People Under the Stairs

People Under The Stairs
Double K (left) & Thes One (right)
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1997–present
Labels	PUTS Records, PL70 Records, Tres Records, Om Records, Gold Dust Media
Website	pl70.net
Members	Thes One Double K

People Under the Stairs (abbreviated PUTS and The P) are an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1997. Since their inception, the group has consisted solely of Christopher Portugal (Thes One) and Michael Turner (Double K), and the group employs a DIY work ethic of sampling, MCing, DJing, and producing all of their output.

Despite difficulties achieving mainstream or chart successes, the group has shunned critiques that they are an "underground" group. They have achieved notoriety and praise from fellow musicians through eight well-received albums and a constant worldwide touring schedule that has taken them on multiple world tours to over 40 countries on 6 continents.

While still attending high school in Mid-City Los Angeles, group members Thes One and Double K were independently sampling music, creating "beat tapes", and DJing local events. Thes One attended Loyola High and was already making a name for himself through his detailed production work and his collaboration with a local, short-lived hip-hop group, Spiritual Madness. Meanwhile, Double K attended Hamilton High and was a part of the Log Cabin Crew, a hip-hop collective that also included fellow Hamilton High students Murs, Eligh & Scarub (of the Living Legends).

Despite never having met, Thes One and Double K still developed an unseen rivalry through gossip spread by their friends, and the two were wary of a confrontation. Eventually, they randomly met while looking for sample material in Martin's (a now-defunct record store on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles) and ultimately decided to listen to beat tapes in Thes One's car. The two were impressed by each other's work, and formed an immediate friendship, characterized by an intense focus on the production of music, and a shared interest in multiple genres of music.