There would be no Jolly Rancher chews for Chuck Inglish last Tuesday night at The Independent in San Francisco. Mikey Rocks, the other part of the Chicago based duo, The Cool Kids, simply wouldn’t let him eat the sweets. There were too many rhymes to be laid down, and a mouth full of candy could have hurt the lyrical swagger that these two possess. Apparently, it’s not easy being fly.
Before commandeering the stage from the L.A.-based trio, Pacific Division, Mikey Rocks made a cameo appearance with his openers, jumping around with a large grin painted on his face. Clad in a pair of orange, Nike hi-tops, a Pirates hat and a black Nike shirt with a pink logo, he and a Nike-track-suit donning Chuck, would appear as if they just rolled in from 1991, swaying to the lo-fi beats that has made this pair the latest Internet phenomenon in music.
Kicking their set off with “Black Mags,” The Cool Kids made themselves right at home as the young crowd rocked their arms and smoked blunts in admiration, the latter of which met the approval of the two rappers. An a cappella version of “Little Bit Cooler” made an appearance before the beat came in on the loudspeakers, only to make it through the first verse and the chorus, which kind of bummed me out, as I wanted to hear the whole thing. Either way, they were bringing some energy to the room and I quickly forgot of this obvious glitch in their show. Besides, these guys were leading by example—what it takes to be cool. I couldn’t stay mad at them for long.
After a couple of songs off the recently released The Bake Sale, Chuck and Mikey had DJ viPj sport some old Bay Area hip-hop, as the sounds of The RBL Posse filled the venue. A couple of E-40 tracks and some Too Short later, Chuck cupped his hands around his mouth and made some beats while Mikey spit some lyrics. Not like they had to try, but these kids had the place swinging.
Taking another chance to catch their breath, The Cool Kids invited some folks on stage for a little break dancing. At first, only one was brave enough, and impress he did, until a balding guy came on and used his feet to make the crowd forget that he lacked a large ration of hair follicles on top of his dome.
Later, The Cool Kids would bring Pacific Division back onstage for a live remix, which didn’t really work out. Chuck would joke about it, and almost overapologize for it, as the crowd was way too entertained to be the least bit upset about a few botched lyrics. This just goes to show, as long as you’re cool, it don’t matter what you do. People will love it.
More on The Cool Kids here: www.myspace.com/thecoolkids
More on Pacific Division here: www.myspace.com/PacificDivision
The Bake Sale is out now. Buy it now from Amazon!
Download – “What Up Man” from The Bake Sale – [mp3]
