Michael Aguilar, better known by his stage name Double-O (or Double O), is an American producer, DJ and one half of the acclaimed hip-hop group

Kidz in the Hall Kidz in the Hall is an Americans, American Hip hop music, hip hop duo from Chicago, Illinois. History Group members Jabari Evans (Naledge) and Michael Aguilar (Double-0 (Kidz in the Hall), Double-0) met in 2000 during a talent show at the Un ...

Life and career

Early life

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States, Double-O was introduced to music early by his father who was also a DJ and a guitarist/singer in a band during his youth in Belize. Even though Michael Aguilar Sr. ended his music career in its infancy, his love for music was apparent and passed down to his sons. "Even when we didn’t have much money I can always remember there being a loud system in the house" says Double-O of his early years. "He was always concerned with having a proper sounding system in the house and later the car." He later attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

where he competed in track. Double-O is an accomplished track runner, having won multiple Ivy League championships and competing in the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

for

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. While attending college he met classmate Jabari Evans, a rapper now known as

Naledge Jabari Miles Evans, better known by his stage name Naledge, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop group Kidz in the Hall. He is also an assistant professor of Race and Media at the University of South Carolina in School of Journalism ...

. The two began working together and formed the hip-hop group

Kidz in the Hall

Double-O first met his future groupmate Jabari Evans (

) in 2000 during a talent show at the

. They began recording songs, making demos, and performing at local shows which eventually led to Double-O and

forming Kidz in the Hall. Double-O made a connection with

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...

through a job he had at T-Mobile, and Blaze soon recognized their immense talent. Blaze then aligned himself with the duo and oversaw their debut ''

School Was My Hustle ''School Was My Hustle'' is the first studio album from Kidz in the Hall, a Chicago hip hop duo. It was the first release from a reactivated Rawkus Records, after its catalog was purchased by Universal Music Group. Track listing #"Hustler's Int ...

''. Kidz in the Hall signed a group deal with Rawkus Records, and released the album to critical acclaim in 2006. In early 2007, Kidz in the Hall created a song entitled "Work To Do" in support of democratic presidential nominee

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, who has ties to Naledge's hometown of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. They were among the first artists to support Obama in their music. The song features a sample from The Main Ingredient's version of the

Isley Brothers Isley is an English surname. The name can also be used as an anglicized variant for the German surnames Eisele and Eisler. Notable people with the surname include: *The Isley Brothers, American musical group ** Ernie Isley (born 1952), American ...

original of the same name. In November 2007, Kidz in the Hall were officially signed to Duck Down Records, an independent label started by founding members of the

Boot Camp Clik Boot Camp Clik is an American hip hop supergroup from Brooklyn, New York City, which is composed of Buckshot (of Black Moon), Smif-N-Wessun ( Tek and Steele), Heltah Skeltah ( Rockness Monsta and Sean Price) and O.G.C. (Starang Wondah, Top ...

. The duo's second album, '' The In Crowd'', was released in May 2008, with the lead single "Drivin' Down the Block," which samples

Masta Ace Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966), better known by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. A lead member of Mr. Magic's hip hop collective Juice Crew, he is best known for his guest appearance alo ...

's song "Born to Roll" for the hook and contains an interpolation of

Outkast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

's "Elevators (Me & You)" on the bridge. Many other tracks on the album use samples and interpolations of early 1990s hip hop, including their song "Snob Hop" featuring Camp Lo which uses the hook from Black Sheep's song "Flava of the Month" for the chorus. Their song "Blackout" was featured on the soundtrack of

Madden '09 ''Madden NFL 09'' is an American football video game based on the NFL that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 20th annual installment in the ''Madden NFL'' video game franchise. The game was released for the Ninte ...

. The group's most recent album Land of Make Believe was released on March 9, 2010 and features guests

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

, Just Blaze, Chip tha Ripper, Donnis, Amanda Diva and co-production by Just Blaze and Picnic Tyme. The album was declared the most "commercially viable" album the group has made thus far and was well-received critically, receiving an XL rating in

XXL Magazine ''XXL'' is an American hip hop magazine, published by Townsquare Media, founded in 1997. History In August 1997, Harris Publications released the first issue of ''XXL''. It featured rappers Jay-Z and Master P on a double cover. In December 200 ...

.".

2013 - present

Double-O has been on tour as

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, record producer and Music education, music educator. Born and raised in Chicago, he gained mainstream recognition for his gue ...

's DJ since 2013.

Discography

Solo Production ;

Tabi Bonney Tabiabuè Bonney, better known as Tabi Bonney, is a Togo-born, Washington, D.C.–based rapper. He is the son of Itadi Bonney, an afro-funk musician popular during the 1970s in Togo and West Africa. Bonney achieved recognition in the Washingt ...

Bang Bang (featuring

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

) ; Nikki Jean Champagne Water EP (2014) People & Planes (2018) Co-Production Pink Lemonade (2018) Co-Production ;

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

*'' Free at Last (Freeway album) - Free At Last (song) (with

) ;Studio albums *''

'' (2006), Rawkus Records *'' The In Crowd'' (2008), Duck Down Records *'' Land of Make Believe'' (2010), Duck Down Records ;Mixtapes *''Detention'' (2007), Major League Entertainment *''Geniuses Need Love Too'' (2008) *"The Professional Leisure Tour" (2009) LRG ;Singles *"Wheelz Fall Off ('06 'Til...)" (2006), Rawkus Records *"Drivin' Down the Block" (2008), Duck Down Records *"Love Hangover" (2008) *"Take Over The World ft Colin Munroe and Just Blaze" (2010) *"Jukebox" (2010) ;Music videos *"Wheelz Fall Off ('06 Til...)" (2006) *"Drivin' Down The Block" (2008) *"Love Hangover (feat. Estelle)" (2008) *"I Got It Made (Reebok Classic)" (2009) *"Jukebox" (2010)

References

External links

Kidz in the Hall Website

Double-O Site
{{Authority control American hip-hop musicians Living people Musicians from New Jersey Record producers from New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people)