VP Records Most dancehall artists' careers have crashed and burned on American shores. From Yellowman to Shabba Ranks to Buju Banton, some of Jamaica's most definitive vocalists couldn't break through to a larger audience due to unwise collaborations, questionable judgments and bad advice. Busy Signal, who boasts a collab with M.I.A. on the ...

Aaron Harris, CP Photo Check the dancers: they're a big part of the appeal Toronto's annual Caribana Festival. Now multiply their fabulous hair, intricate makeup and spangled costumes by 10,000, then imagine everybody doing the one-legged dance of this year's big soca hit 'Palance.' At Trinidad's Carnival earlier this year, the song was played ...

Riga, Latvia is the last place you'd expect to see a tropical storm. But two weeks ago, Canadian dancehall futurists South Rakkas Crew blew in like a gale-force wind with their, yes, raucous dance dance revolution. Now, the South Rakkas hurricane will be blowing across their northern homeland, including a stop in Toronto for an unofficial ...

There's no question it's a good time for Aloe Blacc to hop on the soul train. The University of Southern California-grad-turned-singer/rapper got an unexpected career boost earlier this year when his song 'I Need a Dollar' began rocking TV screens as the theme song of HBO's hit series 'How to Make It in America.' Up next, he's got a new album, ...

What's this season's best television theme song? It'd be hard to argue with Aloe Blacc's 'I Need a Dollar,' which jumpstarts HBO's acclaimed 'How to Make It in America.' Given the show's opening montage of archetypal New York images -- subways, street scenes, contrasts between rich and poor, and, of course, hot chicks -- powerful music is a must ...

Having seen trends in dance music come and go in a career spanning more than 15 years, the German duo's impossible-to-categorize electronica is exactly the kind of brave music that may find a larger audience than ever before. "We think that electronic music is really exciting again," Mouse On Mars' Jan St. Werner tells Spinner. "Or maybe for the ...

Kevin Martin knows bass. For two decades he's been at the forefront of dub-inspired, confrontational grooves and has won much acclaim for his work in dubstep as The Bug. Martin's performance at Montreal's MUTEK Festival on June 4 marks the North American premiere of one of his latest creations, King Midas Sound. It's a typically reggae-soaked ...