Or Stay Tuned

• Artist: People Under the Stairs
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 19, 2003
• Type: Extended Play (EP)
• Genre: Rap

Review

Double K and Thes One put it nicely when they say that they are "not MCs, producers or DJs," adding, "We are B-boys, and we do all of that naturally." That D.I.Y. attitude has a number of beneficial effects, among them an unusually intimate connection between the rhymes and the beats, and also a less quantifiable sense of down-to-earthiness that comes naturally to artists who do all their own crate-digging, mixing, scratching, engineering, and production. Throughout this album there's a pervasive sense of a group that is focusing on the verities rather than wasting time with tired chest-pounding or empty celebrations of the bling. People Under the Stairs have a penchant for funky jazz loops and first-generation hip-hop constructs; check, for example, the easy-rolling electric piano groove of "Roadbeaters" or the complex but relaxed jitter-beat of "Outrun." Even better is the unabashedly old-school celebration of "Drumbox," which is delivered in a blunt rapping style that harks back directly to the Last Poets and Grandmaster Flash. And then there's "SF Knights Remix," a distressingly brief beatbox interlude. If life remains in hip-hop's stiffening corpse, it's because of groups like this. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Yield	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(3:46)
Plunken' Em	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(4:20)
Roadbeaters	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(4:10)
Fly Love Song	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(5:48)
Drumbox	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(4:08)
O.S.T. Remix	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(4:13)
Yo	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(3:56)
LA Song [Sensitive Mix]	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(5:04)
SF Knights Remix	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(:37)
Take the Fruit	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(3:11)
Outrun	M. Turner, C. Portugal	People Under the Stairs	(3:28)

Credits

Pattyfingers (Design), Casey Nefcy (Mastering), Double K (Cut), Thes One (Engineer), Thes One (Mixing), Josh Dunn (Cover Illustration), Oliver Riley (Liner Notes)