The Cool Kids are here to remind us that hip-hop doesn't have to be a choice between conscious raps and bling things.
Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish have taken the genre back to its innocent Sugar Hill Gang roots. The Cool Kids' down-tempo raps are set against starkly simple electronic beats. Their lyrics are neither enlightened nor street-fighter tough. If anything, those lyrics reveal the Cool Kids' silly side, feeding off non-profound chorus lines like, "I'm Mikey, I rock."
The substance here is charm itself. The Cool Kids' astonishing simplicity reanimates a genre dominated by earnest posturing that's often overly serious.
The Bake Sale isn't just an enjoyable listen - it's a radical return to a vibe that humanizes rap.
