Playing off Alan’s previous post on The Hood Internet, another mash-up/remix crew to look out for is Toronto’s Keys N Krates.  In my eyes (and ears), what really sets these guys apart are their live performances.

I’m a huge hip hop fan, but I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always enjoy live hip hop performances – it’s probably the only genre of music that I’d almost prefer to hear the recorded version of, rather than a live performance (there are, of course, always exceptions).

One of these exceptions is definitely Keys N Krates.  I saw these guys perform live here in Chicago a few months ago and they absolutely killed it!  Their 3-person crew basically consists of a guy on the keyboard, a guy on decks, and a guy on drums. They’re pretty selective of the tracks they end up “live remixing” because (as you’ll see in the video below) not every song will work with their unique formula.

P.S. – I just checked their blog, and I wish I posted this earlier in the week for all you Houston people (they just performed at Pub Fiction on July 14, at Vice in Fort Worth tonight, and they’ll be at Republic in Austin tomorrow night)!

Their mixtape, Live Re-Mixing 101 is available here.  Leave a comment and let us know what you think!