Upgrade Your Life on May 22

The name Cawzlos is derived from a combination of his first rap group (The Cawz) and his first name (Carlos.) But maybe he should call himself Funnoying, a combination of “funny” and “annoying,” or Cralarious, a combo of “Crazy” and “Hilar …” Oh, you get it.

See, on one hand, Cawzlos is a basket case; he once called me out on stage at the Colonial Theatre, telling the crowd what an asshole I am. He was right, of course, but when I called him the next day to see what was going on, he giggled and said, “Did you like it?”

When I woke up this morning, I noticed a text message; however, there was no text—only Cawzlos’ head in video form, saying, “Cawzlos, May 22 at the Distillery demo release. Cawzlos, 26hrz and Natalie reppin&Rsquo; her art … Upgrade your life.” Like a nightmare!

Well, the raconteur of Northern California’s hip-hop scene has created a new market for Sacramento emcees; it’s not the monotonous do-gooder conscious rap we’re used to, but at the same time, it’s not the hyper-thuggish gangster shit we’re sick of. It’s somewhere in between street rap and party-rocking music. And it works. Cawzlos and producer 26hrz have taken the state by storm with their regional anthems and creative ways of marketing indie rap (i.e. controversy, text videos).

The demo release party for Upgrade Your Life is not to be missed—especially if you’ve never witnessed this enigmatic emcee do his thing. Upgrade Your Life is an amazing collection of music, and the track “Troubled Soul” is powerful and haunting with an unforgettable hook sung by Middle Class Rut; and it fits Cawzlos to a tee. He’s seriously troubled, but seriously funky.