People Under the Stairs

Five years since the first People Under The Stairs album “The Next Step” hit the streets and the traditions and rules that uphold hip–hop´s subculture still continue to crumble. Let us remember a time when hip–hop was good. When beats consisted of looped music (an evolution of the DJ going back and forth with funky breaks), rhymes that reflected the nuances of everyday b–boy life, scratching that musically captured the rhythms and sounds of a passing city, and of course, soul! The People Under The Stairs are stuck in this era, and their art is much more than their music, it is the vibe they convey through it. In August of 2003, People Under the Stairs take it back to the good times of roller skates, hot dogs and fresh fades with their new Summer offering “Or Stay Tuned.” A collection of new jams full of fun times, lyrics that make you laugh and more of that good living style hip–hop you love.The People Under The Stairs´ Thes One and Double K have excused themselves from modern hip hop. “We are not MC´s, Producers, or DJ´s” Double K explains, “we are B–boys, and we do all of that naturally”. Together, both members dig for records, produce the beats, rap, scratch, engineer, design the artwork and construct the albums, and in doing so, present some of the most personal music available in hip hop. According to Thes, “People can´t readily define what we make, if anything, they say it sounds dated. I take that as the highest form of compliment right now.” Refusing to use any keyboards, the duo construct their music completely from the records they dig out of the surrounding urban sprawl. By manually excavating crusty drums from worn vinyl and adding mutilated, layered loops from conflicting genres of records, The P recycle the forgotten items of their surroundings in the same way freed slaves picked up marching instruments from civil war battlefields and created Jazz. And in every sense, they follow the traditions and standards set forth by their ancestors. “Kool Herc wasn´t rocking jams with a keyboard. He had doubles of rare funk with dope breaks, and hip–hop was born. We could never evolve outside of that standard, it will forever define who we are.”In 1998 they released their full length debut album entitled The Next Step (Step One), which caught the attention of San Francisco based Om Records, a well respected underground music label who soon after hearing the album offered the duo a recording contract and re–issued the album on Om. After signing in the late summer of 1999, PUTS released their second album “Question In the Form of an Answer” (Step 2). Capturing the People Under The Stairs in classic form with funky jazz loops, crisp scratching, and a refreshingly lighthearted attitude towards hip hop, Question´s BUZZ in the hip–hop community brought PUTS coverage in such magazines as VIBE, URB (Next 100) and XXL. Gaining from the momentum in the media, PUTS went on to tour, playing over 200 live shows (International and Stateside) in 1999–2001, performing before crowds as large as 20,000.The third album “OST (Original Sound Track)”, (step three) was released in June of 2002 on Om Records. Packed with the spirit of bumpin´ beats, crackin´ cold beverages, diggin´ through the crates and smokin´ fat blunts, PUTS took us all back to the time when hip–hop was about real life. The theory behind the album was to shorten the distance between artist and person listening. “Our ultimate goal with O.S.T. was to have the person listening to the album feel like they personally know us” says Thes. Critical acclaim came in bounds, from major features and reviews in URB, Elemental, Blender, Heckler, Stance, Strength and more, the P went on to join two massive US Tours (Cali–Comm and Family Values) and tour Europe 3 times. All eyes are now on them from the underground to the masses, what will they do next?Like the open–ended closings of the great television shows of the 70´s, “Or Stay Tuned” takes you on another ride with The P. A twelve–track collection of party rockers, love songs, silly skits and more, all guaranteed to bump you up! Lay back in the cut with “Fly Love Song” or just have a ball with “Yield” and “Plunken Em”...This is the funk for your bottom, the beats for your top, and even the ´green´ for in between?let it all hang loose and turn it up!