Locals Only

Technicali hip-hop crew gets another one out into the world: nimble MC the Lost Art, whose “I Gotta Rhyme” (produced by HB's unstoppable LD) gets a video with a pretty iconic local moment that finds Lost Art bouncing through verse after verse for one (admittedly supportive) kid in what looks like a Starbucks courtyard—you know, you take the place you get and you make something with it, right? “Gotta Rhyme” is one of those statement-of-identity/state-of-the-art songs, but Lost Art puts it through with obvious heartfelt honesty and on-point percussive delivery that pins a hard consonant to every snare hit—it's got a sparks-on-the-rails freestyle momentum (underscored especially by LD's understated beat), but Lost Art's got it plotted down to the punctuation marks, making “Rhyme” a song that doesn't ever give itself enough of a break to get boring. Flip “No Guarantees” (featuring Ariano on a cool twist-and-turn hook and longtime Technicali patron LMNO) is the soul-searcher—sounds like some tragedy close to home for Lost Art, who spins through some downer meditations on how temporary some things can be (“If there's one lesson in life, it's that there's no guarantees . . .”). Fans of flagship locals like the Visionaries will already find a lot to like about the Lost Art—he's got the humor, the humility and the agility that give a good MC something to say.

Contact: www.myspace.com/contactthelostart.

THE LOST ART PERFORMS WITH THE L22 FAMILY (MISTAMIL, DEF J, OPEN HEARTS, MEESH AND BERRETTO) AND ODD THOMAS PLUS SOPHISTIC, VERBAL SUPPLEMENT, PLAIN JANE AND MC PIERRE AT THE ROC, 1700 PLACENTIA AVE., COSTA MESA, (949) 642-3884. FRI., 8:30 P.M. $10. 21+. WWW.L22RECORDS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Local bands and musicians! We need more coasters! Send CDs to Locals Only, OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, 92701-7417. Or e-mail MySpace links to eg*****@oc******.com">eg*****@oc******.com.

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