Handsome Naked is a successful comedy group from Chicago who just released a rap song called “Heat Check.” The group made their television debut with a performance on NBC’s “Bring the Funny” alongside stars Kenan Thompson, Chris Redd and Amanda Seales. Since then, Handsome Naked has tirelessly spent the last year making appearances on Billboard, The Chicago Tribune, Zanies, Lincoln Hall and The Laugh Factory just to name a few. Their latest album “Doors” was a huge success; making Billboard Comedy Top 10 and number 2 on iTunes Comedy Chart. The comedy album featured many well-known comedians including Becca Brown and Calvin Evans.
Their recent hip hop song “Heat Check” is full of amusing basketball metaphors and relaxed humor. The name “Heat Check” refers to a basketball player taking a shot to test if he is on his game or “hot.” Ironically, this song was a heat check-in itself for the group Handsome Naked. “Heat Check” has an intense hip hop beat that is accompanied by electronic undertones. The rapping style is monotone and nonchalant, which leaves room for the focus of the song to fall on the lyrics. Handsome Naked includes many jokes in the song, and most of them relate to basketball. “Heat Check” is something new, and for any basketball fans – or simply comedy fans – this song is for you.
Listen to "Heat Check" here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Handsome Naked! We are captivated by your energy in “Heat Check.” Can you tell us how you came up with the idea for this song, and what inspired you through the writing process?
This song actually started with the track. Brad started a new beat and by the time he had a basic shell going, Eric had suggested "Heat Check". We are all big NBA fans so it was a natural pairing for us. It was really fun spending time on Youtube looking for highlights of players shooting heat check shots.
What made you decide to become a comedy group and eventually begin creating songs and making big waves in the comedic music industry?
Eric and Chucho met in doing comedy in Chicago and originally started a two-person sketch group. One of their first concepts was a rap song, which is when they brought in Brad (a local music director/producer). The song received a great response so we decided to become a group and released 2 EPs and a full-length album in the first 6 months. To date, we've been together for almost 7 years and have collaborated with a ton of great comedians and musicians.
As a group you have made many television appearances, can you tell us how these experiences have influenced your comedy style?
They were obviously amazing. It was great exposure for us every time and definitely helped us push our latest album (which debuted #2 on the iTunes Comedy Charts and was top 10 on Billboard Comedy). It was honestly a fun challenged to figure out how to adapt what we do onto a TV screen. We have always talked about what our TV product would look like (and have a new pilot in the works) so it was pretty incredible to get to see Handsome Naked on NBC.
We loved having you here on BuzzMusic! Can you tell us what we can expect from your group in the future?
We really appreciate you having us! We are always working on new music (we try and drop a new music video every month or two) and are getting ready for a bunch of travel. In March we will be hitting the road to headline at comedy festivals in North Carolina, Iowa, Arizona and Alaska. We also have a handful of local shows booked here in Chicago and in June will be shooting our special.