Comments (4) BEST CAB DRIVER - 2009
Lonnie "Wisefool the Cab Driver" McCreery
Perhaps it's late afternoon and you're stuck in traffic on the 110 North after arriving at LAX, or perhaps it's 2 a.m. and you and some friends have wadded together enough beer-soaked bills to get a safe ride home from the bar. Whichever the case, you're stuck in a taxi with a driver that has seen and heard it all before, but you've probably never seen a taxi like this, ever. Despite its standard blue and yellow Checker Cab exterior, once inside it becomes obvious that Taxi No. 3502 is not your normal taxi, and Lonnie "Wisefool the Cab Driver" McCreery is not your average cab driver. No, you still can't smoke inside and, yes, he still only carries five dollars in change, but Wisefool's taxi doubles as a mobile recording studio for spoken-word poets, rappers and any fare who has the freestyle skills to get on the mic. The good thing? It doesn't cost a penny extra. Also a musician, Wisefool first decided to convert his cab into a mobile recording studio in 2009 after realizing that five years spent circling the airport terminal and babysitting drunks had left him with little time to work on his own music. He equipped Taxi No. 3502 with microphones, a laptop and Pro-Tools, all powered through the cab's cigarette-lighter converter, and soon Wisefool was recording more than just himself, but also some of underground hip-hop's finest, which he now documents on camera as part of his "Off the Meter" video series. From rappers Kosha Dillz, Black Skeptik and Verbs, to impromptu sessions with surprisingly well-versed Valley girls, if you've got what it takes to lay down a track while cabbing through L.A., then "Wisefool the Cab Driver" has you covered, seven days a week. (213) 858-3786.
—Erin Broadley
