With styles rooted in drums, bass and beats, it seems like there should be more collaborations between hip-hop and electronica artists. I’ve said before that I have a hard time swallowing electronic music on its own, so any element of hip-hop mixed in makes it more palatable for me.

That’s the case with The Same Channel, an album bringing together Fat Jon, of Cincinnati’s Five Deez, and Styrofoam, a Belgian electronic artist from the Morr Music camp. Judging by the press pictures, I’m not sure there could be two more, uh, different-looking guys (I’ll give you one guess who the Belgian electronic artist is in that photo).

Musically, the pairing is a natural fit. In my estimation, what makes this work is Fat Jon’s lyrical delivery. He’s not breathy nor does he struggle to keep pace with drums at a faster BPM. You can’t even hear him catch his breath in between rhymes, an annoying trait of some MCs (*cough* Kanye West *cough*). Fat Jon’s seamless flow is a great complement to the spaced-out compositions by Styrofoam, who also remixed Jimmy Eat World’s Drugs or Me for the Stay On My Side Tonight EP.

The Same Channel comes out Oct. 17 on Morr Music. Check out Fat Jon and Styrofoam on MySpace, where they’re streaming three tracks.

Fat Jon + Styrofoam | Runnin’ Circles

Also, homeboy Ben has the deliciously campy video for Space Gangsta, also off The Same Channel.