Ces Cru

MCs Godemis and Ubiquitous, who work the mics as CES Cru, released their debut, Capture Enemy Soldiers, in 2005. Since then, the group's dedicated following has shown that CES is a rare local hip-hop act that can not only draw fans but also have them chanting the choruses.

The duo's latest, CES Philes Vol. 1 Codename: Iron Giant, breaks the three-year hiatus with first-person details on inner-city life, palpi­tating syllables, lyrical onomatopoeia and intuitive alliteration, all of which makes it hard to compare CES with anyone else. "Cypha 2," a beast of a posse cut, sports darts from Godemis and Ubi, Shady Pacino and S.H.A.D.O.W. One of the best verses from Ubiquitous is directed at lazy rappers who don't take the time to master their own CDs: Dis the faction?/Naw, this the faction/They saved a few hundred on the mixin' and masterin'/The sound quality suffers a bit/But the discs come fast/I guess you just ain't fuckin with this, what ("Codename ... Iron Giant").

Meanwhile, in "Scraps," Godemis claims, I haven't bought nobody else's album in weeks. And why would you? CES Cru is to your favorite local rap crew as PS3 is to Atari.