Chuck Inglish today isn’t the same Chuck Inglish from 2022. He sounds noticeably different, like he’s weathered some recent storms that have reshaped his perspective on the world. Throughout the interview, it becomes painfully clear the Cool Kids co-founder has, in fact, been chewed up and spit out over the last three years, a period of adversity that began around the time the Cool Kids released their triple album, Before Shit Got Weird (Chapter 1), Baby Oil Staircase (Chapter 2) and Chillout (Chapter 3).
In early 2021, Inglish had started a funk-infused soul band called Vanilla Is Black. At the time, it looked like the trio had a bright future ahead. They landed a deal with Def Jam Recordings in October 2023, recorded an EP called You Ain’t Never Lied and were seemingly on their way—until Def Jam suddenly severed ties with the group last October 7, which just happened to be Chuck’s 40th birthday.
“We got dropped before we even could get started,” he tells me. “They dropped like half the roster and got rid of all their developing acts. I’d put two hard years into it. I spent the whole first half of 2024 in a house recording the album.”
Simultaneously, he and fellow Cool Kid Sir Michael Rocks were working on the aforementioned Cool Kids record and Chuck had developed a breakfast concept for his own pop-up restaurant to further explore his love of the culinary arts. But following the Def Jam split, he was in financial peril. The price of groceries was skyrocketing and he realized it was difficult to make a profit without selling alcohol. Coupled with the death of his grandparents, a pandemic, the raging fires consuming Los Angeles, where he was living at the time, and other personal turmoil, Chuck was in a dark place.
“I would call it a soft sadness,” he says. “I wouldn’t say it was a depression. But I don’t think anybody could have survived my last two years and kept their head on straight. Even though I loved the music I made with Vanilla Is Black, I don’t think I was supposed to win right there.”
Now, after relocating to his hometown of Detroit, he’s in the middle of a reawakening.
“All the stuff that used to matter or would stress me out, I don’t have to feel anymore,” he explains. “I just said, ‘Fuck it.’ Anything I had, I can get back. I started focusing on what I can do now. Even in the middle of some fucking wet dog shit, I was very blessed.”
Despite Chuck’s personal struggles, he knew he had Sir Michael Rocks, his longtime friend and collaborator, ready to take another crack at the Cool Kids.
“We are the bestest of friends throughout all of this shit,” he says. “One time I came back to Chicago for some shit I didn’t even want to do, some PR shit, and he picked me up. We didn’t even talk. We went straight to Hooters. He knew how fucked up I was at the time. We just sat at the bar, ate wings and drank. Then we got in the car.
“We get back, he made sure I had some weed, we sat and watched shit. I didn’t really say nothing for maybe two days. But in that, you start realizing, ‘OK, at least I got this and we are still good.’ We actually might be better than we’ve ever been, and we might be better than everybody else.”
With that energy, Chuck and Mikey began working on their forthcoming album, Hi Top Fade, which will officially arrive on October 10 via Fool’s Gold Records. But it wouldn’t have happened without Mannie Fresh or Fool’s Gold founder A-Trak, who’d recruited the duo for another project.
“We kind of started working backward,” Mikey explains. “While we were doing the Mannie project, Chuck was like, ‘Yo, what if we drop another album before this one to heat things up and make it a prequel?’ After the first two tracks, we figured we got something special on our hands, so we doubled down and focused more on another Cool Kids album.”
They ran it by A-Trak, who was enthralled with the idea and agreed to put it out on Fool’s Gold. Mikey and Chuck began hopping around Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Chicago, recording what would evolve into the 15 tracks on Hi Top Fade. But this time, the album marks a welcome return to their roots both in sound and personnel.
Those familiar with the Cool Kids’ story might recall the label woes they faced in 2008, when they were embroiled in a contractual dispute with Chocolate Industries. The conflict led to a lengthy legal battle that put the group in “record label jail.”
The group’s debut album, When Fish Ride Bicycles, was supposed to drop in 2008, but the legal and contractual issues with the indie label led to a significant delay, and the album wasn’t released until 2011. Fortunately for Cool Kids’ fans, The Bake Sale EP (2008) and a series of mixtapes kept them alive. Now, as Mikey put it, they have “a second chance to do something that we should have done in the first place.”
“When we first started in 2007, we were approached by A-Trak and Fool’s Gold way back then to put out our first single and start a record deal,” Mikey remembers. “Back then, we were in between all that indie label drama and it just didn’t work out. This time, we saw that opportunity to reset the timeline and do this shit right.”
The first single from the album, “Banana in the Tailpipe” featuring Seafood Sam arrived in July and, true to Cool Kids form, is an unrelenting banger. The second single, “Foil Bass,” was released in August and the third, “95 South” featuring A-Trak and Sango, drops September 19 along with a video, another full circle moment. For the visual, the duo tapped GL-Joe to direct, the same videographer who shot the “Black Mags” video in 2007. With all the elements in place, there’s a sense the Cool Kids aren’t messing around—they’ve come for their crowns.
“I actually want violence,” Chuck says, metaphorically. “Mikey once told me, ‘When you got an edge, nothing can stop us.’ Now I got a permanent edge.”
With Chuck laser focused on Cool Kids music and Mikey riding shotgun, their reunion couldn’t come at a better time. Hip-hop is as diverse as it’s ever been, with more and more pioneers and architects of the culture delivering some of their best work. Cool Kids are trailblazers in their own right, having helped shape “internet rap” in the late 2000s with their DIY aesthetic, booming 808s, and retro yet futuristic sound.
“I think a lot of artists dream of doing other things,” Chuck says. “Growing up, I watched Pharrell do it and, more recently, Tyler [The Creator]. They were able to cover all these bases. I want to do that, too. But our [the Cool Kids] sound was always what I did best. With the Vanilla Is Black stuff, I was trying to prove to myself how good of a musician I was. I don’t regret it, but it has a lot to do with why I turned around and went back the other direction because I’ve explored it. I did it at a very high level.”
At the core of the Cool Kids is an unbreakable bond between two best friends, who’ve been put to the test but emerged on the other side with a renewed purpose.
“We got ravaged by a lot of things,” Mikey adds. “We were victims of predatory industry stuff. We are victims of not knowing how to navigate through this business with the type of people that you have to deal with in the music industry. We were just kids who made good music. We saw other artists stealing our ideas and record labels stealing our money. It was tough.
“But the thing that would take us back to a place of alignment and balance was when we would get together. And that didn’t even have to be for a recording or musical reason—just together anywhere in the same space. That’s where we figured out just how strong our friendship actually was.”
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