The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale EP
(Chocolate Industries) CD
The Cool Kids, aka Mikey Rocks & Chuck Inglish, are the Chicago hip hop duo that are “bringin 88 back” — the beats, flows & style here all hearken back to hip hop’s classic eras, yet manage to elude the doldrummery of “old school” crews like Jurassic 5. Topical flows don’t vary much; these cats love shoes, clothes, bikes, haircuts & girls, but the nonchalance & sneakily crafty lyrics keep it witty & well, cool. Compositionally, the beats recall the stylings of classic LL Cool J & Run DMC, but sonically this is modern hip hop; the panned, fucked up breaks & post-Dilla off-kilter shuffling basslines keep The Bake Sale from being shrouded in its own referential history. This “EP” is classic; it’s got ten songs, but most clock in under 3 min, so you don’t get bored… think of this as a Sesame Street version of The Clipse’s Hell Hath No Fury.