The formation of The Otherside is a story only possible in the digital-music era.

How else would guys on opposite sides of the country, who didn't go to college together, had never met or crossed paths, get together to create music that sounded like they had been in the same room collaborating for years? Thank the Internet.

Sauce Fonda, a Charlotte native and the group's featured producer, found Keno online and, after hearing just four songs on his MySpace page, decided to hit him up to collaborate. A point he downplays as, "being bored."

Whatever the circumstances, the Sacramento, Calif., based MC obliged and the two have been working as a group since 2007.

theOTHERSIDE & Haz Solo - Hold It Down <— Click to listen.

"Hold It Down" is the group's favorite song from their new EP, Laundry Day, which dropped on Monday. It features cuts from DJ Jun and rapper Haz Solo adding some Midwest (Milwaukee to be exact) flavor to the Carolina-Cali connection. This sample and horn heavy track has some Cool Kid-y lyrics and a classic, upbeat hip-hop feel which producer, Sauce Fonda, says is different from his normal, laid back, soul sample-driven tracks.

"I was going for some real hype shit," said Sauce Fonda. "I heard the sample [and] chopped it up like it was nothing, sent it to Keno and he went nuts."

You can download the Laundry Day EP here. To hear more of The Otherside's previous projects, visit http://theotherside.bandcamp.com/

The group says they'll make some decisions about moving forward with an album based on the popularity and response to this EP.

Charlotte may not be able to produce a rapper ready for the big time, but there's something in the water around here that kicks out good, soul artists consistently.

Haji Basim is a rising acoustic soul artist calling the Queen City home after performing a ton down in Atlanta, up in Seattle and all over the East Coast. His musical exploration as a student at Johnson C. Smith University was the driving force behind the blend of urban folk music he does now and you'll hear influences of folk, soul, hip hop, flamenco, bossa nova and neo soul in his songs.

The singer/songwriter grew up in a deeply religious home where secular music was a no-no but you could never tell with the sincerity in his music and lyrics. We got his latest song, "I Rocked A Letter" this week and had to share it with you.

Haji Basim - I Rocked A Letter <-- Click here to play.

This track rocks like a soulful lullaby, that fits perfectly with this good weather we've been having. Basim described the origins of the song as "meeting someone and feeling things about them from the very beginning, that words would seem unable and to soon to convey." I don't know about the women you all know, but I'm sure most of them would take this sort of thing over a plain, old 'I like you' any day.

For those that missed him last Friday at The Evening Muse and his listening party last Saturday, you can check out his new album, Urban Folk, Acoustic Garden, Vol. 1, here.

I can remember being a last second replacement judge for my college radio station's beat battle a few years ago and having some dude named Pradigy continually blow the other judges and I away round after round with his production that was just a notch above everybody else in the competition. Well that guy is a Charlotte native and he's back home performing with his band, Pradigy GT.

The band, who describes their sounds as Jimi Hendrix's and Kanye West's lovechild, didn't even have a name yet when they did their first show and features Pradigy on guitar and vocals, Huff on guitar, Phinesse  on bass, Cannon on drums and Nikki C. on keys. They've recently been doing gigs and pushing their single, "Believe," all over town (it's currently in rotation over at Power 98).

Pradigy GT - Believe [<-- Click to listen]

The inspiration behind "Believe" is as much a personal challenge as it was President Barack Obama.

"The idea of playing guitar while rapping... I didn't know if it could be done because of the timing of rapping and timing of guitar playing," said Pradigy. He tried things out with his drummer and bass player, with whom he'd jam with every weekend before, and after things got dope, they learned his solo album, converting the studio tracks to something for live instrumentation.

Inspired by election of Barack Obama is when they went from being, "Pradigy & Friends" to Pradigy GT (Grand Touring) and have been grinding since. "In my mind, it means the big show," said Pradigy. "I felt like it was a bigger level of hip-hop than the normal stuff I was doing before the band, so I wanted to make sure people recognized that."

You can catch Pradigy GT in concert tonight at Bad Dog at 7 p.m.,  April 16 at UNC Charlotte and April 25 at The Money in Rock Hill, S.C. "Believe" is also available now on iTunes.

Fresh from being mastered, Eyes of the Elders, sent us their new track, "American Man."

Creative Loafing was given exclusive access to this track from the band that somehow seems to get bigger and bigger, yet better and better. They are one of the few acts out there that can, literally, cover all bases and this new song has something very badass about it. But don't let the patriotic title fool you, the lyrics question the warped American Dream more than pushing a Marlboro Man image.

Eyes of the Elders - American Man <-- Click to listen.

Sure, it sounded like a hip-hop version of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" at first but it doesn't take long to realize this one wasn't no cowboy shit. Longtime EOE listeners will notice the rhymes have slowed down and, on this track especially, feel more deliberate.

Anyone remotely affiliated with CL meets their fair share of up-and-coming artists, but I think most readers would be surprised at how few of them actually follow through on the opportunity to have their music reviewed and the possibility of having something written about them, whether it be good or bad. I'm not saying flood our inboxes but a simple, 'Hey, check this out' from artists around town every now and then is appreciated.

This Local Leak comes from a Charlotte band, The Flash Alchemy. Formerly A Flash of Alchemy, the band recently swapped names and a few members and now consists of Reid Clayton on vocals and rhythm guitar, Phillip Gripper on drums and backing vocals, Tom Maxim on lead guitar and Henry Killian on bass and keys. I met their drummer randomly bar-hopping and he shot me a link to their latest song and you know what, I appreciate the hustle to hit me up sooner, not 10 months later.

Pour Me Poison <-- Click to listen.

The first time I played "Pour Me Poison" I had to double check and make sure the breakup montage of a Rom Com wasn't on, because I totally felt like I was going to look up and see Ryan Reynolds walking by himself through Central Park, in the rain. Some rough vocals and sound but it's not bad, it actually made me think of The Fray.

You can check these guys them out live on April 16 at the Salvador Deli Gallery Crawl in NoDa and April 21 at Dharma Lounge with Cement Stars and April 25 at The Milestone with La Strada.

Leave some feedback and if you're a local band, don't be shy, send some NEW links this way (especially if you're rap, soul or R&B, since that's kinda my lane). Don't get discouraged or send pissy e-mails if we don't get around to your music as speedy as you'd like either. Things get kinda hectic.