Arts & Entertainment

3OH!3

By Eryc Eyl 

"Maybe I could be the first rapper-slash-doctor!"

As he applies to medical schools for next year, Nathaniel Motte — beatmaker and one half of Boulder crunk-rock duo 3OH!3 — is getting psyched about the cred this will win him in the hip-hop game.

"Let's put this down in ink," he shouts, sitting in a trendy Boulder coffee shop. "Dr. Dre is NOT a real doctor!"

"I was thinking I'd name my kid Doctor," Sean Foreman, the wordsmith of the group adds. "Then he'd have no problems getting through life."

"Could you change your name to Angelina Jolie?" Motte wonders aloud.

"I think that sounds like a good way to finally get with her," muses Foreman. "Just become her."

Inspired by the prospect of beating the system that has kept him from bedding one of America's hottest stars, Motte puffs out his chest. "Ha! I got you good, Angelina!" he boasts. "Suck it, Brad!"

From this stream-of-consciousness, improvisational interchange, it's clear how these two friends develop their clever musical wordplay. In just over a year of playing for the public, they've made their name by skillfully weaving together diverse musical influences and witty lyrics for optimal booty-shaking and grin-inducing effect. Beat-heavy rap-rock tracks like "Holler 'Til You Pass Out" and "Chokechain" suggest the unholy union of Angus Young and DMX, while more lighthearted and light-footed songs such as "I'm Not Coming to Your Party" and "N-E-A-T-F-R-E-A-K 47" (spell it out loud) find LCD Soundsystem hiding toys in the attic with Crispin Glover. Live, Motte and Foreman tag-team vocals as they run through synchronized, spastic dance moves and menace the crowd. Ardent fans, meanwhile, hold up the signature 3OH!3 gang sign like acolytes at a down-home revival.

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Fri., Feb. 15, 8 p.m., 2008