People Under the Stairs

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People Under the Stairs
Thes One and Double K
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Hip hop, alternative hip hop
Years active	1997–present
Labels	PUTS Records,Om Records,Tres Records, Gold Dust Media
Members
Thes One Double K

People Under the Stairs are an underground hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. It's comprised of two emcee's Thes One and Double K. The group, also known as PUTS, has released seven albums since 1998, each about every two years. Although widely unrecognized, PUTS is often considered one of the hip hop underground's most prominent acts, with a musical style similar to that of A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, and fellow Los Angeles group Ugly Duckling. PUTS is also renowned for their live shows, which feature a large amount of crowd interaction and humor.

History

Thes One (Chris Portugal) was born in Lima, Peru in 1977. His musical aliases include Thes One, Uncle Thester, Supreme One, Thessoterrorist, and Lord Radio. Double K (Michael Turner Jr.) is originally from Los Angeles, California, and was also born in 1977. He is also known to go by K Jackson, BABY HUEY, Dub K, L.A. Mike, Mikey, Kaos, Hale Bop, and Kidd Drunkadelic. The two met in Los Angeles in the late 1990s, and quickly proceeded recording their first album, The Next Step.

The Next Step

Recorded themselves, before they had secured a deal, the group sold it at gigs and would go out on the street with backpacks full of copies to sell it to anyone who would buy it. The Next Step would eventually be released in 1998 ^[1], it was well received critically, and because of this success, the head of Om Records (Chris Smith) negotiated a contract with the group, leading to their 2000 album Question in the Form of an Answer.^[2]

American Men, Vol. 1

The group recorded a limited run of 1,000 presses of the album in 1999. Due to its rarity, it is much-coveted amongst PUTS fans.

Question in the Form of an Answer

Released on Om Records in 2000 Question in the Form of an Answer was PUTS' sophomore effort and also received a warm welcome from critics. Along with groups like Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples and the emerging Ugly Duckling, People Under the Stairs were considered part of a successor generation to The Pharcyde's west coast sunny weather, fun rhyme and laid back attitude in opposition to the popular G Funk which was heavily associated with west coast hip hop.

"O.S.T."

People Under the Stairs third release in 2002 saw a continually growing fan base and more intense touring. Another popular release with fans and critics the album featured popular tracks such as O.S.T. (Original Soundtrack) (featuring Odell Johnson) and Acid Raindrops.

...Or Stay Tuned

Released in 2003 the ...Or Stay Tuned EP featured the single Yield with the B-side Out da Club. Following this the group would take a short hiatus during which time Thes One would begin work on his solo album, though it wouldn't see release until 2007. Eventually they would return to the studio to work on their fourth full length album Stepfather. They also included a remixed version of "San Francisco Knights" (from "The Next Step") titled "S.F. Knight Remix".

Stepfather

Their album Stepfather was released on April 18, 2006. A false leak of the album was released on the internet on February 21, 2006. The leak was orchestrated by Thes One himself by recruiting members on the PUTS Online messageboard to spread the bad copy. The leak is in fact a recital of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner with an introduction containing such jeers as, "You got it way before everyone, you're so smart. You couldn't wait for 4.18.06, huh. You're smart, well enjoy this."

They have also moved to Basement Records, who released their current album along with Tres Records. The label was started by Chikaramanga & Sausen with the assistance of Thes One^[3] and has begun releasing 12" singles and CDs for Thes One, Giant Panda, Lightheaded, and other artists.

Thes One released his first solo album, Lifestyle Marketing, in early 2007. It is a 2-disc album of instrumentals featuring samples from Herb Pilhofer's Music That Works.

Fun DMC

It was released on September 30, 2008 and was critically acclaimed.

Carried Away

It was announced that a new album entitled Carried Away would be released on 13th October. A World Tour is expected to start soon.

Discography

Albums

• The Next Step (1998)
• Question in the Form of an Answer (2000)
• O.S.T. (2002)
• ...Or Stay Tuned (2003)
• Stepfather (2006)
• Fun DMC (2008)
• Carried Away (October 13, 2009)

EPs

• Question in the Form of an Answer Instrumentals (2000)
• American Men Vol. 1 (2001)
• Stepfather Instrumentals Part 1 (2007)
• Stepfather Instrumentals Part 2 (2008)

Compilations

• The Om Years (Favorites, Rarities & B-Sides) (2008)

Singles

• "The Next Step II" (1998)
• "Youth Explosion" (2000)
• "The Cat" (2000)
• "We'll Be There" (2000) (Hot Rap Singles #36)^[4]
• "Jappy Jap" (2002)
• "O.S.T. (Original soundtrack)" (2002)
• "Acid Raindrops" (2002)
• "Yield / Out da Club" (2003)
• "Tuxedo Rap" (2006)
• "Pass The 40" (2006)
• "Step Bacc/The Wiz" (2008)
• "Trippin' at the Disco" (2009)

References

External links

• PUTS Online
• People Under the Stairs at MySpace