People Under the Stairs Continue to Elevate

Longevity and consistent quality are elements that very few artists possess, let alone in hip-hop, where jocking current trends leaves hundreds of "flavour of the month” casualties. So for Los Angeles duo People Under the Stairs to fly below the radar in exchange for full control of their destiny sits perfectly fine with Thes One.

"The record game is so difficult that we take every 500 records sold as a success,” says the MC and producer who, along with Double K, has been creating an impressive catalogue that just became richer with their fifth album, Stepfather. "We’re realistic, and it’s a blessing to sell each and every record because we create music that we want to make.” It’s not uncommon for underground hip-hop acts to stay true to the game; at the same time, many get frustrated and change up their style in order to gain exposure.

"There are formulas in every genre and some groups find that a certain formula works for them and then they run it into the ground,” says Thes One. "We’ll finish a record and there will be that one song that everyone loves; it would be easy to say, ‘Okay, for the next record we need another "San Francisco Knights‚”’ but we don’t.” Instead, they’ve slowly built an audience by creating the funk-filled jams and party starting songs they love to make. And by doing this People Under the Stairs have acquired a loyal fan base that are totally down with the PUTS program, instead of going for easily accessible fast food rap. "It’s getting better and I think people know there’s the tenacity there,” Thes One explains. "It’s five albums now. We’re not huge or selling out massive shows but people know what to expect when they see us. I’m just happy that anyone cares!”