Casual Victim Pile II

The League of Extraordinary G'z

SXSW showcase: Fri., March 18, 10:30pm, Fuze

The world hasn't really met its first Austin rapper. Locals MCs are well aware.

"I've considered going different places," admits Da C.O.D.'s Mr. Greezo, a veteran on the scene. "We have a lot of mentors who have been down this road and tried, but they had to leave Austin to go to a bigger market."

With too much love for the city that raised him, Greezo orchestrated a meeting of the minds, bringing together his group with two other crews C.O.D. has worked alongside extensively: Lowkey and Sandman's ice-cold SouthBound, and Dred Skott, the dexterous, soulful team of Reggie Coby and Esbe da Bully.

"It's like balling your fingers into a fist instead of poking someone in the eye," explains Coby. "Pooling your resources, your contact lists, the individual communities of everyone involved makes for a stronger monster."

It helps that the League of Extraordinary G'z is comprised of eight immensely capable lyricists, all of whom bring a unique perspective, voice, and level of vigor to the stage. The group's two Concealed Weapons mixtapes bang hard with wildly charismatic tales of street legend and ATX gutter tactics. A third installment's set to be shipped during South by Southwest, with an album coming hopefully at the end of the summer.

"We're using [Concealed Weapons 3] to let people know that the album's gonna be jamming," says Coby. "Not to take anything away from the last two tapes, but we kind of put those two together just so people would know what we're doing."

People outside of Austin's hip-hop scene are starting to take notice. The League opened for Invincible and Pharoahe Monch at November's Fun Fun Fun Fest, and they closed out February with an invitation to Denton's 35 Conferette festival. The group's also hired management based in Houston, which will keep the LOEG name flowing through bigger markets while still allowing them to operate out of Austin.

"Austin's the best city in the world, man," Greezo says. "Anybody will tell you that."