This is spun off from a recent discovery.

Hip hop has, to me at least, always been such a regional form of music. So many different areas have such unique sounds, characters, etc.

But I'd begun to think, over the last few years, with the globalization of music thanks to blogs, message boards, twitter, etc., that the era of a true regional star in rap music was over.

Meaning, someone could be lighting up a city or state or area, and someone on the other side of the continent has NO idea. It was a cool phenomenon, but it felt dead because so much of the new shit we all get put onto comes from the same sources.

However, a friend of mine just got into town after spending the last year or so in Miami, and put me onto a rapper named Ice Berg who, according to him, is real big in the clubs (strip clubs esp.) and "streets" down there. Some research led me to find that dude either is or used to be down with Trick Daddy and was part of his Dunk Ryderz crew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZAekI1Ljc0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWCtk9boOt0&feature=plcp&context=C34456a1UDOEgsToPDskJuOp_IeJp04lywEOQ8HMHI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2MmXaQvxx8&feature=plcp&context=C3d468e2UDOEgsToPDskI9HCiPFpWwlGw1yMRsUyen

The music is cool, I like some of it, but I was more facinated that there is a dude who is that big in a major market, and I had no clue. I consider myself pretty well informed on whats happening in rap music.

I assume there are other such stories out there. Who are they? Does your area have someone who the rest of us don't know about but is a local star?