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As a whole, music fans in today's world, in my experience, are fairly open minded. Unlike generations past, most of us are fine blending musical tastes, and staying fairly open to new definitions of the genres we do like. One spin of the vast array of radio stations with "rock" in the name will offer up dozens of different interpretations of the word, with lyrics on every subject from broken hearts to broken televisions, and we, as the music-consuming public, are totally cool with putting it all under the same umbrella. "Electronica" in our world is a word used to describe everything, depending on who you ask, from Nine Inch Nails to the Postal Service to BT to Tapes N Tapes, again, with little demur from the public at large.

But try to call Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, or Bus Driver "Hip-Hop" to the wrong person, and you will have a war on your hands. For whatever reason, the Wild West that makes today's musical landscape so exciting has been slow to arrive in Raptropolis, and, in my personal opinion, a lot of amazing, innovative groups like those mentioned above are pushed into a musical oblivion where they are either embraced by a fringe community, as happened when Slug & co were signed to Epitaph, or left to rot, only to be celebrated years down the line, when the community has caught up to the inventiveness they, at the time, were unable to accept and understand. Even classic hip-hop, great groups like Public Enemy that contributed to Hip Hop in unprecedented ways, are brushed aside by many "heads" for their lack of cultural relevance.

Luckily, there are groups out there that span the great chasm between the hardcore hip-hoppers and the casual crowd, great bands that keep it real while pushing the boundaries: bands like The Roots, Hieroglyphics, and now, the second wave, groups like The Cool Kids, who have taken the classic formula, spliced it with everyday subject matter that makes them instantly relatable, and added in enough butt shakin to satisfy drunken partygoers of any age, and Free Sol, who's IDM-infused variety of hip-hop and soul offers, pure, unadulterated chill in near-lethal doses. Both artists, by the way, at Emo's August 20th, get your tickets here.