Rare live in-store Promo mix of People Under The Stairs’ new album 12 Step Program by world famous Dj Day. Originally pressed on 100 cd’s and sent to retailers across the US for In store Play, this lost mix is now available for free download.

Thes One and Double K, better known to most as People Under The Stairs, have been putting it down for years, with their own brand of honest, crate-dug, neighborhood rap. Now on their eighth full-length album, and eleventh project overall, the duo return with another incredibly solid release, with no sign of letting up anytime soon.

Built around a fictional radio show of sorts – “Mike & Chris On WRLA” (with an incredible custom bumper to match) – the duo’s trademark sense of humor is embedded all over the album. From it’s opening sampled sketch, built around two gentlemen that invite you to “drink a little vodka” and “have a bath together, maybe”, there are plenty of strange, laugh out loud moments all over the record. Other examples include the inspirational track “Yes I Can”, which ends with Double K’s more realistic outlook on life, or their ode to light-stalking via Facebook, “Pictures On My Wall”.

Jokes aside, there are many moments of subtle brilliance placed all over the record. The title of the album itself, 12 Step Program, is a nod not only to it’s tracklist length, but also to the SP-1200, which likely had a hand in creating this record. Other times its in the sampling itself, such as how “LA Nights” ends and “Get Hip” begins, with vintage vocals speaking to each other. When the album ends, and comes full circle back around to it’s beginning – it’s clear that this record followed the plans of a well laid blueprint.

But what really makes PUTS latest another strong LP from the crew is the music itself. Thes and K offer a unique perspective of Los Angeles times, which differs from Wiz’s Khalifa’s glamorous Blacc Hollywood or Schoolboy Q’s unforgiving environment. Songs like “Cool Story Bro” and “LA Nights” describe the city’s underground culture, which in this point in their lives, is less about hip-hop, and more about just trying to make it, day by day.

Smoothly produced, People Under The Stairs return from their hiatus like they never left, as songs like “Ste. For Reefer”, “Doctor Feelgood”, and the aforementioned “LA Nights” show off their knack for creating sample-based masterpieces. Despite a rapidly changing musical landscape, PUTS stay true to their philosophies, best summed up on “The Strand”: “We press it on vinyl, it can’t be killed / if you throw it away, eternity rockin a landfill.”

MURS and Thes One look ahead to the People Under The Stairs performance at LACMA on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 7 pm, as they join Skeme and VerBS at the thrid installment of Through The Mic: LACMA x Hip Hop. The concert is followed by an after-hours viewing of Chris Burden’s “Metropolis II”. Tickets and more information available at http://www.lacma.org/peopleunderthestairs.

Co-curated and hosted by LACMA and Murs, Through The Mic: LACMA x Hip Hop is the first museum hip hop concert series of its kind, that will explore contemporary Los Angeles hip hop music from May through October 2012. Concerts will take place on the third Thursday of every month, and will feature emerging and experimental L.A.-based hip hop artists. After each concert, select contemporary galleries are open late for concert-goers only.

In collaboration with Cashmere Agency and Guerilla Union. For more information about the concert series, check out: http://www.lacma.org/peopleunderthestairs

As the years go on, the generation of heads that came up before the 2Pac/Biggie era of hip-hop seems to dwindle. The 80′s and 90′s produced some of the most pure hip-hop imaginable, in a time where record sales came second to the art, and the music was presented with a sense of honesty and integrity. The indie hip-hop movement produced a lot of “internet emcees” – kids that were raised in that era, but lacked the authenticity or “street cred” to really reproduce the coveted classic sound. L.A.’s People Under The Stairs emerged during that time period, and with their 8th album, Highlighter, they prove they weren’t just another fly-by-night group with a couple of 12″ singles.

Prideful crate diggers, Thes-One and Double K have always built their music around samples, but Highlighter takes it to the next level, with a true mastery of the craft. It sound as if they’ve moved beyond just sample collages, implementing some original production behind the dusty grooves. There’s hints of Digable Planets’ Blowout Comb here; another LP built around samples and original production alike.

Not to sound cliche, but PUTS have crafted another LP of “feel good music” that’s easy on the ears, even when their venting about industry evils on tracks like “Selfish Destruction”. Other times, they just have fun with it – such as on “Uprock Boogie”, built around an Eric B. chain and Das Efx quotes, or “Electric Tookie”, an ode to 80′s sitcoms. They take things a step further on “Cookie’s Theme”, where Double K dreams about being a doo-wop singer with a pension for big girls, or “WRLA”, a lighthearted look at lost “art of radio”.

