Stepfather (album)
| Stepfather | ||||
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| Studio album by People Under the Stairs | ||||
| Released | April 18, 2006 | |||
| Recorded | 2005-2006, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 75:36 | |||
| Label | PUTS Records | |||
| Producer | Thes One, Double K | |||
| People Under the Stairs chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Stepfather | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| Music for America | (favorable) |
| Okayplayer |
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| Tiny Mix Tapes |
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| PopMatters |
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| MicrophoneMaster |  |
Stepfather is the fifth album by the People Under the Stairs. The album signified a departure from the group's previous, Golden age hip hop sound, and the album introduced a more widely varied array of sample sources. The album also spawned two singles, "Tuxedo Rap" and "Pass The 40".
Distribution of the album was handled in the United States by the local Los Angeles label Basement Records, and the release overseas was handled by Tres Records, a label co-founded by Thes One with Chikara Kurahashi from Giant Panda.
After the release of the People Under the Stairs' previous record, ...Or Stay Tuned and another world tour, Thes One and Double K found themselves free of their record contract with Om Records, and as a result, the group felt more personally responsible for the direction of their music. They also took some time to record side projects, and Thes One got married to his longtime girlfriend. The group started to move away from the "party life" they had enjoyed while making the previous albums, and the musical and lyrical themes that would be present on their next record reflected that growth.
When they began work on the new album in 2005, Thes One and Double K were feeling that sample-based hip hop was becoming repetitive and gravitating increasingly toward overused jazz samples. They even went so far as to feel critical of the success of their final Om releases, O.S.T. and ...Or Stay Tuned. The group was also unhappy with the rise in internet music piracy and the drive by music companies to push artists toward "hot singles" and away from themed albums. Due to all these factors, People Under the Stairs made a conscious decision to be as different and unique as possible in their attempt to create a cohesive album with a broader, less jazzy sound palette. They felt they had to step away from what they perceived as a stale hip hop scene as it existed in Los Angeles.
Determined to make their new album all about the new musical direction they were taking, Thes One and Double K released Stepfather with an extremely toned-down, minimalist album cover by Thes One's long time friend, Joshua Dunn of the design team Secret Pizza Party (who later became an editor for Wax Poetics). The cover was meant to look like a "working copy" record sleeve, with just the group's name in Umbra font and two fireworks prints, as well as the album's name and a phone number.
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Wikipedia