The Devil Wears Prada takes its name from the novel (and movie) about the catty world of high fashion, but the Ohio band says its name is meant to be taken literally: "When standing before God, he won't care about your sweet Prada scarf or Gucci shoes or whatever."

Fronted by vocalist Mike Hranica and Jeremy DePoyster (guitar, vocals) along with Chris Rubey (guitar), Andy Tricj (bass), James Baney (keyboards) and Daniel Williams (drums), The Devil Wears Prada is straight-up about being on a religious mission. During this year's Warped Tour, the band opened their shows by announcing it was Christian before unleashing a set of crunching riffs, galloping drums and gut-wrenching screams. "You’re supposed to tell everyone and not be ashamed to anyone," confirms Hranica.

With songs like Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over, Hey John, What's Your Name Again? and HTML Rulez D00d, The Devil Wears Prada has collected a loyal following on MySpace. But that online-fame could have set up the band to fail in person, according to frontman Hranica: "I kind of get scared, but we've just gotten big because of MySpace, and that doesn't really give us a good representation."

The Devil Wears Prada will drop a deluxe edition of their most latest album, Plagues, at the end of October before embarking on a U.S. tour.

See: myspace.com/tdwp

Take a closer look at Los Inquietos Del Norte and you might find a group of hard-partying rock stars underneath those tejanas.

One of México's most controversial Norteño bands, much of the Guadalajara quartet's music has been banned on Mexican and U.S. radio for racy tales about sex, drugs and pick-up trucks. Despite tracks like "El Alcoholicodrilo" (The alkie crocodile) and Hasta La Madre De Borracho (Completely wasted), Los Inquietos Del Norte aren't entirely obsessed with debauchery. Two of the band's most popular tracks, Amor Mortal (Fragile love) and Te Amo Tanto (I love you so much), are tender romantic ballads with no detectable trace of cynicism.

Formed over a decade ago by brothers José, Felipe and Rosalío Meza, along with friend Jorge Torres, Los Inquietos Del Norte have built a winning reputation for their high-energy live shows. "We come onstage like any boxer that climbs into a ring ready to f*** someone up," explains frontman José Meza. The band is currently on a U.S. tour in support of its latest album, La Clika. José says fans who experience Inquietos live may catch the band jumping on top of speakers or crowd surfing, "just like rockers do."

See: myspace.com/inquietosdelnorte

Lazaro Mendez, better known as DJ Laz, has been reppin' Miami for as long as he's been behind a mic: "I take a lot of pride in where I'm from, so whenever anybody from here does something big, to me it's like,'that's right I'm from Miami.'"

The Cuban-American DJ has been a staple on the "Morning Pimp Show" on popular South Florida radio station Power 96.5 for the last 20 years. In the early '90s, "DJ Laz" was one of the first jocks to mix Latin rhythms with the Miami Bass popularized by 2 Live Crew. Calling his style Latin Bass, DJ Laz pumped out regional hits like Mami El Negro and Journey Into Bass in the mid 90s. By the end of the decade, he had transitioned to a style he describes as "merengue swing," which adds live instrumentation. "You gotta evolve with the times," says the husky Mendez.

Also known as"The Pimp With The Limp," Mendez has remixed tracks for artists like Gloria Estefan, Will Smith and hometown heroes 2 Live Crew. His latest album, Category 6, is currently gaining momentum on the strength of Move Shake Drop (Remix), a Benny Benassi-meets-Luke Campbell club jam featuring Flo Rida, Casely and Pitbull. The album, DJ Laz's eleventh, also includes appearances by T-Pain and Rick Ross. Mendez, who began DJing when he was 15 years old, says there's still room for him to grow: "With this album, I feel that I have evolved. [I'm] not just Laz who makes Spanish and bootie records. We got a lil bit of everything."

See: myspace.com/djlaz965

Although rapper-producer Mr. Criminal reps the Los Angeles hipster haven of Silverlake, California, he contends there's only one way to describe his style: "West Coast Southside G-funk Latino gangster shit."

