Don't call Da' Zoo the Puerto Rican Black Eyed Peas.

Yes, Da Zoo is also three guys and a cute girl, they have a remix of Boom Boom Pow on their MySpace and plenty of sticky sweet pop hooks. But Da' Zoo say that's where the similarities end: "[P]eople compare us with them just because of the formation of the band: three boys, one girl. They are great artists, but they aren’t one of our influences."

Formed in 2006, Da' Zoo released its self-titled debut earlier this year. Unlike the Peas, the quartet comprised of Charly "Charly Zoo" Rodríguez, Freddy "Yo Fred" Lugo, Raúl "Raggi" Quezada and Elizabeth "Eli Joe" Fuentes prefer their pop served with rock and funk instead of hip hop and R&B. Excuse Me, a flirty track about "un atrevido," is packed with blips, synths and a vicious hook:

Excuse me baby soy un atrevido
solo quiero nadar en tu ombligo

But like the Black Eyed Peas, these Boricuas have a gift for making dirty talk sound sweet. The video for lead single Chitu, which features "jeringoza" (a mix of Puerto Rican slang and children's music), is both cute and pervy at the same time:

Esto esta caliente ya se puso pa' otra cosa
yo lo tengo claro que la cosa esta sabrosa
cuando tu te pegas yo siento la mariposa
y me pongo bruto como la pantera rosa

An infectious hipster remix of "Excuse Me" by Nacotheque's Marcelo Cunning is currently streaming on the Da Zoo's MySpace.

See: myspace.com/dazoomusic

Do high school band geeks ever make it in the music industry? Jeremih is about to.

Birthday Sex, a smoldering slow jam by R&B singer Jeremih (pronounced Jer-em-eye), became a surprise hit earlier this year, getting national radio play, over 60 million plays on MySpace and, most recently, a spot on iTunes' Top 100 singles. "I had no clue that it would ever get this big," admits Jeremih, who attributes the song's success to the simple fact that "it's someone's birthday every day." (It probably helped that he didn't go with the original title: "Birthday Text.)

The 21-year old has been compared to The-Dream as well as fellow Windy City native R. Kelly for both his vocal style and raunchy storylines. With lyrics like "1-2-3, I think I've got you pinned/don't tap out/fight until the end," Jeremih shows he's got Kells' knack for wrapping up borderline cheesy lines with a solid hook: "l don't need candles and cake/just need your body to make/birthday sex." A self-taught musician who has played drums, keyboards and saxophone since his days at Morgan Park High School, Jeremih is grateful for his stroke of good luck. But the self-described rapper-turned singer says there's more to him than one catchy song: "I'd hate for people to think… you're gonna hear twelve 'Birthday Sexes' on my album."

Jeremih's self-titled debut is scheduled for release at the end of this month.

See: myspace.com/jeremih

They say if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. Janelle Monáe said "No, thanks."

While growing up in Kansas City, the R&B-soul artist dreamed of becoming a Broadway star. But Monáe, who studied theater at NYC's American Musical Academy, shelved her plans after she was only offered "African-American roles." In 2004, the 22-year-old singer moved to Atlanta and began her singing career in earnest, crafting her Andre 3000-meets-Lauryn Hill style on the Southern club and college circuit. A year later, Monáe wowed OutKast's Big Boi during a Def Poetry Jam performance and parlayed it into guest spots on Big Boi's Got Purp? Vol. II compilation and OutKast's Idlewild soundtrack.

In 2007, Monáe was working on an ambitious four-part debut titled Metropolis. But a call from Diddy stopped Monáe in her tracks. He heard her music on MySpace and asked her to join Bad Boy Records. Monáe agreed, and the man who helped Notorious B.I.G. go "from ashy to classy" hailed his new artist as "possibly the most important signing of my career." A self-described sci-fi freak, Monáe dropped the first installment of Metropolis, The Chase Suite, last summer. Both retro and futuristic, the album tells the story of an android who faces death after falling in love with a human. "I love Octavia Butler and Isaac Asimov and The Twilight Zone, and Blade Runner, and of course The Matrix and Star Wars. I've always had a fascination with the supernatural. So I kind of meshed all this in my mind," explains Monáe, whose pompadour is a li.

The Grammy-nominated Monáe is currently on tour, opening for No Doubt on selected dates. The second and third installments of her Metropolis series are scheduled for release later this year but it's another gig that may help Monáe blur the lines between fact and fiction: this fall, she'll play herself in two episodes of the SyFy Channel's Stargate Universe.

See: myspace.com/janellemonae

Ask the Los Angeles-born, Culiacán-bred narcocorrido singer Larry Hernández to explain one of his tracks and he'll probably answer by singing it back to you.

