On the 28th of August, the clock struck 13 with the release of CES CRU’s Strange Music debut, 13.

Since it’s release, reactions and reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, with a consistent focus on Ubiquitous and Godemis’ lyrical abilities.

After using the last 48 hours to let the entirety of the dopeness that is 13 thoroughly permeate our auditory cortices, we’ve decided to break down what we think are (in no particular order) the 13 best lines of the EP.

Here goes nothin:

13. “Time told me don’t take long, I told time to wait / Time said never for no man and there’s no time to waste.” – Ubiquitous “Tempus Fugit”

With a duo of lyrical masters like CES CRU, you don’t have to be far into 13 to hear some dope lines. For example, this line from Ubi clocks in at just :19 seconds in on the EP’s opener “Tempus Fugit” (latin for “time flies”). Adding some modern CES flavor to the age old saying “time waits for no man,” Ubiquitous personifies the slippery intangibility of the concept of time and somehow encapsulates every person’s futile attempts at controlling time, only to find out that such a feat is all but impossible.

This line also displays Ubi’s hunger and ambition in the Hip Hop game, and fits perfectly within the concept of “Tempus Fugit”.

12. “I’m a handful, so is Ubi so it’s like you fuckin’ with a pair of double Ds.” – Godemis “Klick Clack Bang”

I don’t think I need to get real deep into what this line from “Klick Clack Bang” is supposed to mean, but damn is it a perfect example of Godemis’ mastery of good ol’ fashioned wordplay!

I firmly believe it’s lines like this that make people love CES CRU so much. This is the type of witty, razor-sharp braggadocio that started the wonderful culture of Hip Hop, and the fact that these two young emcees can channel the old school while simultaneously improving on it and keeping it fresh is both entertaining and assuring.

11. “I can see it in the way you runnin’ around runnin’ ya mouth talkin’ all the time/ layin’ me down in a coffin offa why? Mad at us for catapultin’ off the N9ne?”

– Ubiquitous “Klick Clack Bang”

In this line from “Klick Clack Bang”, Ubi addresses all the CES haters out there, questioning their reason for speaking ill of the best crew.

He goes on to imply that maybe those haters of the CES are just a little jealous that the Killa City duo got (well deserved) attention from the mighty Tech N9ne? Oh well, haters gonna hate, and Ubi’s gonna spit dope lines about it, that’s the way of the world!

10. “Doctor Hannibal Lecter the cops stuck with the stains/ A speech of mine would make Clarice come and unbuckle the chains /Buffalo Bill y’alls dick and balls tucked in ya legs.”

– Ubiquitous “Colosseum”

DAMN!

Okay, if you haven’t seen the movie Silence of the Lambs, you might’ve overlooked one of the dopest references of 13 PERIOD.

The ambiguity of that last part is just amazing. For those that haven’t seen the flick, SPOILER ALERT: Buffalo Bill is the villain in Silence of the Lambs, who happens to have a thing for removing victims’ skin and…well,you guys can google it, it’s weird – really weird. But upon further inspection, it can be interpreted metaphorically in a way that calls CES haters cowards basically, or literally in a way that calls CES haters….weird serial killer guys that dress up like women.

Either way it’s a really dope line.

9. “Lookin down from here this shits wild, i gotta plug my ears cause shit’s loud/ we got a long way to go with a little bit of dro and a lotta bit of dough in the PayPal.”

– Godemis “Time is Now”

This line from Godemis on “Time is Now” is one of those lines that perfectly encapsulates CES Cru’s ability to remain down to earth despite their recent success. Although they know they deserve the fruits of their years of hard work, you can still catch a hint of disbelief in Godi’s voice as he spits this line.

These are two dudes from KC who worked hard and did it better than everyone else, so they achieved success. Godemis even refers to their PayPal account in a way that’s both boastful and humble at the same time. He’s letting you know that they’re not quite where they want to be yet, however they still appreciate and are grateful for every ounce of success they’ve earned.

8. “They made me General I’m expected to feed the army/That’s why i’m drinkin’ light, say goodnight, leave the party/ cause we don’t need a Farley, rather you Peter Park-me / with great responsibility their comes a greater weight/ deeper than shakin’ ass, heavy as 808s/ diggin’ my tunnel out , this is The Great Escape/ pavin’ the way for CES and the rest of my labelmates.”

– Ubiquitous “Peter Parker”

Who can make references to Chris Farley, Spiderman, a Steve McQueen movie and somehow make it all relevant to the added pressure success can bring to an ambitious emcee?

