The Most Depressing Thing We’ve Seen At CES 2013 (So Far)


Joseph Ward Simmons is at CES this year hawking headphones. So are a lot of people. But Simmons is better known as Rev Run, founding member of one of the most influential groups in all musical history. He deserves better.

We spotted Rev Run at this year’s Pepcom — a sort of CES sideshow, with middling gadgets put on display mostly for lazy journalists and various gadget mutants in Hoverounds. He was in the back, without any billing. He stood there, swaying, glassy-eyed, mumbling the lyrics of his own songs. Then he stopped and told us to check out Jabra’s headphones as people looked up from their phones and stared, quiet and still. The headphones don’t even have Rev Run’s name on them.

Here he is performing in front of a gigantic crowd, because he is massively talented.

Rev Run needs a new agent. Rev Run shouldn’t need a check this badly. This would be like Keith Richards twirling a USB cable over his head. It made us sad.