Hip-Hop throughout the late ‘noughties’ saw mainstream coverage and support on a scale not seen since the golden age. Many have hailed this as long overdue, however, the product of such popularity was an influx of new artists blazing through the industry and a cascade of existing artists, lacking in creativity, putting out a very similar sound. Part of Hip-Hop forgot where it came from and sold out.

 

During this time, a collection of rappers maintained and developed their sound throughout the underground scene, where People Under the Stairs built a loyal, sizable following. The West Coast duo of Christopher Portugal ‘Thes One’ and Michael Turner ‘Double K’, came together in 1997 after realizing they shared a very focused and selfless musical work-ethic. They took the name People Under The Stairs as they felt it was symbolic of how they represented themselves as artists.

 

When I first arrived at The Haunt, eager to see ‘The P’, I found myself in the smoking area listening to Double K talk about his childhood spent bunking school to rap with his friends under the Santa Monica pier. It was inspirational to see, after seventeen years, they are still keeping it real with the fans.

 

With Double K on the decks teasing the crowd with samples from the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and Wu Tang Clan, Thes One took centre stage to bring the energy. He said, “tonight, for one hour, me you and everyone here, we’re having a party!” before seamlessly flowing into ‘At The House’, an anecdotal tale about a raucous house party, told with a precise and yet smooth flow.

 

People Under The Stairs are notorious for their charming story-telling lyricism over brass filled, feel good beats and all those expectations were met and surpassed with ‘Anotha BBQ’. Double K stepped his game up and showed just how versatile his style is with everything from the classic ‘perfect rhyme’ style to ‘multisyllabic rhymes’.

 

Both Thes One and Double K are known for an eclectic musical palette, drawing on all genres from Jazz to Rock. However, the crowd and I were nonetheless shocked to see Thes completely rock out to a cover of AC/DC’s ‘Back In Black’, midway through a classically LA style Hip-Hop performance. A first for any Hip-Hop gig I’ve been too but hopefully not the last.

 

Throughout the performance, it was warming to see how much these two incredible artists love what they do as they bounce off each other. All of these admirable qualities came together to create a Hip-Hop symphony worthy of the renaissance.