The Cool Kids in SF

It was a brisk night in the bustling city of San Francisco, CA the night of January 17th. The Cool Kids, all the way live from the Chi were in town, and the hipsters were out in full force. We rolled to the venue, the Independent, around 10:30 and were met with a frisky line eager to get out of the chilly air. As we slid thru the crowd, an anonymous dj played various grooves from a pantheon of hip hop and club records. The vibe was mellow, but cool.
The first crew to hit the stage was Hot Tub, a local crew comprised of 3 ambitious female vocalist (black, white, and phillipino) and 2 dudes on production. I missed their show, but have seen them before around town. Their style is akin to, lets say an M.I.A., without the political forethought, or grimy street edge. Their hook is that they flaunt their sexuality. More on that later. The second group was called Freebase 808. I don't remember much about them, as they were quite nondescript. The only thing I really recall is that they had a live drummer, and the MC was wearing jeans which looked like they had been systematically ripped up.
Then, the Cool Kids (Chuck Inglisch and Mikey Rocks) sauntered onto the stage wearing matching jackets and tight ass tapered jeans. Even with the overly tight fit, they gave off an EPMDish vibe with their back and forth wordplay and party style antics. I was digging their ruff, downtempo production. A lot of it reminded me of Screw music, with its slowed down vocal sample hooks. Chuck Inglisch struck me as the true lyricist of the crew, with his nasal tenor that consistently cut thru the industrial drone of heavy drums and synths. I also peeped their obvious disapproval of played out rap truisms. In one verse Mikey Rocks quipped "I play video games, how gangsta is that? Not gangsta at all." I can dig it. Their willingness to embrace the tried and true virtue of hip hop, party rocking, instead of trying too hard to be tough won the crowd over.
Towards the end of their set, one of the girls from Hot Tub (the white one) got up and started dancing. A couple of the other crew members slowly joined her, but as the show progressed returned to their spots at the back of the stage. The dancing girl however didn't take the hint and continued to flamboast the stage, as if she was rocking her own set. The crowd, suddenly began to take notice. As she lifted a pair of crutches, she acted like it was a submachine gun, and began blasting members of the packed in crowd. The audience responded with restless boos. The next thing I know, the Hot Tub girl grabbed the mic and began rapping what sounded like a pretty weak club verse. The crowd responded with more boos, and this time a cup of ice flew towards the stage. Sensing danger, Mikey Rocks gripped the mic from "the girl", as he and Chuck regained control of the crowd.
As they dipped back into their next song, the aforementioned Hot Tub girl jumped up from the huddled mass of her crew at the back of the stage and commenced to stage dive into the crowd! She looked like a bull in a china shop, as she pinballed around the confused mass before jumping once again, back onstage. By the way, as she crawled back to her hovel, she simultaneously mooned the crowd and slapped her nearly bare ass for emphasis. The Cool Kids didn't flinch as they kept it moving, assuaging what could have surely been a disaster.
The night ended on a high note as the Cool Kids flipped thru a couple new joints, giving us a peek at what is to come. Overall, it was an entertaining night, both for what was dope, and for what was wack. Entertainment comes in both forms I suppose. Lets hope that the next time they come thru, they bring the whole pot of gumbo with them again. Big up!