Time Off Thes One Interview

Interview by: Cyclone

Date: 14th June 2006

Step on up!

People Under The Stairs aren't the most fashionable outfit in hip-hop. They've never donned quirky costumes, devised zany alter-egos, or courted pop music's limelight. PUTS deliver quality, straight-up and unpretentious hip-hop - and their fans love them for it.

Now the affable Thes One (Chris Portugal) and Double K (Mike Turner) are back with an adventurous new album, Stepfather.

"We've definitely evolved," Thes One says down a distorted line. "Hip-hop's evolving, everything's changing right now, so we're moving in our own direction. I think we're just refining more what we're about and what we're trying to do. We got a lot of dedicated cats out there who feel it - and we appreciate that."

The West Coasters, who both took to the decks before picking up mics, surfaced in 1998 with The Next Step their debut of whimsical post-Gangstarr hip-hop, then aligned themselves with San Francisco's Om Records, better known for its deep house roster (think Mark Farina) than hip-hop, for 2000's breakthrough, Question In The Form Of An Answer.

The press hailed PUTS as belonging to a movement taking hip-hop back to its roots along with Ugly Duckling, Foreign Legion and Jurassic 5.

Stepfather underscores PUTS' evolution, with Thes One talking up their "extremely progressive approach". They've challenged themselves musically, using live instrumentation.

"We're trying to push ourselves - as a producer I'm trying to push what I do and not just settle for doing the same type of thing over and over again... just trying to keep it fresh."

PUTS are even joined by special guest George Clinton, something that suggests the title Stepfather is obviously metaphoric.

"There's a lot of stuff behind it, almost too much to list - it'll mean different things to different people, so I'll just leave it as vague as that. I think someone could probably figure out a few meanings just off the top of their head and how it relates to our name." (For the record, in another interview, Double K stated that if Grandmaster Flash is a father figure to hip-hop, then PUTS, as his successors, are stepfathers.)

In the past critics have claimed that PUTS are overly nostalgic for the ol' skool, but Thes One contests that. PUTS don't perceive themselves as retro - far from it.

"The press wanna pigeonhole you and put you in a category because it makes it easier to describe. I make beats with samples, and we make hip-hop, but that doesn't mean that we're trying to be ol' skool or anything like that - that's just how you make it, what you do. We're definitely never gonna stop doing that but, at the same time, we're not sitting around here imitating a bunch of people I used to look up to, or at least not trying to."

Thes One believes that the scope of Stepfather will impress sceptics.

"We're always learning. Every time we listen to something we're redefining what we think and redefining what we love and how we understand music, so it's a learning process all the time. You've just gotta keep your ears open and keep listening, not be afraid of change. Most of the underground dudes are afraid of change, so we gotta embrace that."