King Dylan

It can be difficult to build a fanbase in Canada among the fickle hip-hop crowd that usually prefers their hip-hop vetted south of the border first. However, Calgary, AB's King Dylan hedges his bets by mixing his rap with alternative rock, incorporating a great deal of live instrumentation into his self-produced beats, while on every song singing the chorus. He's good as both a rapper and singer, so it works well, and the sound quality is clean and professional, which should help this alt-rock-rap hybrid appeal to a larger mainstream audience. Steering clear of the nihilism and braggadocio prevalent in much of rap, his lyrics about love, loss and lies likely won't hurt his mass appeal either. While purists will hate, those who enjoy cross-genre experimentation will find much to enjoy. Ultimately, Dylan's Looking For The Sun is more likely to be found on the radio charts than heard thumping out of car speakers or in clubs.