Chiddy Bang formed in 2009 as a four-piece electronic-meets-hip-hop group, but by the end of the year they had shrunk to the duo of rapper Chidera “Proto” Anamege and producer Xaphoon Jones. After building their rep by posting tracks like the Tom Waits-sampling “Ice Cream Man” to the Internet, the band released their mixtape The Swelly Life in October of 2009. Proto’s witty rhymes plus the sampling of indie heroes like Radiohead and Belle & Sebastian became popular talking points, but it was their looping of the MGMT track “Kids” that brought them the most attention, and a massive U.K. hit when “The Opposite of Adults” was released as a single in February 2010. ~ David Jeffries