“Ambien Hallway Music” finds the duo contemplating retirement, ending the record off. While a familiar break in it’s own right, the only real questionable sample here is on “Can’t Hold It Back”, using a terribly obvious jacking of Art Of Noise’s “Moments In Love”. For two gentlemen that built their sound on impossible to find gems, this one seems a bit out of place in their catalog. Maybe it was a guilty pleasure.

Amazingly, at 20 tracks deep, the duo keep their consistency throughout the length of the LP with a rich, musical groove that never seems to let up. What’s even more stunning is how consistent this LP is at this stage in their career. Many artists can’t even get to eight albums, and if they can, but that time the “dope juice” runs out. Here’s to People Under The Stairs for delivering quality hip-hop music all these years.
]]> http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/11/01/people-under-the-stairs-highlighter-review/feed/ 6 http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/10/04/people-under-the-stairs-returning-with-highlighter-lp-on-oct-15th/ http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/10/04/people-under-the-stairs-returning-with-highlighter-lp-on-oct-15th/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:22:45 +0000 http://www.hiphopsite.com/?p=38972 [cont.]]]>

The People Under The Stairs will return with a new album, Highlighter, shipping directly from their website on or before October 15th. Customers will be treated to immediate digital downloads of the LP. Regular and deluxe t-shirt packages.

Highlighter, People Under The Stairs’ most ambitious work to date, marks their 8th album release and captures the unparalleled group at the height of their 14 year career. More than just an indie hip-hop album, Highlighter’s outside collaborators comprise a group of influential LA indie-rock producers, engineers and live players featuring everything from full string sections to vintage vibraphones & keyboards. Recorded across a handpicked selection of Los Angeles studios, the duo dig deep into tape, consoles, obscure records and live players and emerge with a project that is both unique and yet familiar. Amidst the swirling musical landscapes, the P realize their most psychedelic album yet and continue to pioneer an alternate, innovative musical direction in rap music.

Tracklist:
1. Selfish Destruction
2. The Second Track
3. Can’t Hold It Back
4. Talkin’ Back To The Streets
5. At The House
6. Too Much Birthday
7. We Got It
8. The Time Bandit
9. Foolish People
10. Ascension To Nowhere
11. Uprock Boogie
12. Electric Tookie
13. This Lifetime
14. Cookie’s Theme
15. Dewrit!
16. Mean Spirited
17. Sonic Elders
18. WRLA
19. Left Foot, Right Foot (PL70 Exclusive)
20. Ambien Hallway Music (PL70 Exclusive)

Thes-One speaks on his new website PL70.net, which stands for Piecelock 70. The site will be a co-op between P.U.T.S. and other artists such as Cut Chemist, DJ Day, and Wonderful Radio, where they will offer exclusive releases for sale and free download. Right now, the downloads section has about six releases for free download, including exclusive new material from Thes-One.

The end result was a generic hip-hop record of cliche rap songs like “Lyrical Miracles”, “4 Elementz”, “Sucka Emcees” and more, performed by P.U.T.S. We loved the idea, so we got with the group and pressed up Redheaded Stepfather: The Fake Leak, as a free bonus disc for those that pre-ordered Stepfather. Full circle, son.

P.U.T.S. “Redheaded Stepfather: The Fake Leak”

Los Angeles hip-hop duo People Under The Stairs (Thes One & Double K) present “BEER” the official Music Video off the album “Carried Away”. Piecelock 70 in conjunction with Vital Films, directed by Matt Hobbs (www.vital-films.com) and written by PUTS. Video graciously filmed on location in the Odell Brewing Company of Fort Collins Colorado,with live party filmed around the corner from the Fox Theater in Boulder Colorado. From the album Carried Away, in stores now on Om Records.

Includes footage from: Murs & 9th Wonder, Tha Dogg Pound, Dilated Peoples, Jay Electronica, Raekwon, Ice Cube, Lady of Rage, Psycho Realm, People Under The Stairs, Tech 9ine, Freestyle Fellowship. More to come, check back for updates.

Rhymesayers Entertainment is throwing together this year’s Soundset festival Sunday May 30th at Canterbury Park in Minneapolis, MN. Huge lineup this year is headlined by Atmosphere, Redman & Method Man, Brother Ali, Hieroglyphics, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Souls Of Mischief, Casual, Pep Love, P.O.S., Freeway & Jake One, Murs, Cage, Eyedea & Abilities, Wiz Khalifa, Bus Driver, DJ Rob Swift, People Under The Stairs, Yelawolf, DJ Revolution, and many more. [Source: RSE]

Pharoah Monch @ SXSW Duck Down Showcase from AB on Vimeo.

