In recent months, we’ve noticed the duo (MC Qwazaar and Silence) hitting every cozy club with its electro/rap fusion—which makes use of dancey synth lines on tunes like “Tila” and the maxi-single “Sodapopinski” (released digitally next month and licensed for the new NFL Blitz video game). A future maxi-single, “Walk Mean,” will push that combo even further and impress anyone with an ear to the ground (or the blogs). The duo is holding out with “Run on the Sun,” an unreleased track that sounds like Public Enemy dropping lyrics on a Klaxons B-side. It’s obvious that DD is poised for bigger things. It sets off on its first U.S. tour for two weeks this summer—kicking off June 6 at Reggies in the South Loop.

The duo originally met at the studios of Frontline Records, the Chicago hip-hop label that issued Qwazaar’s solo album. Silence produced Outerlimitz, Qwazaar’s project with MC He.llsent, which sampled Can and R&B riffs on the 2005 album Suicide Prevention on Galapagos 4—a slightly more adventurous take on the standard Midwest hip-hop record.

During the Outerlimitz days, the fellas were living in Hyde Park where they dubbed their “studio”—a used Mac, a microphone in the closet and a PC—“Dirty Digital.” The collab took root about a year and a half ago, however, when Qwazaar was living on the West Coast, and Silence, after a stint in New Jersey, was banging out beats back in Chicago at Bandit Studios—investigating the possibilities of some vintage synths and sending the results to Qwa. “A couple days later, he’d send it back with vocals on it and we just built upon that,” remembers Silence.

Silence’s brother, a house DJ in L.A., was turning him on to the sounds of electronic dance music. Silence didn’t change just his beats, he also changed his way of working, ditching samples in favor of bass and synthy keys often played live by collaborators, like Whizzo, and rhythms framed in Reason software. The new name proved accurate. “We were definitely flipping digital on it,” Silence says.

Rather than cull tracks from a library of over 30 recorded tunes for an album, the group takes a bite-size approach, testing flavors on singles served to the electro hungry.

The duo takes extra care with the live show, amping it up with video mixing and costumery that includes a smoking jacket, gas masks and a flashing LED belt buckle. Hip-hop fans won’t be left in the cold, either. “We’re going after the electro club audience, but we’re trying to bring everyone else that was with us, too,” Silence says. They’ll just need to hang on tight.

Dirty Digital plays live at Super Heroes of Sound at Funky Buddha Lounge, Thursday 15.

Check out "Tila" from electro-hip-hop crossover duo Dirty Digital.