Nine times out of ten when a previously underground-ish artist makes the cross over to mainstream music, it almost entirely ruins their image in the eyes of the truly musically zealous, and though I’m continually trying to deny the fact that publicity can change an artist in my own eyes, I fear that my attempts are becoming more and more pathetic with each new development in the industry. After having witnessed the nomination of Justice’s remix of MGMT‘s Electric Feel for the category “Best Remixed Recording of 2009″, it has become impossible for me to believe that ceremonies like the Grammies even make an attempt to represent the outstanding achievements in the industry (due to the fact that naming the aforementioned remix the “best of 2009″ proves a massive ignorance to a large collection of tracks more worthy of the title); Rather, the nominations are probably derived from a small pool of artists who have, at this point in time, already become well known enough to draw in the required viewer quota, and thus ensure full and complete payment to the men in suits. Not cool.

But don’t let my annoying pessimism get to you. Despite these unfortunate ulterior motives that permeate the industry, it’s every artist’s duty to cling to the belief that at some point in time, the structure of our current system will be gutted and rewritten, and after seeing a couple of the artists that are currently on the rise, I feel it is safe to say that time could very well be quite soon.

Kid Sister

At this time last year, we were just beginning to witness the start of our adorable Chicago hip-hop visionary, Kid Sister’s career. No doubt, we were all quite aware (due both to the fact that nearly every track she released was at some point melded into a dirty electro remix, and to [bleh] Kanye West’s guest drop on Pro Nails), that she was quite a bit more than a passing fad, however, I don’t think any of us could have predicted the extent to which her sassy vocals would travel. Over the last few months, Kid sister has been spoon fed to me through every media outlet I can fathom, including, but not limited to, every music related site on the internet (and that includes both the ones run by the kids with the dunks and the kids with fedoras), the radio, and even (gasp) MTV, and while a turn of events like this one would normally have me on my knees, wishing it weren’t so, in the case of Kid Sister, I couldn’t be happier. Something about her refusal to dwell on the overplayed and heavily promoted current hip hop style gives me the confidence to believe Kid Sister won’t let her tracks be tainted by the grimy hands of the media, and that being the case, I don’t believe I could think of a more suitable artist to put a stop to the totalitarian reign of the great (yet not necessarily good) Kanye West as the dominant and recurring artist of the industry.

I advise you to pay close attention to this first track, seeing as it’s the first single off her debut album entitled Dream Date, and it could very well be the tune you’ll be humming whilst your impressionable eyes make note of the next trendy fashion statement. (Although if it’s anything like those ridiculous shutter shades, there’s a good chance this post is going to be rewritten with a very dissimilar connotation.)

Kid Sister – Family Reunion (Feat. David Banner)

And while were on the subject, can I mention how much I love the fact that Kid Sister is always down to drop a verse on a remix? No one did that before she made it cool…

WTF feat. Pase Rock and Kid Sister – Nadastrom On Drugs Remix

Green Velvet – Shake and Pop (W/ Kid Sister’s Guest Drop)