Anti-Crew Presents: Dat's Wassup Mix Tape by Anti-Crew

You never really hear "down home" when it comes to hip-hop (and those that are called "down home" are anything but), but you feel as if you've entered a comfort zone with these guys, and they can do no wrong, as Anti-Crew's DJ Eternal demonstrates:

So you say I don't look like a rapper

My pants don't sag, and you ain't never seen me wear my hat backwards

Anyone can dress and play actor

Until your shit is mastered, looks don't matter

I see you posted up in your fresh new gear

Trying to look fly like the next dude here

But I don't got to try 'cause I already am

Center-stage, fly as fuck with a mic in my hand

You rhymin' in your ride while I rule in the booth

I'm pressing CD's, you bought gold for your tooth

You walkin' and you talk like you got something to prove

But you ain't gained shit, man, you got nothing to lose

What I like about their writing style is how they can talk the talk, but never overstep their boundaries. If it's not what they're about, they're not going to talk about it. If it's a fantasy tale, they'll let you know. What they'll also let you know is how it is in KC, as they do in "KC Shuffle" with Joe Good, Approach, Brother Of Moses, Lucid, Qan, Reach, and Ubiquitous. It's all about the battle of words and wit, but they manage to keep their egos in check for the spirit of the song, which lets listeners know the KC hip-hop scene is not to be fucked with.

This mix tape could have easily been released as a proper Anti-Crew album. If this is just something to throw out to the fans in the meantime, the world may not be ready for what they're currently putting together. It's dangerous.

BIO

While a part of a larger six man group, FlareThaRebel and DJ Eternal stood out on stage. Noticed because of their chemistry together and obvious passion for music the duo was immediately recognized for their raw talent. Once their original group dissembled, Flare and Eternal hit the ground running and formed Anti-Crew. Within a year, the two released their first professionally pressed full length album, "The Progressive Movement: A Step Forward", which received outstanding reviews in the Kansas City Star, The Pitch, Columbia Chronicle, as well as Musicforamerica.org.

Flare and Eternal are also known to compliment each others style to a fine key. As well as showcasing his skill on the turntables live and on record, DJ Eternal handles the majority of the group's production, raps along side FlareThaRebel, and even plays the guitar during certain songs of Anti-Crew's live set. FlareThaRebel, the lead MC/vocalist, has been quoted as a "compelling storyteller" and his lyrical versatility enables him to balance Anti-Crew's tracks between a vast range of appealing themes and concepts making them, as quoted, "less monochromatic than other conscious rap groups".

With a perseverant spirit, Anti-Crew has continued their success performing at many venues in and outside of their local scene, as well as opening for the Scribble Jam Tour, opening for Fatlip of Pharcyde, excelling to the semi-finals of the Emergenza Music Festival Tournament in Chicago, IL, and being recognized as one of Kansas City's 30 top artists under age 30 by the Kansas City Star. Anti-Crew has even broken into an international market selling CD's in Japan as well as in the states.

Without a doubt, FlareThaRebel and DJ Eternal's drive for their career in music and natural talent will continue to win over fans and press. As quoted, "Anti-Crew's work ethic has awed the scene (KCMO). Even among the ranks of professionals twice their age, it would be hard to find anyone as determined or sure of themselves."

REVIEW

"Dat's Wassup is more laid-back, lighthearted and, in a sense, mature, than The Progressive Movement...[The CD] also shows that [Flare] and [Eternal] really know how to make music... To cite just a couple of examples, "Gangsta Coat," featuring Reach and Lucid (under the aliases Get'n Bread Sanford and Benny Brock), is a hilarious sendup of the idea that everything that happens in a gangster rapper's life is gangsta. During the chorus, Eternal (a pencil-thin white boy) busts out a pretty mean Lil John-style What? Ayyy! On the nonjoke tip, "KC Shuffle" brings together seven top-notch local rappers to record pretty much the definitive love letter to Kansas City. And the eight tracks that showcase only Flare and Eternal, rapping in their trademark spitback (i.e., "duet") style — those are badass, too. It sounds great in the car."

-Jason Harper, The Pitch (KCMO)

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