Whether it's the best of both worlds or the best of both hoods, it seems like every month or so two artists from different parts of the hip-hop world are promising their fans they're going to do a whole collaborative album together. Few of them ever happen.

But neither Ali (the founding member of the St. Lunatics, the platinum selling group that put St. Louis on the map) or Gipp (who's best known as a founding member of the Dungeon Family and a member of the much imitated, never duplicated Southern hip-hop group Goodie MOB) are the type to make false promises. "Gipp and I clicked instantly because we're both leaders of our respective collectives and because neither of us likes to talk too much," says Ali. "So when we say we gonna do a record together, we actually do a record together." The result is Ali & Gipp's CD Kinfolk, through multi-platinum superstar rapper Nelly's record label Derrty ENT., an imprint of Universal Motown Records.

A group born out of such diverging territories may be a surprise to some. One MC has defined the sound of Atlanta and the other helped define the sound of St. Louis - the artists seem to be a natural fit, and the album Kinfolk proves just how good the chemistry is between Ali & Gipp. "We got along from the jump," says Ali. "I went to college in Atlanta, and I'd see the Goodie MOB perform. Years later we'd meet through industry travels. Then in 2003 I was in LA recording the Sweat and Suit album with Nelly, and Gipp was there for some movie business. I called him and said, 'Come holler at us.' We did a song together called "Butterfly Doors" [included on Kinfolk] and we loved it, everybody loved it, so from that point on we were just like, let's do a whole album together."

With multiple successful groups and solo albums under their belts (Ali released Heavy Starch in 2002 and Gipp released Mutant Mindframe in 2003), the two stars have infused Kinfolk with a renewed vigor that separates it from many of the same-sounding hip hop fare. "We've always believed hip-hop was an innovative culture," Gipp says. "A culture where, instead of doing what people around you are doing, you take it to another level every time."