The Cool Kids is an American hip hop group. Consisting of rappers Antoine "Sir Michael Rocks" Reed (originally from Matteson, Illinois) and Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll (originally from Mount Clemens, Michigan), the group is based in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan. The Cool Kids' music has been released primarily to the independent Chocolate Industries via their own label C.A.K.E. Recordings, but as of 2010 are no longer with Chocolate Industries due to label issues. Reed and Ingersoll have made appearances in numerous forms of media, as well as in collaborations with other artists such as Chip tha Ripper, Asher Roth, Yelawolf, Kenna, The Bloody Beetroots, Drake, Travis Barker, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, and Maroon 5.
History
The members of The Cool Kids met in 2005 when Reed found a beat on
MySpace that Ingersoll had produced. The two met to discuss terms of the beat's sale, and eventually ended up recording for two hours. They were inspired by
golden age hip hop and artists like
Eric B. & Rakim. Ingersoll began promoting the new duo's material, and it was eventually booked by Josh Young of
Flosstradamus for a DJ performance. They also received an offer from the DJ
A-Trak to sign to his Fool's Gold label, Of their time with Fool's Gold, the Cool Kids felt they weren’t getting enough attention: “When your boss is on tour with Kanye West, it’s easy to have timelines missed,” said Chuck in an interview.
All of their material had been released solely on the band's MySpace page Eventually, The Cool Kids signed to Chocolate Industries, another independent label. Ingersoll has been the producer for tracks released thus far, but both work in rapping and production. The duo uses music software program Reason from Propellerhead Software to produce their music.
They have been on tour, opening for M.I.A. and they will be also joining the bill of the 2008 Rock the Bells hip hop festival on select dates. The group toured across Australia in February 2008 and also appeared at the Laneway Festival. The group also appeared at SUNY Purchase's Culture Shock event in April 2009. One of the duo's singles, "Black Mags", was featured in a late 2007 Rhapsody TV commercial, along with Sara Bareilles. In the same year, the group collaborated with Lil Wayne and DJ Benzi through the Internet on a track entitled "Gettin' It", which will reportedly appear on the DJ's future album Get Right.
The Cool Kids have been featured in the video games NBA Live 08 and MLB 2K8 with the song "88", in Need for Speed Nitro, with The Bloody Beetroots in the song Awesome, and in the episode "The First Cut Is the Deepest" from HBO's TV series Entourage with the song "Mikey Rocks". They were listed in Rolling Stone's Ten Artists to Watch in 2008. According to Rolling Stone, "since "Black Mags" debuted, the Cool Kids have gone from an underground sensation in their native Chicago to the hottest ticket at New York's CMJ festival."
The duo has been endorsed by Mountain Dew for their single, "Delivery Man", to which commercials and the music video have aired on MTV2. The group's song "Bassment Party" was featured in the September 21, 2008 episode of the HBO hit comedy Entourage. They also recorded an original track, "2K Pennies," for the soundtrack of NBA 2K9However, The Cool Kids have said in an interview that their success has been gradual.
They will also be headlining the "NBA 2K Bounce Tour" along with Q-Tip. The Cool Kids also performed at the 2009 Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, Louisiana. Producer Don Cannon said in an interview with XXL, that he will be working with The Cool Kids for their new album. The group's second official mixtape, Gone Fishing was released on May 5, 2009. They are currently working on their debut album, When Fish Ride Bicycles, which has no release date as of yet.
Their song "A Little Bit Cooler" was used in a "Most Valuable Puppets" commercial from Nike with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant entitled "Mrs. Lewis". A new mixtape called Tacklebox came out on May 31, 2010. Chuck Inglish worked with Chip tha Ripper and produced his debut album Gift Raps in its entirety. The group claims they haven't put out an album because of having issues with their former label Chocolate Industries for the past three years, but according to the group these issues are now settled and they are working on putting out When Fish Ride Bicycles.
Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks recently teamed up with Gary, Indiana's Freddie Gibbs and Cleveland's Chip tha Ripper to form the "super group" P.O.C. (Pulled Over by the Cops).
The groups album is set to be release on July 12, 2011, on Green Label Sound.
Discography
;Albums
When Fish Ride Bicycles (2011), Green Label Sound
;EPs
The Bake Sale (2008), C.A.K.E., Chocolate Ind. and XL Recordings
Merry Christmas (2009)
;Mixtapes
Totally Flossed Out (2005)
That's Stupid! (2007)
Gone Fishing (2009)
Tacklebox (2010)
The Rocks Report (2011) (Sir Michael Rocks)
Premier Politics (2011) (Sir Michael Rocks)
; Singles
"
Black Mags" (2007), C.A.K.E., Chocolate Ind.
"Delivery Man" (2008), Green Label Sound
Bundle Up (2011)
Videography
Black Mags (2007)
Delivery Man (2008)
Pennies (2008)
Knocked Down (2009)
Tires (2009)
Free Throws (2009)
Do It Big (2010)
Gold Links (2010)
Big Talk (2010)
Bundle Up (2011)
See also
Chicago hip hop
Detroit hip hop
References
External links
HipHopCanada.com interview (February 26, 2008)
The Cool Kids interview
Article
Vibe article
FMLY Interviews The Cool Kids
Category:2000s music groups
Category:American hip hop groups
Category:African American musical groups
Category:African American rappers
Category:Electro-hop musicians
Category:Hip hop record producers
Category:Musical duos
Category:Musical groups established in 2007
Category:Musical groups from Chicago, Illinois
Category:Rappers from Detroit, Michigan
![The Cool Kids - Free Throws [Music Video]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110901110729im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jT5sX5wIgKo/0.jpg "The Cool Kids - Free Throws [Music Video]")
