Purple Popcorn

Local hard rock-rap band Purple Popcorn does, in fact, rock but has gotten most of its recognition from stomping all over pop hip-hop. In the early days of its formation two years ago, the band pummeled both Soulja Boy's "Crank That" and Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss" and in doing so added some much-needed weight to both tracks. More recently, Purple Popcorn did the same thing with Kid Cudi's "Day N Nite," though why the band did so is anybody's guess. Thankfully, these days the guys are after more righteous game. Their mashing in on Lil Wayne's "With One Arm," Flo Rida's "Low," and, most impressively, Eminem's "3am" shows that, given the right track to back, that part of what they do is well worth getting done — and then some.

Still, Purple Popcorn is a band proper, and if it's ever going to be considered in the same breath as, say, Living Color, it's got to be through the group's originals — a mix of proggy experimentation, metal, and fierce raps. But this hybrid is best caught live and in your face, where it won't matter what some scribbler is even saying.