When Los Tigres del Norte launched the narcorrido genre nearly 30 years ago they were careful to throw hints about the drug traffickers that inspired their ballads. The 29-year-old Hernández is far more blunt:

"Me pongo un toque de kush
y mi persona se altera
no miro monos con trinchetes
y bien traigo una loquera
ese humo tranquilizante
hasta el cerebro me pega"

I take a toke of the kush
and my mind state is altered
I'm not seeing any visions
but I feel so crazy
that calming smoke
hits my brain

- "El Baleado"

Painting too vivid a picture of narco life could be dangerous, but Hernández insists he's singing about fictional characters: "My corridos aren't made for starting beef with anyone, they are corridos that are made to entertain, so people can drink and have a good time." His nickname, "El Amigo de Todos (Everyone's Friend)," could either describe his easygoing nature or a shrewd marketing strategy in a business where entertainment and reality often collide.

On his latest album, 16 Narcocorridos, Hernández chronicles a world where the bad guys are calling the shots: there's El Querendón y Cajetoso, a womanizer without remorse, Rey Midas, a man who escapes poverty by joining the mafia, and a ruthless gang of killers known simply as El Taliban. Hernández, who takes pride in singing about "things no one else would dare sing about," says these days, he's more worried about ticket sales than anything else: "What I'm afraid is of getting a weekend where nobody shows up [to my shows]."

See: myspace.com/larryhernandez

One of this year's top bachata songs belongs to a Mexican-American from Wisconsin.

El Güero y Su Banda Centenario's Ven Tú is a soulful lament about electronic love built on the slinky guitars and pop melodies originally found on Domenic Marte's bachata track by the same name. The romantic single broke just after El Güero ("white boy") scored his biggest hit to date with the lonesome Antes.

Since their debut in 2004, El Güero has turned out pop ballads that wouldn't sound out of place on a Luis Fonsi album as on El Fantasma de Su Amor and the reworked Una Vez Más. But El Güero's bread and butter is bouncy Duranguense.

A native of Milwaukee, Jorge "El Güero" Hernández was only 9 years old when he began singing and playing keyboard in the family band. Now 28, the blue-eyed singer-songwriter also plays guitar, percussion and drums. In 2001, El Güero and his younger brother, Rogelio, moved to San Antonio, Texas to take advantage of the city's bustling Mexican Regional scene. The Hernández brothers then hooked up with their uncle, songwriter-producer Ramon González-Mora (Conjunto Primavera), who signed them to his label, A.R.C. Discos. The band released its 2004 debut, Para Mis Compas, and continued to crank out nearly an album a year, including the band's latest, Antes… y Después.

El Güero y Su Banda Centenario's current single, Se Nos Murio El Amor, is currently streaming on the band's MySpace.

See: myspace.com/elgueroysubandacentenario

Canadian MC and singer K'Naan learned to rap in English before he knew how to speak it. “None of the kids in my neighborhood understood English, but we knew what hip hop was," recalls the Somali-born Kanaan Warsame.

Nearly 20 years after he and his family fled the war-torn city of Mogadishu, K'Naan's blend of rap, rock, reggae and other world rhythms is earning him comparisons to Bob Marley, Eminem, Q-Tip and Wyclef Jean. Like Marley, the 30-year-old blends social commentary with head-nodding beats, but like like Wyclef, K'Naan walks a fine line between teaching and overreaching.

In 2005, the wiry rapper released his debut, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, which won him critical acclaim, including a Juno Award (Canada's version of a Grammy) for Rap Recording of The Year. His lead single, Soobax (Come Out), has the third-world hipster vibe that propelled Britian's M.I.A to fame and fortune. Since then, K'Naan has collaborated with the likes of Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, The Roots, Dead Prez and Pharaohe Monch.

Earlier this year, K'Naan dropped his second album, Troubadour. Recorded in Bob Marley's studio in Jamaica, the album features collaborations with artists as diverse as the album's track list: old-school rapper Chubb Rock, reggae superstar Damian Marley, pop-rocker Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and Kirk Hammett of Metallica. The album, including the breakthrough single Wavin' Flag, is currently streaming on his MySpace.

See: myspace.com/knaanmusic

The Kidz in the Hall insist that they're average, mostly.

After the release of last year's The In Crowd, bloggers began labeling the Chicago duo as hipster rap, along with acts like The Cool Kids, Kid Sister and Mickey Factz. But the Ivy Leaguers say their decidedly non-gangsta style is a product of their middle-class upbringing: "Most of what’s out right now is… people who are extremely rich, or people who are from the bottom of the bottom, and that’s not the majority of society. We come from the middle."

