Chiddy Bang

Philadelphia's astute alt-hip-hop pair Chiddy Bang arrived in the opening months of 2010 through the MGMT-sampling cut "The Opposite of Adults." The act had first assembled in 2009 as a quartet fusing electronic textures with hip-hop, only to contract by December into the core duo of rapper Chidera "Proto" Anamege and producer Xaphoon Jones, also known as Noah. After circulating material online that included the Tom Waits-sampling "Ice Cream Man," they issued the Swelly Express mixtape in October 2009. Although Proto's sharp lyricism and the group's habit of drawing from indie acts such as Radiohead and Belle & Sebastian drew frequent comment, the decisive spark came from looping MGMT's "Kids," which propelled "The Opposite of Adults" to substantial U.K. success upon its single release in February 2010. That same month, Chiddy Bang supplied the remix for Gorillaz's "Stylo," a track already featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack. Following a summer run of dates with Donnis and Bad Rabbits, the duo delivered The Preview EP on Virgin in October. Further mixtapes, among them 2011's Peanut Butter and Swelly, carried the project forward to its first proper album, Breakfast, in 2012.