Black Milk w/ AB & Daru “Loosing Out” @ SXSW from AB on Vimeo.

Devin The Dude – Fuck You from The Smoking Section on Vimeo.

Wiz Khalifa x Curren$y – Car Service from The Smoking Section on Vimeo.

Cool Kids @ SXSW! from Eazy on Vimeo.

Pac Div “Mayor” LIVE in Austin!! from Eazy on Vimeo.

Local Stop: SXSW “16″ C-RAYZ WALZ from MiZ MeTrO: UNLIMITED on Vimeo.

Freeway & Jake One + 6Magazine Conversation from 6Magazine on Vimeo.

Visually Heard / GLC Freestyle @ SXSW from LRG on Vimeo.

Mayer Hawthorne – I Wish It Would Rain SXSW 2010 from Dejon Shepard on Vimeo.

J.Cole – Beautiful Bliss SXSW 2010 from Dejon Shepard on Vimeo.

Kid Sister Live at SxSW from Sindre Rønningen on Vimeo.

Nicky Diamonds & Dante Ross @ SXSW from College Kid on Vimeo.

Yelawolf Live @ SXSN 2010 from Budge Rodriguez on Vimeo.

Pill x Killer Mike x SXSW from Motion Family on Vimeo.

24KMilkCrate x J.Cole @ URB SXSNext 2010 from Jan Ferrer on Vimeo. Broken Bells @ SXSW from NOW Magazine on Vimeo. Get Busy Committee My Little Razorblade live @ The Velveeta Room, Austin, TX March 17 2010 from Get Busy Committee on Vimeo. DJ Quik at Club Deville Austin, TX SXSW. from Elias the Barbarian on Vimeo. Bun B x Motion Family x SXSW from Motion Family on Vimeo. Bahamadia SXSW from gavin dahl on Vimeo.

The production is always solid.  No one really creates the kind of sun soaked soul they’re capable of.  The lyrics on their albums frequently is about being laidback, going to barbeques and taking it easy, and the music works as good accompaniment for all these activities.  Opener “Swan Fever” opens with a nice soul sample and a callback to Run DMC to hit the album title home get everything started on the good foot.  “Step Bacc”, “The Fun”, and “Anotha (BBQ)” are all prominent showcases for the sound of the album.   All sound like fuzzed out G-Funk and its hard not to imagine powerful West Coast voices like Dre or Snoop on tracks like these.

What’s hard to swallow about this album is not so much the positivity but the insulin sweet sugar coating.  Killer Mike’s Pledge Allegiance to the Grind 2 was one of the most empowering, positive records released this year, but you never felt a sense of passivity.  Perhaps the abundance of beautiful women, herb and sun available to Californian’s doesn’t inspire the fury it used to.

They do make their low gravity approach work on some songs however.   “The Wiz” is a standout.  It sounds like the perfect soundtrack to driving through LA mid-summer with no particular place to go.  They manage to inflect more of the Cali subculture co-opting the “West Coast Poplock” sample used in “California Love” and turn it into a Mexicali tribute.  On “A Baby”, they manage to bring some intensity and what even sounds like some anger.  Unfortunately it turns out to be one of the shortest tracks on the album.

Sometimes it’s hard writing a critical review of an album that has done a good job at what it ultimately set out to do.  But while they make polished music and ride some great grooves they just don’t seem to have made anything other than another BBQ record.  The talent is there and they have the ability but it might help to lay off the weed and get angry every once in awhile. – Dane Johnson

     Stepfather is a heavy meal, at twenty tracks length, but will satisfy longtime fans of the crew, as well as newcomers looking for something different than the same old thing. Tracks like “Pass The 40″ or “Crown Ones”, for instance, shows the PUTS knack for digging up a minimalist loop ? most likely one you haven’t heard elsewhere ? and rocking it with pure simplicity. “Tuxedo Rap” seemingly takes samples from a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough”, believe it or not, and spins it into a beautiful old school throwback with danceable, broken beats. While saluting the old-school throughout the duration of the record, the PUTS real knack is buried in the incredibly dope samples they dig up. Mellow head-nodders such as “Days Like These”, “More Than You Know”, and “LA9X” seem all the more genuine when Thes and K put their honest, heartfelt lyrics to the beats. Who can be mad at feel-good BBQ jams such as “Jamboree Part One” ? wouldn’t be nice if all hip-hop party jams could feel this good?

     However with such a hearty plate of goods, there is definitely room for lesser spectacular moments. “Jamboree Part Two”, for instance, while a smart description of the “after-party”, doesn’t feel as carefree as its predecessor.  “Reflections”, featuring the reggae styling of Odell Johnson goes in a totally different direction than much of the rest of the album, and in it’s five minute span, one almost forgets that they are listening to a PUTS album. 

