Claire Hux

Baltimore's Claire Hux, of DLake and Symbol have been reviewed in this blog before. They performed as the warmup for Kid Cudi and Hollywood at Bedrock a month ago, and in front of a crowd solely comprised of friends and tastemakers, left the crowd aware that they are likely one of the pre-eminent groups on the Baltimore underground hip-hop scene. Friday at Ottobar saw them in the warmup role again, as the undercard for reigning king of BMore underground disc jockeys DJ Blaqstarr (as in has produced Rye Rye, MIA and a gang of others, Mad Decent Records' own) at an event co-promoted by Johns Hopkins University's Omega Psi Phi fraternity and campus radio station WJHU. This would be quite the test, as, well, the crowd was full of frat dudes and faux hipster airheads, with true appreciators of the Baltimore club genre dotting the crowd like Eskimos in a desert, and, most times I tend to play anything Baltimore for my friends, they get this snarled up face response like, "you REALLY listen to this shit?" So yeah. I was certain that (a) this was a crowd that had to be pandered to initially, and (b) by the end of the set, I'd know whether or not these guys were going to be capable of being bigger stars on a national level. Well, DLake opens the set with Michael Jackson's Thriller, citing Hallween's proximity, and, it was as if a bomb had exploded, as the crowd came alive for the first time all night. From there, he went into a set that highlighted a lot of the hotter, more mainstream sections of his first two BMore of a Hipster mixtapes: (http:www.thedlake.com/bohmixtape, http://www.dlake.com/bohmixtape2), which got thr crowd hyped for the ultra charismatic rapper of the duo, Symbol, replete with his white facepainted line under his eyes, white zebra striped skinny jeans and BABY POWDER hit the stage.

The next 45 minutes of their set highlighted their new "Jammin on the One Mixtape," (http://www.clairehux.com/mixtape), a fantastic journey into the group, which is great for those likely unaware as to who they are, as, it has much much more of a slickly produced album feel than a mixtape feel, as Unruly Records co-conspirator and BMore club legend Scottie B. did the production and mix work here, and, his slick skills do nothing more than amplify the talents of the two men, and make it the last "must cop" mixtape of 2008.

But back to the performance. Baltimore club has ALWAYS been about 125 BPM excitement layered over sampled hooks, which is where full songs by Baltimore club artists historically have fallen short, as the MC work usually lacks, but the hooks are hysterical, ridiculous and ultimately memorable, which is why we all likely know "Watch Out for the Big Girl," "Percolator," and all the songs of that ilk that ruled the early and mid-90s Baltimore explosion. But, "2 Much Dick on the Dancefloor," "Holy Ghost In the Club," and "Bust You In Da I" are ALL hot tracks with completely ridiculous hooks as well, which leads me to think that at SOME point in 2009, I'm going to anoint them as the next Rye Rye, or, the next huge thing to blow up from Baltimore. It's that serious.

I know this because of that crowd. These kids had ABSOLUTELY no idea who these two guys were, had ABSOLUTELY no reason to lose their shit, but they did. THIRTY FOUR WOMEN WERE ON STAGE WHEN THEY CLOSED THE SHOW! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN 34 WOMEN ONSTAGE AT A SHOW?!?!?!?!? DLake and Symbol are classic old school hip hop party artists. Don't let the BPMs fool you into calling them some sort of trendy house thing. There's elements of Busy Bee there. There's elements of Audio Two there. There's elements of Doug E. Fresh there. These two are ENTERTAINERS first, HIP HOP artists second. There's a startling lack of that in the hipster genre these days. There's so much fucking talent in this scene. HOWEVER, the ones that make it out are the ones who entertain. Who get that music is fun, and that connecting with the people ONLY makes your music MORE FUN. They're walking cartoon advertisments for the happiness of old school hip hop. They're friggin' named for no less of an 80s ICON than Claire Huxtable, and I swear, if they made their t-shirts available for sale (with Claire's face on them), they'd have a brand new fashion trend.

http://www.tgrionline.com/2008/10/claire-hux-and-blaqstarr-ottobar-101708.html - Tgrionline.com

Has hipster hop gone too far? Give a listen to Dlake and Symbol’s new Jammin’ on the One Mixtape and let me know what you think. This duo from B’more and NYC are on some other level shit. If you thought Kid Cudi was experimental, then these guys will blow your mind. - moneyhoesandclothes.wordpress.com

What do you get when you combine two dudes, Cosby Show references and a holy ghost in the club? Straight mayhem in the form of Claire Effing Huxtable, or, if you're down with monosyllables, Claire Hux -- quite possibly the best club act I've ever seen. Ever.

Some friends and I first came across Claire Hux a couple of months ago while wandering aimlessly around Baltimore's ArtScape street festival, which was pretty typical as far as street fests go (i.e. dirty, smelly hippies), until, that is, Claire Hux serendipitously electric slid into our lives clad in fluorescent T-shirts adorned with the sweet visage of Phylecia Rashad. Since then, we've been hotly anticipating the glorious time during which Dlake and Symbol, the two guys who make up the magic that is Claire Hux, would grace us once again with their presence. Claire Hux is to parties what Latarian Milton is to "hood rat stuff." That is, they have mega expert skills.

Luckily, that time came on Saturday at Baltimore's Wind Up Space, where Claire Hux took the floor probably just before midnight (time is irrelevant when Claire Hux is around) and danced their damn asses off. I'd write more, but I think in this case pictures may be more apropos. Unfortunately, as tradition goes here at The Anti DC, my photog skills are to decent photographs what DC is to fashion. That is, they're subpar and a little embarrassing. - theantidc.com

Wow, i’ve slept on this one, was supposed to post it last week when I got caught up but I won’t keep this one for myself any longer.

The “party in a box” Baltimore/NYC super group Claire Hux (consisting of Symbol, DLake, & DJ Morsy) is showing off their skills in a new tape mixed by the mighty Scottie B. Claire Hux is an old school crew, two mc’s and one dj, with a definite up to date mix of Baltimore Club, 80s Retro, Hip Hop, and Pop. They alredy rocked parties all over the States but are now refueling with new tracks and with this mix, you can be sure they’re gonna keep the flag up high for next year hopefully reaching the shores of Europe.

“Baby Powder, Bike Hats, Blue Magic Grease, and Booty Shaking Music. They are bringing back well produced beats, melodic lyrics, and a crazy live show with choreographed dancing. Claire Hux always keeps the ladies dancing!” - Discobelle

As evidenced by the above photo, Baltimore collective Claire Hux are glam-minded party rockers who've been blowing roofs off venues lately with their weird and highly enjoyable take on Bmore club. Stuffing their tracks with gratuitous bass blasts, Prince melodies, gun shot samples, sirens, raunchy dancefloor commands, and enough high-energy breaks to move even the most sedentary of club goers, these kids are killing it if only for making a genre that we've seen appropriated by pretty much everyone in the game become entirely new and fun on its own again. They're currently signed to Unruly Records, the imprint run by legendary Bmore DJ Scottie B., who also mixed the Hux's new mixtape, Jammin On The One. All three of these tunes make appearances on there, so check them out here, and if you're digging it head on over to their website to cop the whole thing for free.ninety.nine. - Rcrd Lbl