Here’s something we didn’t see coming: British-born, New York City-raised headwear company Kangol is getting into the streaming music business. We suppose it makes sense, since the company has a long association with musicians. In the 60s, they obtained exclusive rights to make Beatles headgear and manufactured a range of band-branded caps and berets. 20 years later, Kangol found favor among hip-hop musicians. LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Erik B and Rakim, and Grand Master Flash all dressed their heads in Kangol.

Dubbed Radio Kangol, the free service features music curated by ten underground record labels, including Golf Channel, Rockers International, Stones Throw, Foundation, Burger, PPU Records, Soundway, Workshop, Plant Records and Minimal Wave. These labels represent a range of genres and are based in cities all over the world. For example, Rockers International hails from Jamaica and specializes in reggae music, Burger is out of Fullerton, California and supports the garage rock scene, and Workshop is a German label that’s all about minimal house and techno.

For the project, each label has put together a six-hour playlist that is a combination of live and recorded shows. These playlists or stations can be found at www.radiokangol.com. We did a cursory listen and found tunes by Japan’s Animal Living, Korea’s Googolplex, James Pants, synth pioneer Martin Lloyd, and Magic Jake and The Power Crystals. There are ‘share’ and ‘buy this track’ options if you like what you’re hearing.

Kangol has also paired each playlist with an iconic Kangol hat that is available for purchase on the Radio Kangol website.

Radio Kangol is already up and running, it launched June 24, 2015. Get your ears on its 60 hours of programming now: www.radiokangol.com.