The Quarrymen

When you think underground music The Quarrymen definitely doesn't come to mind, but what if I say the most popular pop band of all time? Most people automatically think of those signature haircuts and matching suits, yes, I mean the iconic Beatles.

Every band has to start somewhere and even The Beatles were once an underground band called The Quarrymen. They were formed in Liverpool in 1956

Classified: For your eyes only

Previously I have mentioned a underground artists called Classified and his new hit "Oh Canada," here is some more information about him. He was born Luke Boyd of Enfield, Nova Scotia on the 13th of December, 1978. He began dreaming his big rap dreams at a young age and, signed or unsigned, is making his dreams come true. He has released 13 albums so far and has had 5 singles so far, with his 2009 single "Anybody Listening" hitting the MuchMusic Countdown at #3. No matter what lies ahead for this artist in the future for this Canadian he will always have the support of Canada and especially the maritimes behind him.

Check out the video for "Anybody Listening"

A Bad Rap

The only problem with the underground music scene is its involvement with violence, drugs and the sex trade. This is because the musicians in the underground scene don't have lots of money and live in lower class neighborhoods which makes people assume that they do illegal things. There are of course the musicians that are what everyone says they are but there are also the rappers who are just trying to survive in the conditions they are forced to be in.

Independent Record Labels

A big trend in the underground music industry is to create your own record label to work under. This is popular because as struggling artists there isn't always a lot of money so instead of renting studios and paying fees to producers they just make and release their own music. This is also an advantage because they get to do what they want with their music without a record company to tell them to change the style they want. An example of an independent record label in the underground industry is the Rhymesayers Studios who have bands like Atmosphere and Felt.

Atmosphere: From Rags to Riches

This Minneapolis based hip-hop group is my favorite underground band. The band consists of Sean Daley, known as Slug, and Anthony Davis, known as Ant. They are the most commercially successful and long-lived independent hip hop artists. They are popular because of their lyrics, Village Voice once wrote of Ant "His dusty grooves are hooky and R&B-informed, and even when they back up Slug's most maniacally depressed rhymes, they never feel heavy-handed".

Canadian Underground Artist on the Rise!

An underground rapper that is slowly making it to the mainstream is Classified, a rapper from Nova Scotia. He started his own record label, Half Life Records, and recorded his first full length LP in 1995 and has been making a go of it since then. He now has a big hit with his new single "Oh Canada" that hit the mainstream just recently reaching 29 on the MuchMusic Countdown. Check out the new video below!

Underground Music

Underground music doesn't fall under one style, you can have everything from hip-hop to punk rock. What keeps them together in this broad genre is that they all talk about real events and how they feel about their world. These bands usually have a lot of followers even though they don't have a typical mainstream sound. Many of the bands go unsigned or are signed by independant record labels, and rely on word-of-mouth, internet sites, fanzines, and college/community radio airplay and typically perform in small venues.