New Mexico quartet Brokencyde (aka BC 13) combines the club-ready beats of crunk with the blood-curdling screams of screamo and hardcore. The result? A high energy hybrid that makes the Fight For Your Right to Party-era Beastie Boys look tame. We chatted with the self-described "scene" boys – Se7en, Mikl, Phat J, Antz – and asked: WTF?

What's "scene"?

"Scene" is a state of mind. It's a lifestyle that revolves around music. It's a fashion sense. It contains the modern day punk rock rebelliousness. It is a standard of living that uses emotion an music to express each individual.

Why screamo and hip hop?

I've always thought that the type of music you make has a lot to do with where you come from and what you grew up around. We're four poor kids from Albuquerque, so I think that has a lot to do with what we do and what music we make. We grew up in the "scene" and always listened to that type of music, but we also love hip hop and rap. I feel it's pretty hard to compromise our sound.

It's no real secret as to what we are about. We are all about a good time, getting messed up and hangin' out with our homies. That's exactly what our music is about.

You're doing a great job of promoting yourselves on the Internet. Do you think the old school way of doing things, like having a record label, would have been easier?

It's crazy to think how much the Internet has changed the face of the music industry. We can make a lot of money making music now on our own than we would have ever been able to before.

It's a tricky situation, though. Because, even with all the stuff we do on our own, there are still things that we couldn't do without a label, like get our CDs into stores and getting us the type of mainstream publicity and promotion to get noticed by millions of people. We could stick this whole DIY (do it yourself) thing out, but I feel there's a limit and a ceiling you hit when you try and do that for the rest of your career.

So how is this new school way helping you?

I feel that the new way of doing things has actually helped our band thrive even more. It would have been pretty crazy and unheard of to try and release the kind of music we make 10 years ago. I don't know if it would have received the same kind of reaction we are getting today.

The great thing about what we do is that it's relatively cheap for us to do our jobs. For example, it used to take a band to record a song at least a couple days and a bunch of money for studio time. Now we can write, record on our laptops and throw a song on our MySpace within a few hours. I think our ability to use technology to our advantage is only going to help our career in the future.

You mix hip hop and screamo with glitzy electro fashion. What inspires your style?

I feel the music we listen to as well as the music we make has a huge effect on our fashion sense. It's all very high energy, "in your face" type stuff. Our music is loud, so the clothes we wear have to be loud as well. Bright and flashy. We are the Lil' Jons of "scene."

Which do you guys prefer, online life or real life?

Real life will always be better than a virtual experience. There's too many things you just can't do virtually. We will always go with the real thing.

If you're wondering what kind of an effect the 2 Live Crew has on young people, just ask Tramar Dillar, aka Flo Rida.

At age 15, Dillar was hanging out with the legendary rap group behind such infamous hits as Me So Horny and Do Wah Diddy. Now 24, the muscular MC has had the number one song in the country for the last two months. The booty-shaking club anthem Low is Flo Rida's debut single and features fellow Floridian T-Pain along with thumps and claps reminiscent of 2 Live Crew's greatest jams – minus the explicit lyrics.

A multi-sport athlete who has also tried his hand at acting, Flo Rida started rapping in his teens as a member of Carol City hip hop trio Groundhoggz. In 2001, he partnered with 2 Live Crew’s Fresh Kid Ice to perform locally but was unable to woo any labels. In search of a break, Flo Rida flew out to Los Angeles to record demos for Jodeci’s DeVante, who later hooked him up with Public Enemy hypeman – and reality TV star – Flava Flav.

After a disappointing three years on the West Coast, Flo Rida returned to the Sunshine State without a deal. Several mixtape appearances and a guest spot on B*tch I'm from Dade County from DJ Khaled’s most recent release, We the Best, reversed his fortune. In 2006, Flo Rida inked a deal with indie Poe Boy Entertainment, home of Miami standout Rick Ross.

A sign that there's more to come: Flo Rida's Low is featured on the Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack along with tracks by Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Missy Elliot and Plies. His debut album, Mail On Sunday, will be released in March and includes collaborations with Trey Songz, Jazze Pha and Rick Ross. And while Flo Rida’s latest single, the Timbaland-produced Elevator, may not match the success of Low, it's another sure-fire dance floor dazzler.