sxsw 2005

When you’re the protégés of arguably the most sought after hip hop producer not named Pharrell or Kanye (read: Jay Dilla) the stakes is high. Over the last four years, global rap enthusiasts have reached orgasm via Detroit-bred Frank and Dank 12” singles. That’s not debatable. But what’s their formula? Well, for starters, they’re uninhibited like Paris Hilton on them bootleg love tapes, but in the musical sense. Yep, there’s a reason their “Take Dem Clothes Off” (ABB) single generated international DJ and chart accolades without a video or CD release.

Read more about Frank N Dank on Last.fm.

The Brooklyn-based orchestral pop band THE SILENT LEAGUE originated as the solo identity of singer Justin Russo in the late nineties. While a keyboardist with Mercury Rev in support of the critically acclaimed albums "Deserter's Songs" (V2) and "All Is Dream" (V2), Russo secretly stole each available moment in a busy tour schedule to write and record his own fragile and epic LP, "The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused".

He trick-or-treated at Liberace’s house, planned a two-day stay in Amsterdam that ended a month later with him escaping the city under the cover of darkness, and was Bob Hope’s favorite altar boy. Alone, these anecdotes go well with a fistful of peanuts at a cocktail party. But on top of these add that this person also co-wrote the longest-running song on the Billboard Top 100, had a debut solo album that earned three and a half stars in Rolling Stone, and was awarded the title of “San Diego’s Most Influential Artist of the Decade” at the San Diego Music Awards.