I suppose it was only a matter of time before Québec got its own funky hip-hop diplomats to represent it. After all, France has had TTC, Yelle, et al. representing it for years now, so it should come as no surprise that when it came time for La Belle Province to step up to the mantle, it should do it with style in the form of Omnikrom.

From Montreal, Omnikrom and their 2007 album Trop Banane! have mainly stayed off the radar outside of Québec, despite "Danse la poutine," a collaboration with TTC named after Québec's most famous dish: french fries with gravy. It received heavy airplay on MusiquePlus, Québec's French-language answer to MTV. But the album has several pearls of funky French genious. Specifically, "Été Hit," a song about celebrity, manages to combine a heavy electro riff with fun and fast pace lyrics, resulting in something very danceable.

"Elles," a loving tribute to the love of women, is also a lot of fun despite occasionally cheesy lyrics. Perhaps it's just not a subject I can relate to well, but the song begins with the line "I love women, they love me, and they calm me." On the other hand, the lyrics work very well with the music, so there's no real faulting it.

But Trop Banane!'s highlight is a collaboration with other Québec band, Numéro# on the song "Ghetto Hype." The song manages to combine both rock, hip-hop, and electro to create a hard driving song with a great sense of rhythm.

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