Noah Raymond Brickley (born February 10, 1978), better known by his
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Noah23, is a Canadian-American hip hop artist from
Guelph, Ontario
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...
. He is co-founder of the Plague Language collective and record label, and has been described as "one of Canada's best, most underrated MCs".
Career
Noah Raymond Brickley was born in 1978 in
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, ...
and moved to
Guelph, Ontario
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...
at the age of 4. He began rapping in the early 1990s and released his first album, originally titled ''Plague Language'', in 1999. This album, initially released on cassette, was remastered and released on CD in 2006 under the name ''Cytoplasm Pixel''.
In the late 1990s, Noah23 started the record label Plague Language with producer Orphan (real name Kingston Maguire, who went on to become one half of production duo
Blue Sky Black Death
Blue Sky Black Death (abbreviated BSBD) was a production duo based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It consisted of Ryan Maguire, better known by his stage name Kingston, and Ian Taggart, better known by his stage name Young God, or, later, Televa ...
). In the early 2000s the Plague Language label released music from artists such as Baracuda,
Livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...
,
Orko the Sycotik Alien
David Wali Rahmaan Ebn Hassan Bullard, better known by his stage name Orko Eloheim (formerly Orko the Sycotik Alien) (born 1975/1976) is an American alternative hip hop artist from San Diego, California. He is also one half of the duo Nephlim Mo ...
,
Penny
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...
, The Main, and Madadam. In 2004, following the departure of Orphan, the label entered into a period of indefinite hiatus. Plague Language continues to exist, however, as both an
imprint
Imprint or imprinting may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series
* "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror''
* ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film
...
on associated Canadian label Legendary Entertainment and as a loose collective of Guelph-based hip-hop artists.
Noah23 is involved with side projects associated with Plague Language, including Crunk23, Famous Playaz, The Weird Apples, and Bourgeois Cyborgs. He has also collaborated with other artists, such as Lil B The Based God,
Cadence Weapon
Roland "Rollie" Pemberton, better known by his stage name Cadence Weapon, is a Canadian-American rapper based in Toronto, Ontario. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Pemberton released his first album, ''Breaking Kayfabe'', in 2005 with posi ...
K-the-I???
Kiki Ceac, better known by his stage name K-the-I???, is an American rapper and producer based in Los Angeles, California and currently signed to Fake Four Inc.
History
K-the-I??? began recording in 2002. He released several small-issue records ...
Myka 9
Michael Lafayette Troy (born January 15, 1969), better known by his stage name Myka 9, is a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of Freestyle Fellowship, Haiku d'Etat and Magic Heart Genies. Known for years as Mikah Nine, he chan ...
Ghettosocks
Darren Pyper, better known by his stage name Ghettosocks, is a Juno-nominated Canadian hip hop artist and member of the Backburner collective. In early 2010, Ghettosocks' album ''Treat of the Day'' spent several weeks at #1 on ChartAttack's Canad ...
, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Gregory Pepper, and
Buck 65
Richard Terfry (born March 4, 1972), better known by his stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian alternative hip hop artist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, count ...
.
He has performed with
Kool Keith
Keith Matthew Thornton (born October 7, 1963), better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, known for his surreal, abstract and often profane or incomprehensible lyrics. Koo ...
Islands
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
,
Matisyahu
Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979), known by his stage name Matisyahu (; ), is an American reggae singer, rapper, beatboxer, and alternative rock musician.
Known for blending spiritual themes with reggae, rock and hip hop beatboxing so ...
Grand Buffet
Grand Buffet is a hip-hop funk duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, made up of Jackson O'Connell-Barlow (stage names: Iguanadon, Grape-a-Don, Plaps, Nate Kukla, and Mr. Pennsylvania) and Jarrod Weeks (stage names: M-Dog, Lord Grunge, Viceroy, Ma ...
The Constantines
Constantines is an indie rock band from Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
History
Constantines was formed in 1999 by vocalist and guitarist Bryan Webb, drummer Doug MacGregor and guitarist Paul Bright, all of whom had played together in the emo band Sho ...
Shad
The Alosinae, or the shads,Alosinae Swollen Members.
On May 3, 2011, Noah23 announced that he would retire from music at the end of the year. Throughout the first half of 2012 he expressed uncertainty over the possibility of his return to music. On July 31, 2012, he stated he was considering returning to music in the new year, and on August 4 he officially announced he would begin releasing new material in 2013.
Post-hiatus: 2012-present
Noah23's first post-hiatus album, titled ''Wingfoot'', was released for download on December 21, 2012. On February 10, 2013, Noah23 released the EP ''Tropical Fruit'', featuring production by
Pictureplane
Travis Egedy (born May 1, 1985), better known by his stage name Pictureplane, is an American electronic musician, visual artist and fashion designer based in Brooklyn, New York. He first appeared in the music scene of Denver, Colorado, making ...
