COURTESY OF OM RECORDS
Chris "Thes One" Portugal and Mike "Double K" Turner make up the rap duo People Under the Stairs. Although they aren't the favorite in their hometown Los Angeles, they are respected abroad.
Dynamic duo
The underrated hip-hop duo
People Under the Stairs wins
more fans away from home
A funny thing happened at a People Under The Stairs show in Los Angeles recently. A huge crowd turned up. Some of them even wanted to buy T-shirts. It was a perplexing development for Chris Portugal, aka Thes One, one-half of one of the most brilliant, yet vastly underrated hip-hop outfits on the international scene. "Literally, we did a show one week and we had like, 12 people there, then we did a show the next week and there were 300 people there," he relates with disbelief. "We were like, 'What happened?' "
It's not that the duo isn't popular with the hip-hop set. Music shops across Britain couldn't keep their singles on the shelves and their live shows have sold out in scores of European cities. The problem is, they're an L.A. act, and even in a massive local scene known for nurturing such celebrated below-the-radar hip-hop troupes like Dilated Peoples, Jurassic 5 and Ugly Ducking, People Under The Stairs has found the path to widespread acceptance an uphill climb.
People Under the Stairs
With openers MC Trace & Kimo James, and Omega 6Where: Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave.
When: 10 p.m. today
Tickets: $12 advance, 18 and over
Call: 941-0424
"Honestly, if we hadn't had a worldwide audience or a U.K. audience for our first album, we probably wouldn't be here," says Thes, who adds that PUTS tripped across the Atlantic 8 times before they were granted their first U.S. tour. (The rap duo makes its club debut tonight at the Wave Waikiki.)
It was during their earliest European shows that they were made aware of a distinct difference between crowds there and those in large American cities. "Here, people have the attitude like they've seen it all and they go into a show with their arms crossed, like, 'Show me something cool.' When you go over to Europe, they don't cross their arms; they've got a pint of beer in each hand and are like, 'Let's party! Yeah!' Ultimately it makes it easier to rock a crowd when the crowd's willing to be rocked."
The fervant support abroad told Thes One and partner Double K (Mike Turner to his closest associates) they had something special. "The enthusiasm of people outside of our home town is what kept us going. We've never been the cool-group-to-like in L.A., but we've had fans spread out worldwide that have allowed us to keep going... It's been rough trying to explain to your parents and your girlfriend 'No, people do like our music, seriously,' and they're like, 'I don't know, no one likes you here.' "
It's a maddening situation for the group's fans as well, who point to the duo's wondrous mastery of melody and rhythm, on-point party rhymes and resourcefulness in transforming discarded records into fresh and infectious new sounds as reasons why the duo deserves a larger stateside following.
Additionally, People Under The Stairs has consistently earned critical acclaim for its eclectic outlook, sustained over the years through a genuine reverence for a myriad of musical forms. "Hip-hop taught me to appreciate jazz and soul and rock," affirms Thes, a former record store clerk and avid record hunter who's been known to transform Bollywood disco ditties and South American rhythm tracks into head-bobbing masterpieces.
While PUTS has found potential material in record shops around the world, crate digging is about much more than pinpointing a funky beat. "Record hunting taught me to respect many musical styles because, basically, that's what hip-hop is made of," Thes says. "You might start out looking for beats or loops, but then you realize it's much more than that. Records are a piece of history and a lot of music would've been forgotten if hip-hop hadn't come along and celebrated it. If you think about it, hip-hop really is a part of who we are. All of us."
Click for online
calendars and events.