How about Ubiquitous on “Peter Parker”? I tried like 6 times to trim this line down to the dopest part, but it’s impossible. There’s so much going on here, so many head-scratching metaphors and insight into the mind of a successful emcee that I couldn’t bear to trim it down.

7. “What am I, an oddity? I ought to be! We the two to take it to another level/ I’m in another lane, on some other plane, people say I probably parlay with the Devil.”

– Godemis “Klick Clack Bang”

This is just one of those great oddball lines from Godemis we’ve come to love. The wordplay is sick of course, I mean it’s CES Cru, but what really sticks out here is how well the words flow together and how well Godemis delivers them.

Godemis is simply letting you know that he’s on an entirely different frequency than most, yet he does it with such charisma and perfected delivery that the words almost take on new meaning. With such skill being displayed, you almost start to agree with the people he’s referring to that say he’s probably dealing with the devil. Or in this case, The Deevil.

6. “Pushing my pen inside your vestibule to rupture your brain.”

– Ubiquitous “Colosseum”

This line would already be one of the dopest on the EP just for using the world vestibule in a Hip Hop track. This line is made infinitely more badass, however, by the fact that in anatomy, vestibule is most commonly used to describe a cavity in your inner ear, making this line not only incredibly dope but anatomically correct and one of the coolest metaphors I’ve heard in a while.

Ubi not only knows that his rhymes are going to blow your dome, he can tell you exactly how he’s gonna do the shit with PHD-like clarity.

5. “Put ’em in ICU, when I see you be sure to salute/ I’m ready to die don’t ask me why nigga, just gimme the loot.”

– Godemis “Colosseum”

Firstly, I am a sucker for when emcees can use two words that are identical phonetically but differ completely in spelling and meaning. Because of that, the ICU line is the shit. Secondly, did you catch those two B.I.G. references in there? Ready to Die and “Gimme the Loot”?

Godemis can pack so much into a line that it’s a damn good thing there’s no lyric book with this thing and I had to rewind it ten times to get the line, I might have almost missed that one. You can find this gem on “Colosseum”.

4. “The Killa City Committee we can’t pity ya, rather you clap for me than give me chlamydia.”

– Ubiquitous “One Bomb State”

If you do a quick internet search on the word “Ubiquitous”, you’ll find that one of it’s definitions is “constantly encountered”. In that sense of the word, Ubiquitous is also the perfect way to describe Ubi’s masterful and often hilarious wordplay. If you didn’t catch that one, “the clap” is a slang term for the STD chlamydia, and he’s asking you to clap for him instead of giving him…get it? Awesome right!? We thought so too.

3. ” Keep a phaser around with a couple eyes on the grid, doin’ the intergalactics meanin’ we do it big”

– Godemis “Livin’ Life”

I may be a Hip Hop head, but i’m also a nerd, so lines like this from Godemis in “Livin’ Life” that reference space always tend to catch my attention. The metaphor here is pretty clear, but what’s more awe-inspiring is the visuals that it draws, at least in my mind. I can see Ubiquitous and Godemis rockin’ lazer guns, wreaking Hip Hop havok throughout the multiverse, and I’m sorry but that is cool as shit. So either the imagery used by Godemis in this line is particularly awesome, or i’m getting a contact high from all this auditory dope. I’m going with the prior.

2. “I smoke a little weed, you drink to own his each / I rip the poetry so we can hit corona beach and get international.”

– Ubiquitous “Livin’ Life”

It’s no secret that the homies from CES CRU occasionally enjoy the greener things in life (especially if you watched that live UStream the night 13 dropped), but again what hits home the most here is the fluidity and the way Ubi can bend and twist words to make them fit and somehow it still makes sense. This is yet another line in which CES CRU demonstrate their vice grip on the english language and subtly remind you why they’re the perfect fit in the house that Tech built…just in case you had a little greenery yourself and forgot.

1. “Hands go up and the love goes ’round.”

– Ubiquitous & Godemis “Time is Now”

This is a short and simple one, and it’s actually from the hook of “Time is Now” so both Ubi and Godi spit it, but it immediately caught my attention the first time I heard it due to it’s instant resonance and universality.

I feel that this line simply and beautifully cuts to the core of the motivation to become an entertainer. These two incredibly talented dudes have figured out a way to connect with thousands upon thousands of people through the art of Hip Hop, and I think that connection is just as literal as it is intangible.

Hip Hop speaks to our souls, that’s why we listen to it. You can’t always put a finger on it, but something about the soothing rhythm and tones of the beat mixed with the unfathomable amount of emotion and information that’s being transferred via cleverly placed words strikes a chord in our hearts, and I think this little line perfectly conveys that action.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE 13

• Which ones were your favorite?
• Which lines did we miss?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!