Mike Ladd is an American hip hop musician from Boston, Massachusetts, United States.[2] He is based in Paris, France.[3] The Guardian described him as "the king of the hip-hop concept."[4]

Mike Ladd
Ladd (left) and Serge Teyssot-Gay in 2016.
Background information
BornBoston, Massachusetts, U.S.
OriginParis, France
GenresHip hop[1]
Occupations
Years active1997–present
Labels

Early life

edit

Mike Ladd was born in Boston, Massachusetts.[5] As a child, he lived in India and Zimbabwe for a while.[6] He graduated from Hampshire College.[7]

Career

edit

Ladd's debut studio album, Easy Listening 4 Armageddon, was released in 1997.[8] He released Welcome to the Afterfuture in 2000.[9] Nostalgialator was released in 2004.[10] In 2005, he released Negrophilia: The Album, which was inspired by Petrine Archer-Straw's book of the same name.[11] In that year, he also released Father Divine on ROIR.[12] He has also released several collaborative albums with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer.[13]

Style and influences

edit

Mike Ladd's influences range from Funkadelic to King Tubby, Minor Threat, and Charles Stepney.[14]

Discography

edit

Studio albums

edit

Live albums

edit
  • Live from Paris (2000)
  • Vernacular Homicide (2001)
  • Kids and Animals (2011)

Singles

edit
  • "Blah Blah" (1998)
  • "5000 Miles" / "Planet 10" (2000)
  • "Activator Cowboy" (2001)
  • "Wild Out Day" / "Jet Pack" (2003)
  • "Housewives at Play" (2004)
  • "Shake It" (2004)

Guest appearances

edit
  • Youngblood Brass Band - "Peace" from Unlearn (2000)
  • Mr. Flash - "Basementized Soul" from Le Voyage Fantastique (2001)
  • Thawfor - "Where Thawght Is Worshipped 2.2" from Where Thawght Is Worshiped (2001)
  • The Opus - "Where Thawght Is Worshipped 3.0" from 0.0.0. (2002)
  • Terranova - "Sublime" and "Heroes" from Hitchhiking Non-Stop with No Particular Destination (2002)
  • Emmanuel Santarromana - "Les Halles" from Métropolitain (2003)
  • Huge Voodoo - "NYPD Blues" from Affordable Magic (2003)
  • Sonic Sum - "Films" from Films (2004)
  • Jackson and His Computerband - "TV Dogs (Cathodica's Letter)" from Smash (2005)
  • Daedelus - "Welcome Home" from Exquisite Corpse (2005)
  • Stacs of Stamina - "Baghdad Boogie" from Tivoli (2005)
  • Blue Sky Black Death - "Long Division" from A Heap of Broken Images (2006)
  • Coldcut - "Everything Is Under Control" from Sound Mirrors (2006)
  • Soylent Green - "Eating People" from Software and Hardwar (2006)
  • dDamage - "Alphabet & Burners" from Shimmy Shimmy Blade (2006)
  • Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer - "Machiavelli vs. Lao Tseu" and "Machiavelli vs. Lao Tseu (Remix)" from Mo' Dougly Weird Stories (2007)
  • Apollo Heights - "Missed Again" from Disco Lights (2007)
  • Grand Pianoramax - "Showdown" from The Biggest Piano in Town (2008)
  • Arsenal - "Turn Me Loose" from Lotuk (2008)
  • Solex vs. Cristina Martinez & Jon Spencer - "R Is for Ring-A-Ding" and "Action" from Amsterdam Throwdown King Street Showdown! (2009)
  • Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer with Jessica Fitoussi - "Dirty Finders" from Modonut (2009)
  • DJ Spooky - "Known Unknowns" from The Secret Song (2009)
  • U-God - "Lipton" from Dopium (2009)
  • Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer - "Norman Bates" from Remi Domost (2010)
  • Walker Barnard - "Ooty on Wax" and "Ooty on Wax (Iron Curtis Remix)" from Alacazam (2011)
  • Grand Pianoramax - "Domestic Bliss" from Smooth Danger (2011)
  • Birdapres - "Not the Only Man" from Catch an L (2011)
  • Busdriver - "Electric Blue" from Beaus$Eros (2012)
  • Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer - "Life at the 9th" from Modonut 2 (2012)
  • Roberto Fonseca - "Mi Negra Ave Maria" from Yo (2012)
  • Ben Muller - "The Last One to Preach" (2013)
  • Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer - "Wild Gun Mike" from Modonut Invasion (2013)
  • Dr. John - "Mack the Knife" from Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch (2014)
  • Nevche - "Rendez-Nous L'Argent" from Rétroviseur (2014)
  • Uncommon Nasa - "Black Hole" from Written at Night (2017)
  • R.A.P. Ferreira - "An Idea Is a Work of Art" from Purple Moonlight Pages (2020)
  • Billy Woods - "Christine" from Aethiopes (2022)

Remixes

edit
  • Enrico Macias - "Le Vent Du Sud (Mike Ladd Remix)" from Enrico Experience (2000)
  • Yo La Tengo - "Nuclear War (Version 4)" (2002)
  • Antipop Consortium - "Ghostlawns (Mike Ladd Mix)" (2002)
  • Yameen - "Spirit Walker (Mike Ladd Remix)" from Never Knows More (2009)

References

edit
  1. ^ Khan, Imran (October 23, 2018). "Sci-Fi Goes Hi-Fi: 10 Artists' Foray into Hip-Hop Futurism". PopMatters. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  2. ^ Fortune, Drew (April 25, 2008). "Mike Ladd: Sci-Fi Hip Hop Futurist". Alarm. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  3. ^ Siwek, Daniel (January 29, 2008). "Mike Ladd Nostalgialator". XLR8R. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  4. ^ Simpson, Dave (July 23, 2004). "Mike Ladd, Nostalgialator". The Guardian. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  5. ^ Rutledge, Bryant (November 30, 2007). "Mike Ladd "Trouble Shot"". XLR8R. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  6. ^ Khan, Imran (February 16, 2018). "There's a Good Ladd: An Interview with Rapper and Musician Mike Ladd". PopMatters. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "A Sampling of Alumni Careers in Writing and Related Fields". Hampshire College. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  8. ^ LeRoy, Dan. "Mike Ladd - Easy Listening 4 Armageddon". AllMusic. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  9. ^ P., Ethan (March 7, 2000). "Mike Ladd: Welcome to the Afterfuture". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  10. ^ Sawdey, Evan (January 24, 2008). "Mike Ladd: Nostalgialator". PopMatters. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  11. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Mike Ladd - Negrophilia: The Album". AllMusic. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  12. ^ Tangari, Joe (November 13, 2005). "Mike Ladd: Father Divine". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  13. ^ Barton, Chris (September 10, 2013). "Review: 'Holding It Down' awakens us to veterans' dreams". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  14. ^ Bush, John. "Mike Ladd - Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
edit