The PACIFICS, an acronym for People Accumulating Creative Ideas Foregoing Ignorant Conclusions of Society, are a Filipino hip hop group hailing from the Chicago underground. With a mission to "bridge the gap between the old and new generations of hip hop", MCs KP, Strike3 (aka. Mr. REXford), and Norman Rockwell have developed a smooth group rhymestyle similar to Jurrasic 5 - they bounce off of each other seamlessly and have a cohesive flow in which no MC dominates any other. Their music has a characteristic Chicago underground sound, with soul and jazz inspired samples layered on top of sparse beats and looming basslines.

I first heard of the group when I was still living in Chicago around 1999 or 2000. In the time since then they've come up quite a bit, and have released several albums themselves while having tracks featured on several more. "Set It" is a classic, with smoky piano samples behind a rolling bassline. Other standouts to check out (with free MP3 downloads from their site) are "Ketchup", a track with a liquid, bassy production and a laid back vibe, and "Hold it Down", a Chicago anthem track repping all the underground cats from my hometown.

Definetley check out their latest album, Sunday's Chicken, and visit their website at www.thepacifics.com to learn more about the group.

UPDATE: Just heard back from the group - they'll be in San Francisco at 111 Minna on March 18th at the Directions in Sound party as part of the festivities surrounding the Asian American Film Festival.