The Airplane Boys

With their latest mixtape, Brave New World, Bon Voyage and Beck Motley of the Airplane Boys draw inspiration from the Tokyo landscape and infuse it with their background in jazz and Pro Tools, then add a hint of trap to make something appealing across borders. Technically, Motley snaps bars with the ferocity of a Filipino Twista, complementing the nasal drawls of Bon. Much of the content revolves around the life of a globetrotter — two young 20-somethings navigating an ever-shrinking global community. Production by in-house beatsmith KMS blends the sparseness of EDM, the blown-out, smoked-out, Luger-like drums of trap and occasional lo-fi rock vocals to create something fresh. Like most good hip-hop, Brave New World is the sum of its influences and the Airplane Boys have travelled enough to accumulate a rich and diverse palate. In 2013, it's no longer fashionable to chase your 15 minutes of fame and then dip. With a string of festivals and foreign tours under their belt, the Airplane Boys are preparing for their homecoming.