Manny King John
Midnight, which is 9PM in California, I got talk to Jurassic Wax (J-Wax) and the buoyant Phresco Cool (P-Cool), who make up the mighty rap duo, The League LA. These two Los Angeles based emcees are gearing up to perform at Block Party LA. Both Wax, P-Cool and I talked until the wee hours of the morning about challenges in Hip Hop, gang violence, why dem cali boys are so cool, and what being in the Block Party LA means to them. Inspired by other Rap creative predecessors such as Kanye West, Outkast and Eric B. & Rakim, both P-Cool and Wax now feel that their circle is becoming complete by being placed on the lineup along with Rap legend Talib Kweli. The talented twosome have been friends since high school, and thought making good Rap music with a 90’s flow together, was a no-brainer. It was my first time talking on the phone with two cool dudes from Cali at the same damn time, so I fixed myself a cocktail, sat back, and went straight for the gusto.
Y’all got all these names, what should I call you guys?
P-Cool: Haha, that’s what a lot of ladies ask.
Oh?
P-Cool: It’s actually pronounced PHresh-co. Some people like to shorten it up. Some people say Fresh, some say P or P-Cool. I just tell people to say P-Cool since it’s like short, quick and easy.
Okay, P-Cool. So you like it short, quick and easy? Is that what you’re trying to go on the record and say?
P-Cool: I mean, if I am in a hurry!
Got it. Okay. So Wax, where did you get your name from?
J-Wax: When my boy DJ Era first started teaching me how to DJ, he told me I had to learn on wax so that’s just what I decided to call myself, as an ode to when I first really got into music.
“Cool For Thought”, the second free collection from you guys told us who some of your inspirations are. How do you guys want to impact the music world?
J-Wax: Well, Kanye West inspired us to rap together… I think the biggest thing is to encourage people, to be themselves. The industry is really cookie-cutter. However, there are a couple of frontrunners like J. Cole and Wale who push the envelope of individuality. It’s really all about individuality versus duality, and people settling for what is “popular”.
What do you mean?
J-Wax: As a culture, as a genre, as an artist, instead of, “I am gonna do it just because this person did it” versus “that guy looks like a clown and I am not gonna do that”.
P-Cool: You know, making up your own mind — or like right now, everybody is bringing back Tommy Hilfiger but I am not gonna support that because he hasn’t come out and retracted his statements about race and culture.
Editor’s Note: He actually has.
How were you selected for the Block Party LA lineup, and what does it mean to you?
P-Cool: We basically went hella hard on Twitter, promoting for a contest that they had but we didn’t get selected. We ran into a friend, that was a friend of the person who pushes the event. Now, I’ll let Wax tell you the rest.
J-Wax: So, we were able to build out of the whole music stuff, alone. That’s what we consider to be one of our biggest strengths — building. We were able to grab her ear on a person-to-person type stuff. It was a really good feeling.
P-Cool: At the same time, I feel like it’s a respect for Hip-Hop, you know? Us being able to perform under Talib Kweli, it’s so mental. Like, we get to perform for people who fuck with Talib? With the way we have put on shows in the past, I feel like your niggas are gonna remember us.
J-Wax: If you remember Natty, the “Get ‘Em High” joint, we ripped off for Cool For Thought. I just think that it’s dope that things are coming around for us. We just want to bring energy into the room, no matter if it’s two people in the room or 10,000. We don’t care if it’s Kanye West, Talib or Riff Raff headlining. We gonna kill it regardless. It will be amazing to showcase our style for different people. I feel that fans of Talib Kweli are gonna respect music enough to listen, be engaged, [and] be open to experience music in a large variety.
For more of The League LA, just click here.
