A ukulele, a keyboard, a turntable and a pair of speakers are among the musical equipment in the taupe-colored room that is home to the six culturally-diverse members of local underground hip-hop/R&B group Key Ringz’s music.

Their studio is in the basement of one of the member’s houses. Within the basement is a small room they refer to as their recording booth. Inside, there is one microphone, a set of headphones and a music stand. Foam padding is stapled to the walls in the booth.

There’s something about Beyoncé’s powerful voice that grabs you and gives you chills from head to toe. She has grown as an artist since her days singing with her girl group Destiny’s Child. Now, her songs show her maturity as an artist. Her recently-released album “I Am…Sasha Fierce” is a two disc set with six heartfelt ballads on the first disc and five upbeat, sassy tracks on the second.

T-Pain’s synthesized trance-like voice can be heard as an accent to almost any hip-hop artist’s song on the radio. But with T-Pain’s album “THR33 RINGZ,” he proves that he is more than a sideshow used to put a little “ooh la la” in another artist’s song.

A young boy waited for his mom to pick him up from his drumming lessons. As he was waiting, he saw a store next door with DJ equipment and wandered into the store. He was intrigued by the gadgets and the colorful flashing strobe lights.
He went home and asked his parents for turntables. He didn’t know the first thing about being a DJ, but he was ready to embark on a journey that would add joy and energy to his soul.
He began to DJ at local high school events and neighborhood parties. DJ Miller is a student at the University of Nevada, Reno and is very involved with UNR events.

Local hip-hop artist, JB the Go Getta, represents everything that a hip-hop artist should.

He’s humble, has his own musical style and is dedicated to being original. He released his fist album “Street Vibrations Vol. 1” last week.

“It’s my way of saying I’m rocking Reno and shaking it up a bit,” the Go Getta said.

Mainstream hip-hop music took a detour from its roots into the money-making arena of Hollywood demands. Hip-hop used to be about the message in the music. It wasn’t about making money. It was about spreading truth. Local hip-hop artist, Lee Morehead, also known as L Dubble, is on a lyrical mission to put passion and truth back into hip-hop music.

The newest album from Ashanti contains a few gems, but fails to outshine her previous albums. “The Vault” has 12 unreleased songs she recorded in 2001.

Aaron Shulman, 22, a local disc jockey, has a passion for breaking out new beats and making his music-craving crowd bust a move on the dance floor. His mind is constantly cluttered with ways of bringing a new sound and flavor to his audience. He’s known by his listeners as DJ Jazzy Gems.

Bringing liberation to the underground hip-hop scene, Canto I’s album “While You Were Sleeping” showcases lyrical flare while discussing real life issues. Canto I offers a break from the mainstream hip-hop beats and messages.

Pairing Nelly’s melodic flow with any hip-hop song will add flavor, but the type of flavor in his album “Brass Knuckles” is beyond anything imaginable.