In the interest of full disclosure, let me say it right up front: yeah, I’m friends with the men of Lord T & Eloise and I even make a guest appearance on their new album, Chairmen of the Bored. However, that being said, if you read this website with any frequency, you know I make a big deal about being very particular about what I write about. I have plenty of friends and acquaintances out there about whom I have never written a single word because of my strong conviction to only write about music that really blows my mind or trends in music that I see as vital to the progression of things. Furthermore, my friends (at least my real friends) will tell you that I’m more critical of their work than anyone. Why? Simple: because if I actually care about you as a person and I know that you value my opinion, what good does it do you for me to want to sit around and bullshit you?

If you’re the kind of person who comes to me for my opinion only because you want to hear someone else tell you how great you are, I don’t want to be bothered with talking to you or talking about you. Ever. The Lord T & Eloise situation is no different for me, and these gentlemen know it all too well. Now if you want to know the story, read it after the jump.

So now let me break it down for you. The Lord T & Eloise package — from their outfits to their sound to their songs themselves — are part novelty and part skill. They give you what you want while giving you what you need, presenting the excesses of the good life through rap music in the most unique possible way: their over-the-top looks and “aristocrunk” sound represent the highest form of satire, rap songs which beg social commentary, creating solid party anthems that glorify the historical ills of excessive wealth and opulence. What your eyes see is the minstrel show, but what you actually get is a rap party extravaganza the likes of which you have never experienced.

By embracing these extremes, Lord T & Eloise remain both heirs to an empire and anomalies in the current climate of “dirty south” rap and hip-hop. Everything about them, their back story, being the wealthiest industrialist rappers in the world, Lord T’s white flowing locks and blue ring, Maurice Eloise XIII’s gold skin and hair curlers, the idiot savant genius of MysterE and the silent strength of DJ Witnesse is intentionally hilarious. You’re supposed to laugh and, at the same time, recognize that these adornments unwittingly speak to the best and worst of class warfare. As party records and hip-hop are want to do, their songs are laced with unbridled misogyny and capitalism throughout every verse. Being haves vs. being have nots is their central theme of Lord T & Eloise, a theme that for some may lead to misunderstandings about class warfare vs. racial divide.

When you combine the songs with Lord T & Eloise’s “rich white guy minstrel show” antics, a secondary message comes through loud and clear from a city as notoriously racially divided as Memphis: we have broken down our barriers so fully that finally, even in the culture of hip-hop, no longer is there merely black and white. The only color that should matter to anyone, Lord T & Eloise would tell you inevitably, is federal green. However, as evidenced by the appearance of Eloise on the Grammy Red Carpet this year, this story has plans to be much bigger than Memphis.

The 20-song CD which got into our hands this weekend is a non-stop party record. It’s not just a smart and accomplished recording by four guys from Memphis. Chairmen of the Bored is filled with the kind of banging bass anthems that you want to rock, whether it’s past the bus stop or through the parking lot at the mall or when you’re pulling up to the valet at Hyde. It’s overwhelming to take notice of the phenomenon swirling around Lord T & Eloise at a time when our country is in such dire shape. No matter how hellish your current situation is, Lord T & Eloise want to give you a chance to escape, to take you on a trip to the good life for a minute and forget about your problems. They want you to get up and shake your ass and laugh and have a good time. This album successfully blurs all the lines between “living the party life” and “being the life of the party”.

With so much tremendous material on one record, it’s almost a greatest hits album by itself. There’s club anthems like “Dance Move (featuring Al Kapone)”, deep funk grooves like “Back From The Business Trip (featuring 8 Ball)”, the M.I.A./Spank Rock/Amanda Blank influenced “Hollywood Stars (featuring Gangsta Boo)” and a slough of comedic skits, guest appearances and tracks that encompass a well-rounded traditional party rap album. The collection is far from run-of-the-mill. It’s truly the kind of record that I can imagine I will hear booming out of car speakers from coast-to-coast.

If the physical appearance of these four guys on stage are at once confusing and, perhaps, laughable, the laughter quickly subsides once they start their show. They give 110% of themselves at every turn, they don’t rely on the gimmickry of their outfits to do the work for them — they give an incredibly physical show full of classic hip-hop braggodocio and style. It’s because of this that Lord T & Eloise have been given the seal of approval for their rhymes and their beats (created by MysterE himself) from several forefathers and bridge builders of Memphis’s rap illuminati. The guest vocal appearances on the new album read like a who’s-who of Memphis artistry: Gangsta Boo (formerly of Three 6 Mafia), 8 Ball (of 8 Ball & MJG), Al Kapone, Kingpin Skinny Pimp and Kinfolk Kia Shine (representatives all of a Memphis “rap mafia” if you will) along with Free Sol, Kaz, and even Cody Dickinson (of North Mississippi All-Stars) give you the sense that Lord T & Eloise are the inheritors of a well-deserved validation for their efforts in a notoriously insulated area of rap music.

From a music business perspective, they have the formula figured out correctly. Like the Beastie Boys themselves, Lord T & Eloise present themselves as three MC’s and one DJ and rap (as the Beasties did early on) about partying, making money and getting women. In other words, it’s not exactly a “new model”, but it is definitely one whose formula for success could only be valid if the people who put it together pull it off effectively. If the best evidence I can present to you is their over-sold show at the Hi-Tone this past weekend (which included crowd-moving appearances of 8 Ball, Gangsta Boo, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Kaz and Free Sol), it’s clear that Memphis has seen the beginning of yet another phenomenon in the history of hip-hop.

For the record, this story is really writing itself. I’m merely editing it down in my brain, telling you what I see and what I hear. My suggestion? Sit back, relax, and take notes.

DOWNLOAD ALERT: Click here to check out a song from the new album, “Hollywood Stars (featuring Gangsta Boo).

Click Here to Visit Lord T & Eloise on MySpace Music

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