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Best of 2008: Top 3 Underrated Artists of 2008

Even with the tons of music that drops on the Internets, plenty of music gets lost in the cracks. I do my bst to catch them (Lewis Black style), and pimp them to the masses, but some artist still fail to catch on. Hopefully these artists can make inroads in ‘09.

3.) K-Salaam and Beatnik- Maybe K-Salaam and partner Beatnik are big in the Tri-State area, but unfortunately outside of NYC no one’s heard of the Minneapolis bred producer and his Jamaican influenced beats. K-Salaam dropped a great album with the likes of Talib Kweli, Dead Prez, Sizzla and more which unfortunately is still classified as sleeper status, and his Common remix project never took on like I expected.

Sail On

Tawiah - I thought everything that Mark Ronson touched turned to gold? This London artist, who appeared with Ronson on his last album and on tour with the man is still a hidden gem. Maybe she needs to migrate the the US Estelle style to get noticed?

Every Step

Shawn Jackson - Feelin’ Jack - Even after dropping of the best new songs of this year (and possibly one of the best videos), LA MC Shaun Jackson is notoriously absent from most people’s 2009 MC’s to watch list–I’m looking at you XXL!

Feelin’ Jack

Tags: K-Salaam & Beatnick, Shawn Jackson, Tawiah

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New Music: K-Salaam & Beatnick feat. Sizzla - Sail On

K-Salaam & Beatnick feat. Sizzla - Sail On

K-Salaam & Beatnick’s album Whose World Is This? has cemented itself as the sleeper hit of the year. Every song I have heard off of this album has been fire, and their collaboration with Sizzla might have to rank as my favorite. For some reason it reminds me of that Patra song, Time Fi Wine from her 1995 album Queen of the Pack (pick that up when you get a chance), only because like that song, it combines dancehall vocals over r&b/hip-hop instrumentals.

Purchase Whose World Is This? from Amazon

Tags: K-Salaam & Beatnick

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Hip-Hop, New Music

New Music: K-Salaam and Beatnick - Streetlife

K-Salaam and Beatnick feat. Trey Songz and Buju Banton - Streetlife

Don’t know much about K-Salaam, but his people hit me up a couple times with this track, “Streetlife,” and I’m beginning to dig it. I could definitely see this track getting major radio spins and club plays. It’s a highly viable radio single, even if the Police sample is a tad calculable. The album itself sounds more intriguing though.

From what I can gather, K-Salaam and Beatnick are a dancehall- influenced production team from New York. K-Salaam is a beatmaker, Montreal who first got noticed by Bobitto Garcia upon his relocation to the city and since got connected to Dead Prez and Mos Def. Not much is know about Beatnick though (beatnick = sidekick?). The producer dosent’ rap–he leaves that to such names as Talib Kwlei, Dead Prez, Buju Banton, Kardinall Offishall and Trey Songz just to name a few. The production is a hip-hop meets dancehall (think Patra) vibe, and has a straight nostalgic feel to it.

The album, Whose World Is This, drops in July and with the talent behind the mic, looks to be one of the sleeper albums of ‘08.

myspace.com/ksalaammusic

Tags: Buju Banton, K-Salaam & Beatnick

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