Local hip-hop duo Illegal Alias is a rare sight in an age where rappers obsessively brag about wealth, women and violence. Ricardo “Gray Matter” Jeffries and Justin “MC Exact” Colomb aren’t your typical rap duo. They started rapping almost as a joke.”We first started it as almost a pastime. We’d just start freestyling,” Colomb said. “We’d say whatever came to our minds first. Just stupid stuff. Then we started actually coming up with similes and metaphors that were actually good.”While they started rapping just for fun, Jeffries actually put his thoughts on paper. “I would say I was the first to start rapping. As I started writing, I encouraged Justin to write. Then we tried to one-up each other,” Jeffries said.The group’s lyrics are evidence they don’t take themselves too seriously. “I was freestyling with some guys, and I was trying to quit smoking cigarettes, so my whole rap consisted of quitting cigarettes,” Colomb joked. “During my freestyle, I had a cigarette, and at the end of the rap, I threw my cigarette on the ground, and it exploded!” Having met in second grade, Jeffries and Colomb formed a strong chemistry as natural as the relationship between twins. Even in conversation, it is evident their minds work in unison.  “When we were trying to come up with an alias, we couldn’t come up with one that wasn’t taken,” Jeffries said. Colomb joked that, “all the good ones were taken, but so were all the bad ones.”Illegal Alias’ influences include standard hip-hop heroes like Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Tupac Shakur. The list also includes some not-so-typical influences like 311, Bob Marley and the Wailers and jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.  “I grew up with my great-grandmother. She came up during severe racial strife in this country, and that [Thelonious Monk] was the kind of stuff she listened to.  I would sit at her house and just absorb this music unconsciously,” Colomb said. Illegal Alias is also known for putting on energetic live shows. Madeline Brown, University alumna, recalled seeing the duo several years ago at Clicks.  “They were a lot of fun. It was nice to see upbeat hip-hop rather than the usual mainstream stuff,” she said. Myles Standefer, manager of the Spanish Moon and friend of the group, enjoys when they play at the bar.  “They have more of a true hip-hop style. It’s not really the indicative sound of the southern hip-hop culture,” Standefer said.Jeffries has close ties to the University, being a former KLSU radio DJ. “I was the founder and host of the ‘Old School Reunion’, which is a classic hip-hop show,” he said. Jeffries noticed the absence of classic hip-hop on the radio, so he decided to take the initiative and start his own program. “I loved to play the original songs that newer rap songs sample,” he said. “I tried to give that to people our age, who didn’t know where the samples came from.”Illegal Alias belongs to a local hip-hop movement which promotes education and having a good time, instead of violence. Nathan “Bionik Brown” Woods, a New Orleans emcee who died recently in a car crash in Denver, was one of their contemporaries.  “Every little bit of success that he got, he laid the foundation for us,” Jeffries recalled. “He could battle anybody and destroy them.”Despite their negative view of today’s commercialized rap, Illegal Alias does not believe hip-hop is dead. Jeffries compared finding good hip-hop artists to finding a good movie.”There can be amazing movies being made right now, but I won’t know about it, because I don’t look for good movies. People settle for whatever’s popular right now,” Jeffries said. Colomb suggested hip-hop is merely hiding.”It’s in hibernation right now.  Once we come out, its going to be a huge thing,” Colomb said.Despite the release of their debut eponymous album Aug. 8, both men feel they have a long way to go.”We’ve got levels and levels to go.  I would like to be able to make a living off of music.  If I can pay my rent and my car without mopping floors or taking out the trash, I’ll be good,” Jeffries said.  While Jeffries has a more down-to-earth goal, Colomb has bigger things in mind.”My thing is that I want to influence the youth of America, because we’re at such a pivotal point for change right now in this country, and I think it’s important to educate the kids,” Colomb said.Illegal Alias has upcoming shows at the Dragon’s Den in New Orleans on Aug. 30 and at Northgate Tavern in Baton Rouge on Sept. 18.     –—Contact Blake LeJeune at [email protected]