mine sent me this really, really ill message about chicken and beef and that other crap, how they make it, so one day I was like, "On my birthday, I'm just gonna stop eating meat." And nobody believed me and it got to the point where I told my manager, "If you catch me eating meat, I owe you 20 bucks." And they're broke, because they can't catch me eating meat! Just to prove it to you, seitan is like the worst thing you can ever substitute meat for. It's wheat gluten and it tastes like... You know that little part that hangs off the end of French toast? That weird egg stuff? That's what seitan tastes like. Imagine that on a Cajun chicken sandwich, without the chicken. It was horrible.That's the type of stuff I'm into right now. (Laughs)
What kind of girls do you like?
Mikey Rocks: Cute girls that aren't boring. You gotta have a crazy sense of humor or else you'll hate me. (Laughter)
Chuck Inglish: And girls that don't shop at Wet Seal! Or Bebe. You know what Bebe is, with all the Olde English letters on the ass? I don't like girls who shop at Bebe. I like Keyshia Cole.
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Comments
1.
Oni C. says:
who doesn't?
November 4, 2007 at 3:07 am
2.
boytoyclassics says:
I luv these guys.
November 2, 2007 at 7:39 am