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 a full length album entitled The Next Step (Step One), which has since gone on to receive worldwide critical acclaim and help establish the P as leaders of a true school revolt (along with associates Ugly Duckling & Mission:). The Next Step LP also 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. After signing in the late summer of 1999, PUTS released their second album "Question In the Form of an Answer" (Step 2). It captured the People Under The Stairs in classic form, funky jazz loops, crisp scratching, and a refreshingly lighthearted attitude towards hip hop. "It seems now a days people are afraid to joke around and laugh in hip hop, even though a lot of rappers, both underground and commercial, do stuff that is hilarious." Thes continues, "for better or for worse, we are ourselves, and that is the goal of our music. I think that's why people feel it." If the resounding global response is any indication, people did feel it! Worldwide acclaim brought PUTS coverage in such high profile magazines as VIBE, URB (Next 100), XLR8R, Elemental and XXL. Gaining momentum from the buzz 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 alongside such talent as Kelis, Common, The Roots, Dan the Automator, Triple Threat DJ's and XECUTIONERS. The new album "OST (Original Sound Track)", coming in June 2002 on Om Records, is step three. Packed with the spirit of bumpin' beats, crackin' cold beverages, diggin' through the crates and smokin' fat blunts, PUTS take us all back to the time when hip-hop was about real life. "OST" invites us to stop in and kick' it with the fellas and enjoy a day in the life with Thes One and Double K. The theory behind the new album is to shorten the distance between artist and person listening. "Our ultimate goal with the new record is to have the person listening to the music feel like they personally know us" says Thes. "I'd like for someone to have a good feeling for what I'm about after hearing the music." WEBSITES: www.putsonline.co.uk www.om-records.com