Formed in 2000, rapper Naledge (Jabari Evans) hooked up with producer Double-O (Michael Aguilar) while attending the prestigious University of Pennsylvania: Evans had arrived on an academic scholarship while Aguilar starred on the track squad (he represented Belize in the 2004 Olympics). After graduation, Kidz in the Hall dropped its debut, School Was My Hustle, inspiring comparisons to Talib Kweli, A Tribe Called Quest and EPMD for its gritty, sample-heavy sound.

Double-O's self-described infatuation with classic horn samples continues with The In Crowd, which includes guest spots by Estelle, Travis McCoy and Bun B. Tracks like Blackout and Driving Down the Block will put car sub woofers to the test while paying homage to pioneers like Rakim and Masta Ace.

Despite their throwback sound, Naledge insists they aren't interested in re-living the "golden age" of hip hop: “There are a lot of corny rappers that try to bring ’88 back when they should be trying to bring in 3004."

See: myspace.com/kidzinthehall

DJ Nesty can call himself "maestro" with confidence. After all, the 36-year-old producer was once an art teacher.

Born Ernesto F. Padilla Colón in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, DJ Nesty spent his twenties teaching kids about the virtues of art: "But once I got home, I would always work on music." Dubbed the "mente maestra (mastermind)" by Don Omar, DJ Nesty is the producer behind most of Wisin y Yandel's platinum-selling album Los Extraterrestres. In late 2007, the Nesty-produced Sexy Movimiento became a massive hit, staying on the Billboard charts for over a year and earning the goateed producer a BMI "Song of the Year" award. Los Extraterrestres, which features 10 Nesty-helmed tracks, would go on to win a Grammy for "Latin Urban Album of the Year" and a Latin Grammy for "Best Urban Album."

Lightning struck twice for DJ Nesty and "El Duo Dinámico" with Me Estás Tentando, the trance-influenced hit from Nesty's 2008 debut, La Mente Maestra. The album, which also features Jayko, Franco "El Gorila," Tony Dize and Gadiel, topped the Latin Billboard charts soon after its release. DJ Nesty, whose credits include Chulín Culín Chunflai by Julio Voltio, Los Maté by Tego Calderón and Pegao by Wisin y Yandel, says patience was the key to his success: "If you work hard your time will come. My time came after nearly a decade."

DJ Nesty is currently working on Welcome to the Jungle by Franco "El Gorila" and Wisin y Yandel's forthcoming album, La Revolución.

See: myspace.com/nestylamentemaestra

Don't tell Monte Negro that Rock en Español is dead.

On tracks like Give Me Love, Me Duele No Estar Junto A Ti and the would-be arena anthem Pena Colectiva, the band digs deep into the rock sound that Latin American groups like Caifanes and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs popularized nearly two decades ago.

Formed in 2003 by brothers Kinski Gallo Rodriguez (vocals) and Rodax Rodriguez, Monte Negro began as the "aggressive hard rock" outfit Madrepore. After guitarist Jason Li Shing and drummer Javier Lopez were brought in, the Los Angeles group expanded its horizons. Admitted fans of classic alternative bands like Jane's Addiction, The Cure and Smashing Pumpkins, Monte Negro add a twist: bilingual lyrics.

On much of the band's 2008 debut, Cicatrix, lead singer Kinski drifts between Spanish and English with ease. In recent months, Monte Negro has enjoyed the best of both worlds, opening for Gwen Stefani in Puerto Rico and sharing the stage with Zoé in the U.S. While the band's mature style may seem quaint at a time when groups like Radiohead are performing at the Grammys, frontman Kinski assures Monte Negro is not try to play it safe: "We hope that people either love us or hate us."

See: myspace.com/montenegrorocks

You've probably already heard one of the best things about The Whitest Boy Alive.

Singer and guitarist Erlend Øye was all over American TV starting in 2006: his collaboration with electro pop duo Röyksopp, Remind Me, blew up after being featured in one of Geico's caveman ads. Based in Berlin, Germany, The Whitest Boy Alive started in 2003 as two guys with laptops (Øye, who is also in Kings of Convenience, and Marcin Öz) is now a four-piece featuring Sebastian Maschat on drums and Daniel Nentwig on keyboards. Without computers, they make soft, cool dance music.

Dreams, the band's 2006 debut, got positive reviews from hipster sites like Pitchfork and Prefixmag. Tracks like Burning and Golden Cage, which feature Øye's soothing vocals over pulsing bass lines and crisp live drums, can simultaneously calm you down and get you ready for a night out.

The Whitest Boy Alive's new album, Rules, which was partly recorded in Nayarit, México, is scheduled for release next month. The band's latest single, "Island," is currently streaming on their MySpace. Think new New Order.

See: myspace.com/thewhitestboyalive