ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Dominique Young Unique

DOMINIQUE YOUNG UNIQUE is a 19 year old Florida native rapper. She is most commonly compared to artists like M.I.A, Santigold, Rye Rye, and Kid Sister. But I have to think, is that because they are all minority women who incorporate electro into their hip hop tinged flows, or because that is the group she fits in with the quickest? To me, I would say sounds more like she's been influenced by Lil' Kim, Trina, and Nikki Minaj, mostly because of her dirty, dirty lyrics.

                                 Dominique Young Unique-CEO Girl by Toast Press

Of course, you can't help but to notice all the similarities to the others (Rye Rye fo sho), too. Honestly though, her name doesn't have Unique in it for show. She can back that namesake up. The reason why I can get her shit out of my head is because she can hold her own on vocals against the AMAZING tracks produced by David Alexander, producer for Yo! Majesty. Alexander was introduced to DYU through Shunda K. of Yo! Majesty, and after some time Dominique signed to David Alexander's small British label, Art Jam. She has been working on tracks since she was 17,  and has released a mixtape, Dominiation, and an EP Blaster, that came out in May.


Dominique started creating a stir on the music scene when she preformed at the SXSW festival in March. She was even featured in The Rolling Stones because of the event. Then blogs started spreading the word about DYU after her first music video for "Show My Ass" came out in April.

As for me, I came across this mash up by The Hood Internet  a couple of days ago that caught my attention. I began researching Dominique Young Unique like crazy and knew that she was one to watch.

 The Hood Internet - I'm In Love With A Hot Girl (Dominique Young Unique x YACHT) by hoodinternet

You can download her full mixtape below. My favs are "Blaster" and "War Talk".
Dominique Young Unique - Domination by Toast Press

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Chiddy Bang

Chiddy Bang is a hip hop duo from Philadelphia, PA. Emcee Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege, and DJ/Producer Noah Beresin, a.k.a. Xaphoon Jones, met while attending Drexel University in Philly. 

Their music sounds to me like rapping over an indie electro hip hop baby.
 My favorite kind of baby.

Chiddy Bang often samples underground favorites like Kate Nash, MGMT, RATATAT, Yelle, and Passion Pit, giving them the indie/electro feel I spoke of. Xaphoon then takes these samples and puts his spin on it, resulting in a track that really stands out from Chiddy Bang's hip hop peers.  The duo has released two mixtapes, The Swelly Express, and Air Swell.


Below is Chiddy Bang's music videos for their first two singles, 'Kids' and 'Truth'. They recently released the video for their third single, 'Sooner or Later' where Chiddy filmed a recent trip to his parents hometown in Nigeria. 
View that one HERE.

Love this next one. The vocals by Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos is why I love this song.

Chiddy Bang has been gaining a lot of respect and attention in the blogosphere since late 2009/early 2010, but has just started reaching widespread popularity with the release of the 'Kids' music video. That same song even peaked on the top of US charts at number 8. Chiddy Bang was signed to EMI back in March, and is releasing their first album, Here We Go, August 24th, 2010.

Two of my Chiddy Bang favs:

Chiddy Bang-Get Up In The Morning

alt+click to download

Chiddy Bang-Hey London

You can also cop their second mixtape, Air Swell. 'Hey London' is in the download.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Die Antwoord

This is the first installment of a weekly undertaking featuring an up-and-coming artist/ band of hip hop and/ or electro spirit. Welcome.

First up is Die Antwoord.

Die Antwoord hails from South Africa and is part of the musical movement down there called Zef. The group's name means 'The Answer' in Africaans, while Zef is slang for basically 'next level shit'.
Now let me tell you, front man Ninja,  his hype lady Yo-Landi, and beat master DJ Hi-Teck are all about that next level shit.
Their music can best be described as gangsta white trash rave.
Yea, that sums it up nicely.

I came across these guys in the new HARD promo cd. HARD is a series of raves around the US. check out the free download of the cd HERE.
You will get a taste of some other sweetness like Crystal Castles and Rusko.

Being a music video junkie, this jem made me fall in love with them even more.




Here's another video to let you get a taste of what Die Antwoord is all about:





Now, Die Antwoord went ridiculously viral in about April, but many doubted the credibility of the group. I won't go into detail about this because I think its bullshit, but you can read an article about the 'conspiracy' HERE. I think they are fucking sick, next level shit, and if they weren't the real deal would they have a recording contract with Interscope???Their Album, '$O$', will be coming out 'fokkon soon' according to their website, but I'm pretty sure most of it has already leaked on the internet. 
So lastly, I will leave you with my favorite song by Die Antwoord so far! 
Die Antwoord- Jou Ma Se Poes In 'N Fishpaste Jar
By the way, that apparently means "your mother's cunt in a fishpaste jar".