Feel-good revival: The new faces of hip-hop

It's hard to imagine a time when hip-hop was not the mainstream machine it is now. But back in the day, a big part of the music was about togetherness and an all-around good time.\nNowadays, a group of DJs and MCs in their 20s from the not-so-mainstream world are bringing a revival of the good-times rap from the '80s. They're keeping indie sensibilities, preserving the hip-hop core and adding a flare of club dance. \nA family of these hip-hoppers just finished rocking the nation on the Fool's Gold Tour. It was headlined by The Cool Kids, A-Trak and Kid Sister.\nThe Cool Kids consists of Mikey Rocks and Inglish, two young MCs from Chicago. Although they were barely alive in the '80s, their beats and rhymes would have you thinking otherwise. The beats, however, manage to be simple and fresh because they are appropriate for a modern club scene, while their subject matter deals with bikes, girls and style. The duo's jams have already appeared on a recent episode of HBO's "Entourage," and they've collaborated with Lil Wayne on the catchy "Gettin It." Following the Fool's Gold Tour, The Cool Kids will open for M.I.A. on her U.S. tour.\nPerhaps the most recognizable artist on the tour is A-Trak, Kanye West's official DJ since 2004. This doesn't mean A-Trak stands in Kanye's shadow by any means. He has been DJing since age 13 and touring almost that long. More recently, he co-founded Fool's Gold Records in hopes of representing "the absolute best in club music on all levels."\nWhen Kanye released his "Can't Tell Me Nothing" Mixtape, he included a song titled "Pro Nails" that he recorded with A-Trak's girlfriend Kid Sister. Kanye states in the beginning of the song, "A-Trak didn't ask me to rap on this. I love this song." That is, Kanye didn't just lend his voice because Kid Sister is in a relationship with A-Trak. The newly released single is a vibrant anthem that showcases Kid Sister's sassy rhymes and banging beats. All the rapper's songs are short and insane anthems, such as "Telephone" and "Control." "Pro Nails," though, will be her breakout hit.\nKid Sister's DJ is her brother J2K, who is also half of the turntable duo Flosstradamus. The turntable pair has already done remixes for such artists as Matt and Kim as well as Lil Jon. In their mash-up work, the duo has had no qualms about combining the likes of Sigur Ros and Twista. \nAnother frontrunner of this revival is the Philadelphia-based rap group Spank Rock. Naeem Juwan, a.ka., MC Spank Rock, has boldly claimed that the group's latest album YoYoYoYoYo is "the rap version of Prince's 1999 album," according to their record label's Web site. The group is all about bringing raunch back to your stereos. It should come as no surprise, then, that Spank's latest EP Bangers and Cash is a tribute to dirty-rap group 2 Live Crew.\nAs these artists start making their way to the mainstream music world, there are certain things that define them. For one, it is clear they are part of the MySpace-and-blog era. The most effective way their music has spread to the masses has been through Internet gossip. Artists don't even need actual Web sites these days, so long as they have solid MySpace pages.\nNext, these artists must make a reputation for putting on good live shows. Many of them have garnered considerable buzz from the festival circuit -- from Coachella to Lollapalooza to CMJ. And as all of their music encourages dancing and going crazy, the artists must be the first to do so. Kid Sister and The Cool Kids have yet to even release their first albums, and such high-profile festivals can make or break a fan base.