Hot Label: Ghostly International

"Electronic music has gotten a bad reputation in this country," says Sam Valenti IV, creative mastermind behind the underground label Ghostly International. "It's been cheapened. People don't know what to get because there is so much junk in the way." He's been on a mission to change that since he launched the label as a nineteen-year-old University of Michigan freshman. His first signed artist was Matthew Dear, who Valenti met when Dear was playing a frat party. Now Valenti's roster includes artists such as Dabrye, Dykehouse, Midwest Product, Solvent, Kill Memory Crash and Aeroc, all of whom infuse electronica into their sounds, whether it's industrial, hip-hop, pop or indie rock. "We have had good word-of-mouth," he says of the rapidly growing label. "The people who are into us are smart."

Hot Music Main