Alright, so one QUITE hungover Thursday, I got to interview Mikey Rocks from Cool Kids for MetroPop Magazine (hence all the fashion questions). Mikey was extremely cool and we got a chance to talk about Zubaz, the art of collaboration, and how Jay-Z's "Blue Magic" sounds more than a little bit like a Cool Kids track. Then the tape ran out...
CR: First of all, do you ever get tired of being asked about your clothes?
MR: Umm yeah sometimes, it depends on what kind of questions...there’s really whack questions about clothes and then there's some good ones as well, but most of the time they're whack questions, so most of the time I don't like 'em.
CR: I understand, but as Cool Kids, you get tied to your fashion because you look pretty awesome, so it goes hand in hand.
MR: Yeah, I don't mind them, unless they're just terrible questions.
CR: What’s a terrible question you've gotten?
MR: Like, hey, uh, you guys like gold ropes and shell toes and uh, and old windbreakers, guys, where's your high top fades? Where’s your airbrushed shirts man?
CR: Jesus, there goes half my questions.
MR: Well, I'm glad I knocked 'em out.
CR: Ok, so I'm broke as hell and I wear horribly whack clothes, like, its disgusting. I don't have a lot of money, but what basic elements can I put into my style to look OK.
MR: Well, actually, all my clothes are relatively cheap. I get by with 2 dollar shirts and jeans that are maybe like, 30 bucks. The only thing that’s kind of expensive that I might wear is some shoes, and that’s cause I like a lot of Jordans and stuff, and those usually cost a good amount, Other than that, all my stuff is pretty cheap, you can just get like cheap shirts that look cool. You don’t gotta buy all kinds of high end Japanese jeans and all that crazy stuff because it really doesn't matter, nobody even notices anyway. Just buy cool stuff that’s cheap man. There’s lots of cool cheap stuff, actually, actually theres more cool cheap stuff than there is cool expensive stuff. Because a lot of expensive stuff is just like for like you know corporate club guys...all the guys that slick their hair back with a lot of mousse and like really wide flared boot cut jeans. The really expensive stuff is usually directed towards those type of dudes anyway, so, you don’t really want to wear that. A lot of the cheap stuff is cooler anyway – at thrift stores and gas stations, wherever you can find it.
CR: That’s good advice
MR: yeah
CR: So, when it comes to trends in fashion and music, trends are something we really can't avoid it sucks, but it happens. What trends do you want to see a little bit less of, and what would you like to see a little bit more of?
MR: A little bit less skulls and stuff. Skulls need to die. Skulls and crossbones definitely need to rest in peace, like they were already dead,
I would like to see a little bit more of white kids in Jordans. There's not enough white kids that wear Jordans. There's some, but there needs to be more.
CR: Alright, I’m buying a pair.
MR: More fitted hats too. More flat brims I should say yeah, more flat brimmed hats, for everybody. More flat brims for everybody.
CR: I was reading in one of your myspace blogs that you wanted to bring back the whole flannel shirt and workgloves situation that the DRS [Dirty Rotten Scoundrels] were rocking. You seem to be into bringing back or incorporating older elements into your style, is there anything else you'd like to bring back.
MR: I’m in the process right now of getting a lot of cool tank tops back into rotation. Tank tops, jerseys with no shirts on underneath them. Pretty much, the cool summer stuff. Cooler shorts too. Shorts need to get cooler.
CR: You're right, shorts don’t get enough love, at all.
MR: Naw, shorts don’t get enough love. Cooler shorts, like uh, you remember Zubaz shorts and stuff.
CR: Fuck yeah.
MR: Yeah yeah Zubaz shorts and the ones with all those crazy patterns and stuff....they kind of look like swimming trunks a little bit, but they're not swimming trunks....yeah...patterned shorts.
CR: My grandma used to make knockoff Zubaz called Scubas, and they were fucking terrible.
MR: Yeah, more scubas and more zubaz, yeah, definitely man. Just uh, cooler tanktops and cooler shorts need to get more love.
CR: As far as the music questions I was just listening to your track "Action Figures", that’s going to be on your new record.
MR: Yeah, yeah that will be on there.
CR: The subject matter is a little bit heavier, a little bit more mature. Is that kind of what you are going for with your new stuff?
