Keys 2 The City.

I’m kinda feeling the whole focus-on-a-city approach to music. When artists rep their shit so often that they become the ambassadors of their home town, it can offer a unique peek into the culture and promise of a region. Our buddy turned us on to this Imeem post by Indiediot, and I’ve been checking out the footage. And so should you.

Curated by [The Roots], the [Roots Picnic] festival brought together an eclectic group of some of the most revered artists in the country including Gnarls Barkley, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Deerhoof, The Cool Kids, J*DaVey, Esperanza Spalding, Dj Jazzy Jeff, Diplo, and more. Check out these exclusive videos and photos from The Roots Picnic courtesy of Okayplayer.

Cool Kids, who you can check out above live at The Red Bull House in Ausin during SXSW, are set to release their debut EP on Chocolate Industries later this month:

Chicago-based hip-hop duo The Cool Kids are set to release their debut EP on Chocolate Industries on May 20th exclusively on iTunes, and June 10th on CD and other digital outlets. Heralded by Rolling Stone and many others as an artist to watch in 2008, The Cool Kids have recently toured Europe and Australia as well as selling out shows nationwide. This spring and summer finds them doing spot dates in America, hitting Europe again June 14-July 14, rocking Lollapalooza and appearing on many of the dates on the Rock the Bells tour.

The band will also be on tour this summer in the US and Europe, dates after the jump, as per custom

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The Cool Kids at the Red Bull Moontower:

I kept hearing about them during the first two days of SXSW - Cool Kids this… Cool Kids that - it really seemed like they were the buzz artist to see at this year’s SXSW. Once they went onstage at Emo’s I instantly knew why. Overall it was just an incredible lineup between Kid Sister, A-Trak & Clipse (photo’s from The Clipse portion of the show are here) taking over Emo’s main room and the Cool Kids fit right in and without question played an amazing set that the crowd was completely feeling. Cool Kids also played the Red Bull Moontower - video footage from that will be up pretty quick…

“What am I going to see tonight?” It was a tough decision to make, which is what happens at SXSW every night. Friday’s question was, “Do I go see NERD or The Clipse?” I ended up going with The Clipse and I’m glad I did since they completely killed Emo’s. Cool Kids, A-Trak and Kid Sister. More photos of the rest of the show coming later - the whole evening was EPIC.

More sick photos after the jump. (more…)