    Minor gripes such as these, not to mention an overall melancholy feel throughout the LP, keep Stepfather from topping other PUTS releases. However one cannot be mad that there are still guys like these digging for new loops you’ve never heard before, and making honest rap music. While Stepfather’s almost overwhelming length may a full course meal too heavy for some to digest, a lot of it still tastes good going down. 

    While in most cases these types of releases are boring and mismatched, PUTS serves up a healthy dose of eleven tracks that picks up right where the stellar O.S.T. left off. Included here are last year’s excellent “OST (Remix)”, built upon a classic beat-box sample, with vibes and stuff that would make Pete Rock listen up. Other O.S.T. outtakes are included here, such as “Plunken Em” and “Roadbeaters”, both of which would have fit on that LP nicely, but work just as well here. 

    As far as completely new, never-heard before material, there are some incredible tracks on this release, which could make heads re-examine Thes and Double K as one of the tightest production duos of the moment. “Yo” whets the appetite with its soap opera organs, matching bassline, xylophones, and soul clap, as the two describe each other with collective L.A. coolness. This leads “L.A. Song (Sensitive Mix) “, which packs one of the best hip-hop beats of the year, no exaggeration. A track that can be felt, not heard, and only described as beautiful, this chilled out melody really hits the heart, playing like a Los Angeles version of 3rd Bass’s “Product Of The Environment”, as Thes’s laid-back, one-of-kind accented storytelling animates the track. While this is the LP’s dopest moment, there are several others as well – who can forget the duality of “Fly Love Song”, where Thes professes his love for making beats, while Double K professes his for the breezies.

    While PUTS mess around on tracks like “Take The Fruit”, “SF Knights Remix”, and “Drumbox”, it’s obvious from the deeper selections that they take this rap shit seriously. Four albums deep with no famous guest appearances, Thes-One and Double K have proven themselves to be one of the most talented crews out of L.A., even if they aren’t a part of the “cool club” (Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Stones Throw). But since affiliation has never truly determined one’s talent, what is defined by PUTS through their music is that they are L.A., and even more so, they are hip-hop. They aren’t faking it, or struggling to be down, they exude hip-hop through their sound, their personalities, their slang, and the environment they were raised in. Stop sleeping, this is what you’ve been staying tuned for.

While many question sampling, especially loop-based sampling, as a legitimate art form, PUTS manages to sample with true artistry. They use records like painters use colors, strategically blending and dabbing sounds in certain places instead of just playing part of a record over and over. They’ve taken the original Hip-Hop style of using drum breaks and elevated it to a new level, the result of which is a warmly melodic soundscape. Although they’re dubbed “old school,” PUTS, isn’t some sort of retro novelty; they fit in today’s Hip-Hop environment as a refreshing antithesis to everything wrong with Hip-Hop and an embodiment of everything right that was and could be. Nowhere is the advantages of their old-school charm more evident than on “Hang Loose”, complete with references to Dr. J and “party people.”

The title OST (Original Sound Track) conveys perfectly what PUTS’ music is. There’s no movie to see, it’s just a soundtrack to the lives of Thes One and Double K. These two MCs/Producers/B-Boys are true fans of Hip-Hop before they’re artists, and the music they make is what they would like to hear. There’s no subliminal, emotional, or commercial message, they just rap about their everyday life of blunts, drinking and records, not exaggerating or dumbing it down at all. The two-part “The Suite For Beaver Part 1″ talks first about an unlucky day and the therapy music can provide, which satisfies that same purpose for the listener. As much of a dramatic effect that telling vivid stories of violence has, you truly have to respect an artist who says “when I die don’t cry / just put my records in a coffin / and bury next to a very big tree with my MPC” (“The Dig”).

Overall, the album is quite simply the best chill-out record that’s come out recently. The bass is hypnotic throughout, the drums are deliciously smooth, and there isn’t any one track of less quality than the others. The more up-tempo songs like “Outrage, The” and “O.S.T. (Original Soundtrack)” blend very well with the serenity of “Empty Bottles Of Water” and “Acid Raindrops”. It’s something you could just put on and relax to all the way through. The rhymes aren’t all that incredible, but they are far from weak, just less effective than the other elements that are going on. As much ground as they’re breaking with their beats, they just don’t have lyricism on the same plane. However, the thing that makes PUTS unique is that they control their own music at every level, understanding that too many guest artists or influences might ruin the continuity of a very solid, high quality LP.