One of the hottest hip-hop acts around at the moment are Chicago duo The Cool Kids, whose debut album, The Bake Sale, is released this month. Following their formation in 2005, The Cool Kids (comprised of Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish) earned their spurs playing a series of parties at the Town Hall Pub in Chicago, gigs they landed courtesy of influential DJs Flosstradamus.

Next, Rocks and Inglish put in several barnstorming festival performances, which resulted in much excited press coverage and a major online buzz. The group’s music is noticeably devoid of the overt materialism found in much mainstream hip-hop, although they are not anti-bling per se.
“If it’s done creatively, then anything can be ill,” opines Mikey Rocks. “I’m not against any form of rap, really, unless it’s cheesy or you can tell that the artist has no passion. I like a lot of cocaine rap, and super-gangsta stuff that’ll never happen, and super ostentatious money stuff. It boils down to rhythms and grooves, and what bounces and feels good to listen to.”
Do The Cool Kids feel that Chicago hip-hop has a certain sound that distinguishes it from East Coast and West Coast rap?
“You can’t really pinpoint it, because it’s all to do with the specific artist and why they’re doing it,” Mikey replies. “There are a lot of people in Chicago hip-hop who aren’t from there, so you can’t really say there’s a particular sound associated with the city. It’s hard to define, man. I wouldn’t want to limit anybody by just saying they have a Chicago sound. There are a lot of different influences in there.”
Towards the end of last year, The Cool Kids toured the US with M.I.A. How did they find the experience?
“It was dope, it was our first real US tour,” he enthuses. “She treated us really well and was really nice. The shows were great, because they were sold-out, and we got a lot of love from people who were only hearing our music for the first time. I was a fan of M.I.A. way before she even approached us about touring, so it was fantastic when she asked us to hit the road with her. She’s definitely our homie, man. I got a lot of love for her. She’s a great person and probably one of the best in music right now.”
Of late, M.I.A. has been noticeably, er, M.I.A.
“She’s chilling for some personal reasons, man. She decided to relax for a minute and do whatever she’s doing now, so it’s all good.”
The Cool Kids are part of the bill for the upcoming Rock The Bells tour in the US, which also features a reunited Pharcyde as part of the line-up. Is Mikey excited about getting a chance to see the celebrated LA group perform live?
“Hell yeah, man. They’re one of the greatest. I would definitely make it a point to try and meet them if possible. It might not happen, but it would be great if it did. I’m one of those kids who likes to sit down with the older dudes and listen to their stories. I’m not a knucklehead who doesn’t listen to the elders. I want to take in that wisdom, ’cos they’ve been there and made the mistakes.
“They let you know what’s what, and give you pointers on what the fuck not to do. So I would definitely like to meet them.”