New Brunswick-originated jazzadelic rap act Cook Thugless premiere their latest video, “California,” which chronicles their love of their new state. PHOTO BY ANTHONY KING
No Jersey act makes more videos than the New Brunswick-originated jazzadelic rap band Cook Thugless, which makes sense because rappers Jack Blerry and Jean Louis are Shakespearean-trained actors. JL also is a filmmaker, as are their Jersey City friends at MoonCulture Films, especially AJ Seferlis, co-director of Thugless’ latest clip for the single, “California,” with JL. Here is the vid’s media premiere:
With more than a dozen clips to their credit, many of them helmed by AJ, his MoonCulture partner, Anthony King, and/or JL, Thugless have won the Makin Waves Video of the Year Award twice for 2017’s “New Release” and 2018’s “DAT MOFK!”
As with their three LPs since the 2013 debut, “Space,” their 2019 EP, “Lost in L.A.,” produced several clips, which help chronicle most of the bi-coastal band members’ adventures relocating to the West Coast in pursuit of a record deal.
A self-released LP chronicling the horrors of that deal was delayed for two reasons, good and bad. Unfortunately, the LP could not be released today as planned because the curse of the pandemic delayed mixing and mastering, but that turned out to be a blessing because Thugless since have nabbed trustworthy interest that also will delay the release of an album but in a good way. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, enjoy these other videos by Cook Thugless:
Bob Makin is a reporter for MyCentralJersey.com and the former managing editor of The Aquarian Weekly, which launched this column in 1988. Contact him via email and like Makin Waves on Facebook.
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
