Street Kings: L.E.P/ Bogus Boys

Holding It Down For: Chicago

Mixtape: Don’t Feed Da Killaz, Vol. 3

Real Spit: The Low End Professionals, L.E.P for short, have been wreaking havoc in Chicago’s underground-rap scene for over a decade. The respect that the Count, Moonie and the under-house-arrest Bigg Rugg have in the streets translates much farther than the Windy City. The night the Mixtape Daily cameras caught up with Count and Moonie, they were partying with Wale, and the group has recorded with the likes of Jim Jones and Young Dro over the years.

For the Bogus Boys, though, industry co-signs are cool, but they care most about the love in the ‘hood. 

“We been together 12 years,” Count said, standing next to Moonie in front of the now-closed (but still legendary) Cabrini-Green projects. “We been knowing each other for a long time. This is my brother. We had a couple of stop-and-go’s, but we been doing this music for some time. We at our best right now.”

Some members of the L.E.P crew have been killed in the street, others sent to prison, but the music hasn’t stopped.

“The story needs to be told,” said Count, whose flow is reminiscent of Rakim’s. “Our streets are a little bit different from where y’all at. Y’all need to know about Chicago.”

“Get in tune,” Moonie advised. “We’re gonna take y’all on a journey through the city. [The mixtape] represents the streets of Chicago. It’s something new. Something that hasn’t been touched on. That’s what we’re bringing to y’all. Real stuff. We embody the whole situation in Chicago, letting y’all know what’s going on.”

Joints to Check For

» “Chicago N—as.” “I like that song a lot because we get to rep Chicago,” Count said. “Plus, we got a hot video for it. Our music is a melodic sound. We got music for the ladies and of course we got music for the streets that everybody from the streets relates to.”

“It’s painting a big picture, you know?” Moonie added. “If you not from Chicago and you listening to the song, you could understand everything about Chicago. When I was writing it, I was just in a Chicago state of mind.”

» “Air ‘Em Out.” “This is gonna scare the game,” Moonie promised. “We airing out people’s dirty laundry. It’s gonna set everything out. We don’t care. We the hottest. The track is featuring Alley Boy. Alley Boy, what’s up? We be going back and forth in the A. I’m not gonna get into what we doing. But we represent the same struggle; him from Atlanta, us from Chicago.”

“We’re both from the street. Real recognize real,” Count agreed. “He’s doing the same thing we doing: independent. We’ll be back down there, and their pass is good up here.”