I've been a strong advocate for these guys since I first heard them in a 411 Video Magazine (skateboard video) around ten years ago. My boy Kellen Barrett recently had an interview with none other than Del Tha Funky Homosapien and asked him a question about his popularity amongst the "extreme sport" crowd. This immediately made me realize that People Under The Stairs are a similar case - well respected amongst fellow skateboarders, but virtually unknown by a lot of my hip-hop loving friends. So, for your pleasure, I introduce you to one of hip-hops best kept secrets.
Hailing from the city of angels, People Under the Stairs, or P.U.T.S. for short, is Thes One and Double K, not only talented on the microphone but also renowned in the underground for their DJing/production skills, which favour jazz and soul sampling for its breaks.
Their first album is titled The Next Step (1998), which is personally one of my favorites because of its laid back beats (which is actually not an exclusive feature to this album) like on tracks like San Francisco Knights, which pretty much sounds like acid hip-hop, and of course the albums most popular track The Next Step II, which was features in a Tony Hawk game... can't remember which one.
P.U.T.S. have stayed true to their roots, spittin' over mellow tracks about anything from girls to brown baggin' and smoking splifs. The group is easily relatable to both the underground hip-hop community and urban street hop teenagers living a more lax lifestyle - not only because of lyrical content, but the overall sound and approach of the group.
The group is still active, having released an album titled Carried Away last year. I cannot recommend these guys enough. Seriously. You can listen to them in any mood, but I recommend on a nice summer night, sittin' on a porch with a brew - that's what I'll be doing this summer.
"Check it out people I'm so glad you're here, I want my peoples in the front, my peoples in the rear, to let go of your troubles, grab a chair and cool out, turn up the stereo light up the blunt and crack the Guinness stout."
Check out some tracks:
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