Sidestepper

Sometimes the best projects evolve out of romances, and in Sidestepper's case it was love at first sight. Englishman Richard Blair was working as a recording engineer at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios when he heard the singer Toto La Momposina for the first time. Floored by her Afro-Colombian sound, he hotfooted it to Colombia as soon as the recording was done, and thus began his love affair with Colombian music. After finding work as a sound engineer, Blair formed a group with other Colombians, mingling Costenos (coastal Colombians) and Bogota natives, a mix that was unheard of at the time. Sidestepper were born. The group helped make Afro-Colombian music hip in Colombia -- and in clubs around the world -- by mixing it with hip-hop and electronica. In 2003, 3 AM (In Beats We Trust) launched two great singles, "Deja" and "Mas Papaya," and made the group a club chill-room favorite. After a long hiatus, Sidestepper returned with The Buena Vibra Sound System in 2008.