Album of the Day — January 6
People Under The Stairs — Sincerely, the P — 2019
People Under The Stairs — Sincerely, the P — 2019
06.January.2021
People Under The Stairs
Sincerely, the P
2019
The list of exceptionally talented musicians and artists who never reached an audience the size that their talent warranted or deserved.
You can add People Under The Stairs to that list.
Forming in the mid-90s in Los Angeles, as a kind of high school DJ rivalry, Thes One (Christopher Portugal) and Double K (Michael Turner ) eventually met at a record store, looking for similar music. Deciding to ignore the rivalry, they listened to each other’s work in Thes One’s car — a partnership was born.
Indeed a peculiar name, People Under The Stairs, originates from the duo’s desire to stay out of the spotlight and only focus on music. The idea being that they would only come out “from under the stairs” to perform before they retreated again to make music.
As other rap and hip-hop artists formed large crews, Thes One and Double K kept their crew to just the two of them. In fact, they were, at best, wary of artists who were more interested in lyrics rather than the music they were creating.
They began making instrumental music hoping other artists would use it and only decided to rap over their own material to keep their crew as lean as possible — just the two of them.
Over the years, the duo has gained fans as varied as Trey Anastasio from Phish to Chuck D and Biz Markie. The lack of commercial success never seemed to phase them as Thes One has said many times that People Under The Stairs deliberately focus on their artistry and music knowledge rather than monetary success and fame.
After 21 years and 14 albums, in 2019, Thes One and Double K decided to put Put Under The Stairs permanently, well, under the stairs with the best named sign-off album, Sincerely, the P.
The album stays the course the duo has always traversed, a little laid back vibe and their exceptional attention to music. “The Red Onion Wrap” pays homage to so many artists that no doubt influence the band, including Public Enemy, LL Cool J, and they even go way back and pinch a rhyme from The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rappers Delight.”
The newscaster opening of “The Effects of Climate Change on Densley Populated Areas” sets the tone for the song that follows. The track addresses a bunch of current issues …deftly:
Hundred degrees at midnight for the third day in a row
Nobody sleepin’ well and I can feel the tension growin’
LA wth rollin’ brownouts, rollin’ papers and rollin’ sixties
Heat exhaustion increasing caution across the city
Some people hit the mall, they’re tryin’ to stay cool
Some people call the cops; “there’s black children in the pool”
Everybody’s lookin’ sideways, we’re ragin’ on the highways
I hate it, I’m tryin’ to stay hydrated and faded but my way
Is blocked by road construction like a scene from “Falling Down”
Cops, they tryin’ to function but it seems they takin’ down us
Brown people at will
I’ve said that hip-hop isn’t really my go-to genre, but People Under The Stairs is something different. It’s not as though they are doing anything terribly different They’re just doing it better.
It’s a drag that Tres One and Double K weren’t able to reach a larger audience. They’ve been involved in a load of high-profile projects:
Remixing the main theme for The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special — In 3-D! On Ice!.
Run’s House
Entourage
The feature film Street Dreams.
Sad as it may be that Sincerely, the P is their last album, but People Under The Stairs have left behind a body of work that will continue to be discovered and influence hip-hop artists for generations to come.
They’re that good.