MR: Yeah its kind of like uh, that’s just what I felt like expressing that day. All of our songs they just depend on what we feel like saying at the time we're recording them. I wrote a long verse about it basically. As far as new stuff that we're making. Its just, basically, everything will be better than what we've done already. We just try to constantly top what we've already done and just keep improving stuff , like, that’s our main goal. Our main goal is just to keep making everything better than the last song that we had, you know. Definitely jump stuff up with this new joint and have people be like, “aw man, this is killing all the old stuff”. If we could do that with every project we do, that will definitely lead us to classic status.
CR: I also wanted to ask you about that track that Jay Z came out with, blue magic? when I first heard it, I swear to god I thought it was a Cool Kids track.
MR: Man, a couple other people said that too man.
CR: Really? So I’m not alone.
MR: No, no man
CR: How do you feel about that?
MR: Hmm. I could see where that could come from. But, I doubt that, he probably didn't know who we were back then, so I cant say he took any influence or anything like that so, its gotta be just a coincidence.
CR: I was thinking about that, you were kind of coming up around that time, and you made a pretty decent mark in the scene, its weird how influence trickles around to people and I’m sure he caught some of the vapors off what you were doing.
MR: You think?
CR: I think man, I don't know, it seems too happy of a coincidence.
MR: I could see that because it like reeeeealy did sound like something we probably would have did. Even like down to the wordplay and the flow and stuff like that. But, I don't know I’m gonna guess it was just a coincidence.
CR: You're going to stay modest and go coincidence?
MR: Yeah, I’m gonna go coincidence cuz I’m a big fan of his, and definitely think he's one of the greatest ever. I’m going to just say coincidence.
CR: Alright, alright, I thought that was cool to hear that your kind of sound was in the mainstream or in the public eye on a big record like that. That was dope.
MR: Yeah that’s dope man, if it wasn't a coincidence I’m glad uh, that he was diggin' us.
Jay Z - Blue Magic
CR: Is there anybody like Jay or any classic artists that you guys would want to work with?
MR: Nas is like my favorite of all time. But I don’t know, I'd be scared to do a song with him cuz he's like. You know when you admire somebody so much, that you don’t know if you'd be able to like do the perfect song? You know I wouldn't want to like, tarnish that. So I'll probably never do a song with him. But I'd be like, too nervous, if I did, I'd be like man, “this the dude I’ve lived up to my whole life. I don't know if I'd be able to match up”, you know? So it’s one of those situations.
Other than that I’ve been saying in a couple interviews that I wanna do something with Cam’ron man, cuz like he gets a lot of flak sometimes from people, “nah man, he’s not good he sucks blah blah blah” but, I know deep inside he’s a monster man cuz you can hear it in his old stuff and even in a lot of his new stuff too like his wordplay his flow and like, his whole bounce about him is just super dope, and I just wanna bring the best out in him, in a song together, and see if that could work, but I doubt he'd do a song with somebody like me though. But, if he did though, it would be ridiculous.
CR: Like, that would make sense if you get him in your world, I think he'd really shine there because he's so creative.
MR: Right, right, and just kind of like, challenge him you know what I’m saying. When people are put in a situation where they are challenged that always brings out their best shit. So, just kind of put him on a really, really dope song and just kind of challenge him to just kill it? You know? I think that'd be good for him. But, he probably wouldn't do a song with a dude like me, but if he did though, it would definitely be ill.
CR: When you do work with people like that, is that kind of how you approach it?
MR: Yeah if we ever try to get into a collaboration with anybody our main goal is to not to do the song that you would expect them to do. You know not put ‘em on a song they would be really comfortable on and blah blah blah just try to put them on a song that you would like theoretically want to hear them on, I would want Jay Z on such and such beat, or rapping about such and such cuz I think he could kill it but he never does it. Like, put them in a situation like, where they're on a song that like, you would hear in a dream, like man, I heard Cam’ron on this one beat talking about this kind of stuff and he killed it, so just put ‘em on a song that you would like, want to hear them on, not the song that you would expect to hear them on.
That’s where a lot of people make mistakes at with collaborations, like, they'll take the hood rapper and put him on the hood beat, and put him on the hood song. Instead of taking the hood rapper, putting them on this like backpacker sample type joint and having him rap about some shit that he doesn't usually rap about but, you think he'd be able to do it. So that’s kind of like our aim with every collaboration that we would ever do.
CR: Yeah, it seems like a lot of artists get on auto pilot, and they just phone in verses and whatever.
MR: Right, right, right, they got like pre-written joints all ready done just like real generic songs already done and...[tape runs out]
Yup, I'm a genius with excessive foresight. Just as Mikey and I were waking up a little the tape ran out and I have no idea what was said after that. Journalistic integrity!
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