Hip-Hop Lead

Right now, I’m wearing the same pants that I wore to the Peanut downtown two nights ago for Hip-Hop and Hot Wings. The club was overcrowded and sweaty and gross because for some reason, the upstairs was closed. I Febrezed my jeans yesterday; that’s about it. Ladies, is that gross? Or do you like a man who lives, loves and dies by his dungarees? After all, as Ibsen said, “Never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.”

CES Cru

If you agree, then you’ll like CES Cru (say it “sess crew”). The Conglomerate Elements of Selfconsciousness were there at the Peanut, throwing down a set that had fans crowding to the front and throwing their hands in the air while the beats were on. When the beats stopped, rappers Godemis and Ubiquitous often kept going, rhyming in rapid-fire synchronization, creating stunning waves of verbiage that had a sort of narcotic effect on the brain. Indeed, the Cru’s accelerated flow — as precise as a rivet machine at a car factory, with words dropping like beats on a skittery jungle track — transcends mere hip-hop and becomes more like live theater. Fans of CES know what’s coming next: If only they’d put out a new record!

They haven’t released a CD since 2004’s Capture Enemy Soldiers (back when a chick named Sorceress was in the group), and it seems they’ve become somewhat notorious in the scene for having a surfeit of talent and a dearth of drive to produce, play and market themselves (Sike Style takes care of the lion’s share of the latter). That’s why I’m not holding my breath in anticipation of two slated releases from the Cru. The first is to be called Packed Lunch, which is a solo Godemis EP; and the second will be a two-disc mixtape featuring a slew of local guest artists called CES Files. This puts them in the company of Approach, who has just released a mixtape (The Nu, which I swear I’ll review soon) two years after putting out a bona fide full-length.

And still no Rhymesayers debut from Mac Lethal (and no finished Web site, either)! 11:11 was supposed to come out months ago (and the site has been in a state of “coming soon” for well over a year). In the meantime, at least, Lethal released Love Potion Collection 2 independently, which I also have yet to review.

I think me and the hip-hop scene both need to get the lead out of our asses.