. On May 23, he released the collaborative album ''Lotus Deities'', which features an array of guest appearances, and includes a remix of "Comin' Home" by
City and Colour
Dallas Michael John Albert Green (born September 29, 1980) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who records under the name City and Colour. He is also known for his contributions as a singer, rhythm guitarist and songwr ...
. On August 20, he released the third and final entry in the ''Occult Trill'' series, subtitled ''Blast Master Therion''. While the first two entries in the series are mixtapes, this release is considered an "official album". On September 3, he released the alternative folk EP ''Husk'' under his Yukon Dawn moniker. The EP is dedicated to Noah23's mother for her sixtieth birthday. On October 9, he released a
Ween
Ween is an American Rock music, rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Gene Ween, Aaron Freeman and Dean Ween, Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an al ...
-themed mixtape titled ''Ween x Noah23 (Browntape)''. On January 31, 2014, Noah23 released a collaborative EP with producer Horse Head, titled ''Delicate Genius'', On February 23, he released a compilation of guest appearances, singles and miscellaneous tracks titled ''Rare Gems''. On July 23, he released a collaborative album with producer David Klopek titled ''Light Years'', which he described as a " golden era", " boom bap"-style record, likening its sound to that of his earlier albums ''
Jupiter Sajitarius
''Jupiter Sajitarius'' is a 2004 album by Canadian- American alternative hip hop artist Noah23. It possesses "a remarkable variety of both production and compositions," according to MiC Music Portal. The majority of the album's production was han ...
'' and ''Crab Nebula'', and to the music of
Kool Keith
Keith Matthew Thornton (born October 7, 1963), better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, known for his surreal, abstract and often profane or incomprehensible lyrics. Koo ...
,
MF DOOM
Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...
and Organized Konfusion. On August 23, he released a trap-influenced solo album, titled ''Street Astrology''. On October 31, he released a Halloween-themed EP titled ''Blood'', produced by Party Trash. On January 23, 2015, he released a full-length collaboration with production duo Blown, titled ''Noah23 x Blown'', exploring a range of styles "from based to metal to reggae to hyphy to boom bap". ''Noah23 x Blown'' and the ''Blood'' EP were released on
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...
-based label Candy Drips. On May 23, 2015, Noah23 released his first double-album, titled ''Peacock Angel''. As of October 2015, he is recording a new solo album titled ''Aquarian Alien'', after which he will record a fifth collaboration with Crunk Chris, under their CRUNK23 moniker, for release in 2016.
Style
Noah23's lyrical style has been described as "a mix of biological terms, technological expressions, esoteric topics, scientific fractions and traditional 'rap writing'", the repetitive use of which is intended "to weave and enlarge a meta-layered web of correlative links and references". He is influenced by the theory of
memetics
Memetics is a study of information and culture. While memetics originated as an analogy with Darwinian evolution, digital communication, media, and sociology scholars have also adopted the term "memetics" to describe an established empirical stud ...
, which he describes as "the study of ideas and language as replicating biological entities that live in the host organism which is the mind". Brickley has described his work as being "like a giant self referential body of thought" characterised by "motif and repetition".
Jupiter Sajitarius
''Jupiter Sajitarius'' is a 2004 album by Canadian- American alternative hip hop artist Noah23. It possesses "a remarkable variety of both production and compositions," according to MiC Music Portal. The majority of the album's production was han ...
Rock Paper Scissors
Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each p ...
Fake Four Inc.
Fake Four is an independent record label based in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded by brothers Ceschi and David Ramos in 2008.
According to an interview with Ceschi on Ugsmag.com, the Ramos brothers started Fake Four with help from Grim ...
Livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...
, as The Train Rawbers)
:* ''Bourgeois Cyborgs'' (Legendary Entertainment, 2008) (with Baracuda, as Bourgeois Cyborgs)
:* ''The Big Crunch'' (Legendary Entertainment, 2008) (with Livestock & Madadam, as The Weird Apples)
:* ''Feature Presentation'' (Legendary Entertainment, 2009) (with DS, as Famous Playaz)
See also
*
Fake Four Inc.
Fake Four is an independent record label based in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded by brothers Ceschi and David Ramos in 2008.
According to an interview with Ceschi on Ugsmag.com, the Ramos brothers started Fake Four with help from Grim ...
*
Canadian hip hop
The Canadian hip hop scene was established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much slower than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained l ...
tumblr
Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to ...
Rate Your Music
Rate Your Music (often abbreviated to RYM) is an online collaborative database of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also fea ...
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...