Since hooking up with Hi Power Entertainment eight years ago – when it was still run by Chicano rap star Mr. Capone-E – Roberto Garcia, aka Mr. Criminal, has been nothing short of prolific. He's released an album every year since 2003, beginning with Criminal Mentality and followed by Organized Crime (2004), Sounds of Crime (2005) and Stay On The Streets (2006). Last year's Ryder Muzic spawned the underground banger Side to Side and the L.A. radio hit Mami Mira, a breezy party jam featuring the earworm vocals of West Coast veteran Nate Dogg. Music blog Idolator says Criminal's beats are "custom-made for riding low, and serve as evidence that he loves the sound of breaking glass."

On his latest release, Rise to Power, Mr. Criminal teams up with East Coast gangster Fat Joe on Drop It N Rock It, a club-ready track that could just as easily be found on an album by T-Pain or Akon. But make no mistake, there are enough of Mr. Criminal's Zapp & Roger-influenced beats on on Mr. Criminal’s latest tracks to keep lowriders bumping and heads nodding until he drops his next album.

See: myspace.com/wwwmrcriminalcom

As Mexican pop superstars RBD exit the stage, their producer, Pedro Damian, is ready to usher in the next tween star: Lola. Portrayed by 16-year-old Eiza González, "Lola" is the lead character from the Mexican telenovela Lola - Érase Una Vez. Loosely based on the Argentinean soap Floricienta, the hit Mexican version is a mixture of "Hannah Montana," "Cinderella" and "The Sound of Music."

The story: while tutoring the young children of the wealthy Von Ferdinand family, the spunky Lola ends up forming a rock band. She eventually falls in love with the eldest brother, Alexander. But Lola's affections are sabotaged by Alexander's godmother, who wants him to marry her daughter so she can inherit the Von Ferdinand fortune. Heavy. Much lighter is the telenovela's winning soundtrack, which has has delivered catchy pop hits like Si Me Besas, Masoquismo and Se Muy Bien.

Whether González will follow with a second album as Lola is uncertain, but the telenovela star appears ready to become México's answer to Miley Cyrus, not Hannah Montana: “It's all part of a process, there's people who now know that Lola is really Eiza… so it's all part of the process."

See: myspace.com/eizita

Nearly 25 years after German rock band Scorpions rocked us like a hurricane, teen glam rockers Tokio Hotel are making America scream.

Founded in 2001 by then 11-year-old twin brothers Tom (guitars) and Bill Kauiltz (vocals) and rounded out by Gustav Schäfer (drums) and Georg Listing (bass), the band has been dubbed "the greatest German bubblegum-neo-glam-goth-emo boy band. Ever."

The group released two successful albums in Germany, Schrei (Scream) and Zimmer 483 (Room 483), before putting out the English-language debut Scream earlier this year. The collection of songs successfully translates some of their biggest hits – the 2005 hit single, Durch Den Monsun is now Monsoon – while filling in some gaps. As Bill's look has become more femme, his voice has gotten deeper, making their latest effort their most adult-sounding yet.

The rocking Ready, Set, Go! has made the band's popularity stateside explode, prompting the band to lament: "We're trying to live our dreams and not to give up, expressing ourselves no matter what people may say."

See: myspace.com/tokiohotel

Three albums deep, Texas rapper Big Geminii is showing off his softer side.

On his latest, History in the Making, the Texas native drops streetwise raps about grindin' like Time to Stack a Million and Hate or Love Me but he easily slips into ballads like My Shawty and Amazing. With a raspy, juicy voice and a flow that oozes Dallas, Big Geminii is finally fessing up to being a ladies man: "I used to sing on some of the background tracks for my songs but I would tell people it was my partner from Austin, Texas."

It's working. His saucy slow jam, Hypnotize, featuring a sticky-icky chorus by MC Magic, cracked the Billboard Pop 100 earlier this year and is slowly taking over urban radio.

