Brad Beatson owns 88 Starter Jackets.
Yesterday, Chuck Inglish tweeted a link to a brand new Cool Kids song. A short while later, Sir Michael Rocks dropped another. The raps take you back. There is referential flexing over their signature sound, with more cowbell.
Fear not, they don’t wreak of nostalgia. Chuck has done a wonderful job adapting his sound while keeping the soul of The Cool Kids’ cool intact. Claps and snare set the tempo on “Chop” before Del Fresco adds synths for the MDMA faithful, and later provides some water-break instrumentation he’d perfected on WRKING. “Computer School” gets its name from the Steve Harvey bit sampled to open and close the song, and starts with a line by Banco Populair that sums up why we fell for The Kids in the first place: “I’m the reason that these copy n****s wanna be themselves.”
As a late-blooming (Internet) rap fan, The Cool Kids were one of the first acts that stayed in my car stereo while trying to devour every bit of hip hop I could find. They flaunted a style that was so ahead with such confidence, even though no one else was doing or wearing what they were into it. They cared about it and that’s all that mattered. Of course when people caught on, they’d already be on to the next thing and laughing at the imitators. I’m thrilled to report that they’ve got their charisma back, even if they’re no longer kids.