See: myspace.com/therealgem

After a tough break-up, Katie White and Jules De Martino decided to stay together.

The U.K. natives were once two-thirds of the dance pop band Dear Eskiimo. But after being signed to a major label, the trio only lasted "about a year" before "it all went wrong," according to De Martino. After Dear Eskiimo, singer-guitarist White and drummer De Martino renamed themselves The Ting Tings, a name that comes from a Mandarin term for "band stand" and, well, whatever White wants it to, from "the sound of an open mind" to "the 'ting' you hear when you get an idea."

Regardless of what it means, we've all been hearing alot of it lately thanks to the iPod commercial which made their song Shut Up And Let Me Go an overnight sensation. The group first picked up momentum with two indie singles, That Is Not My Name and Great DJ and signed with Sony Records late last year. Their debut, We Started Nothing, is so chock full of catchy dance punk that Rolling Stone likens it to the best of Gwen Stefani or Kylie Minogue.

As their star rises, White and De Martino say they won't make the same mistake twice: "We had this thing in our last band where we constantly took advice from people... [s]o in this band we sort of made the unconscious decision to just not listen to any advice anybody gave us."

See: myspace.com/thetingtings

Singer songwriter Ferras says he's always felt like an outsider but it hasn't stopped him from working his way into the limelight.

Ferras Alqaisi grew up in the mostly white town of Gillespie, Illinois, where he says he "stood out like a sore thumb." But when his parents divorced, Ferras, then five years old, was kidnapped by his father and taken to Jordan, his dad's homeland. While in the Middle East, Ferras recalls he picked up a Casio keyboard and wrote a song about missing his mother. Though he soon returned to Gillespie, the experience left an indelible mark.

As a teenager, Ferras, who cites British pop legend Elton John as a major influence, figured small-town Illinois wasn't the best place to score a record deal, so he and his mom left their winter coats behind and moved to sunny Los Angeles. The move paid off last year when the TV juggernaut "American Idol" picked his track, Hollywood’s not America as the show's exit song. The piano ballad, which questions America’s fascination with celebrity, quickly spread to pop radio.

Ferras' debut, Aliens and Rainbows, has already earned him comparisons to his idol, Elton John. Now 26 years old, the self-described "alien" is glad he doesn't quite fit in: "[I]n my songs, there’s definitely a uniqueness to them in comparison to what’s happening on the radio right now."

See: myspace.com/ferrasmusic

In two years, Victor "Lunatiko" and Johnny "El Duke" Lopez went from rags to riches. Almost. "We came from El Salvador and the situation was so bad there, we got to the projects, and to us it was Beverly Hills," says Victor, half-joking.

The Lopez brothers had already lived in East Los Angeles, but problems with gangs led to a two-year stint at a military academy in their native El Salvador. Scared straight, Victor and Johnny vowed to move out of gangs and into hip hop. In the '90s, the duo dubbed itself Crooked Stilo (a play on "Crooked Style") and released two albums of Cypress Hill-influenced bilingual rap, Crooked For Life and So What You Want.

In 2004, a year after acts like Akwid and Kinto Sol made their debut, Crooked Stilo released Puro Escándalo on the mostly Mexican Fonovisa Records. Featuring Spanish lyrics and cumbia samples, the album helped usher in a movement some dubbed "regional urbano." Crooked Stilo counter that many of their most popular tracks, Ya Lo Saben, Mis Colegialas and Chicas de Reventón, are "just hip hop." The Lopez brothers have since dropped another two albums, 2005's Retrasalo (Back It Up) and last summer's Malhablados (Vulgar). The Lopez brothers set their partying ways aside, for at least a few songs, including "No Te Vayas," a touching song about a young soldier sent out to war.

Crooked Stilo's newest record, Cumbia Urbana: The Album, is scheduled for release at the end of the month.

See: myspace.com/crookedstilo