Mike Ladd is an American

alternative hip-hop Alternative hip-hop (also known as alternative rap and experimental hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip-hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip-hop group ...

artist. Based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' once described him as "the king of the hip-hop concept."

Early life

Mike Ladd was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. As a child, he lived in India and Zimbabwe for a while. He graduated from

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

Career

Ladd's debut studio album, '' Easy Listening 4 Armageddon'', was released in 1997. He released '' Welcome to the Afterfuture'' in 2000. '' Nostalgialator'' was released in 2004. In 2005, he released '' Negrophilia: The Album'', which was inspired by Petrine Archer-Straw's book of the same name. In that year, he also released '' Father Divine'' on

ROIR ROIR (pronounced "roar"), or Reachout International Records, is a New York City-based independent record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper. Background ROIR was founded the same year that the Sony Walkman launched, and initially, the label ex ...

. He has also released several collaborative albums with jazz pianist

Vijay Iyer Vijay Iyer (; born Vijay Raghunathan, October 26, 1971) is a composer, pianist, bandleader, producer, writer, and professor based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builde ...

Style and influences

Mike Ladd's influences range from

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

King Tubby Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who influenced the development of dub music in the 1960s and 1970s. Tubby's studio work, in which as a mixing engineer he achiev ...

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C., by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guita ...

, and

Charles Stepney Charles Stepney (March 26, 1931May 17, 1976) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and musician. Stepney is noted for his work with artists such as The Dells, Ramsey Lewis, Rotary Connection and Earth, Wind & Fire. Career He sta ...

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Easy Listening 4 Armageddon'' (1997) * '' Welcome to the Afterfuture'' (2000) * ''Gun Hill Road'' (2000) * ''Beauty Party'' (2003) * '' In What Language?'' (2003) * '' Nostalgialator'' (2004) * '' Negrophilia: The Album'' (2005) * '' Father Divine'' (2005) * '' Still Life with Commentator'' (2007) * ''Maison Hantée'' (2008) * ''Anarchist Republic of Bzzz'' (2009) * ''Bedford Park'' (2010) * ''Why Waste Time'' (2012) * '' Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project'' (2013) * ''Gain'' (2016) * ''Epiphany'' (2017) * ''La chose commune'' (2017) * ''Visions of Selam'' (2018) * ''The Dead Can Rap'' (2020) * Transatlantic (2023) (with David Sztanke Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) * EXILLIANS (2023) (with MIKE LADD, T.I.E, JUICE ALEEM)

Live albums

* ''Live from Paris'' (2000)

EPs

* ''Vernacular Homicide'' (2001) * ''Kids and Animals'' (2011)

Singles

* "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

Youngblood Brass Band The Youngblood Brass Band is an American brass band from Madison, Wisconsin that was established in 1998. The band has released six albums and has toured throughout the United States and Europe. History The band came together in 1995 as the On ...

- "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 Sonic Sum is an American hip hop group based in Bronx, New York. It consists of Rob Sonic, Fred Ones, Eric M.O., and Preservation. The group was described by ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' as "hip-hop's Radiohead". In 1999, Sonic Sum released the fi ...

- "Films" from ''Films'' (2004) * Jackson and His Computerband - "TV Dogs (Cathodica's Letter)" from '' Smash'' (2005) * Daedelus - "Welcome Home" from ''

Exquisite Corpse Exquisite corpse (from the original French term ', ) is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g., "The ''adjective'' ''noun' ...

'' (2005) * Stacs of Stamina - "Baghdad Boogie" from ''Tivoli'' (2005) *

Blue Sky Black Death Blue Sky Black Death (abbreviated BSBD) was a production duo with ties to the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington. It consisted of Ryan Maguire, better known by his stage name Kingston, and Ian Taggart, better known by his stage nam ...

- "Long Division" from ''

A Heap of Broken Images ''A Heap of Broken Images'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop production duo Blue Sky Black Death. It was released by Mush Records in 2006. The album title comes from the T. S. Eliot poem '' The Waste Land'' ("A heap of broken ima ...

'' (2006) *

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

- "Everything Is Under Control" from ''

Sound Mirrors ''Sound Mirrors'' is the fifth studio album by Coldcut. It was released in January 2006. Four singles were released from the album including the Top 75 hit "True Skool" with Roots Manuva. Track listing CD #" Man in a Garage" (featJohn Ma ...

'' (2006) *

Soylent Green ''Soylent Green'' is a 1973 American dystopian thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role. It is loosely based on the 1966 science-fiction nove ...

- "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 An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

- "Turn Me Loose" from ''Lotuk'' (2008) * Solex vs. Cristina Martinez &

Jon Spencer Jon Spencer (born February 5, 1965) is an American singer, composer and guitarist. He has been involved in multiple musical acts, such as Pussy Galore, Boss Hog, Heavy Trash and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. History Jon Spencer was born ...

- "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 Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American Electronic music, electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". ...

- "Known Unknowns" from ''The Secret Song'' (2009) *

U-God Lamont Jody Hawkins (born November 10, 1970), better known by his stage name U-God, meaning Universal-God, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He has been with the group since its inception, and is known for ...

- "Lipton" from ''

Dopium ''Dopium'' is the third solo studio album by Wu-Tang Clan member U-God. The album was released on June 23, 2009. The album features guest appearances from Method Man, Ghostface Killah, GZA, Killah Priest, Raekwon, Cappadonna, Jim Jones, Large Pr ...

'' (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 Regan Farquhar (born February 12, 1978), better known by his stage name Busdriver (sometimes stylized in all caps), is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles. He has collaborated with rappers such as Myka 9, R.A.P. Ferreira, Nocando ...

- "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 Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

- "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

Enrico Macias Gaston Ghrenassia (born 11 December 1938), known by his stage name Enrico Macias, is a French singer, songwriter and musician. Early years Gaston Ghrenassia was born to a Sephardic Jews, Sephardic Jewish family. His father, Sylvain Ghrenassia ...

- "Le Vent Du Sud (Mike Ladd Remix)" from ''Enrico Experience'' (2000) *

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (Spanish language, Spanish for "I've got it"; also abbreviated as YLT) is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley ...

- "Nuclear War (Version 4)" (2002) *

Antipop Consortium Antipop Consortium is an American alternative hip hop group. The group formed in 1997, when Beans, High Priest, M. Sayyid, and producer Earl Blaize met at a poetry slam in New York City. They are notable for their stream-of-consciousness lyri ...

- "Ghostlawns (Mike Ladd Mix)" (2002) *

Yameen Yameen is an American hip hop producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. His most recent album, "Diamond is Unfadable" was released in 2017 on Rumble Pack Records. Light of Love / Sound of Fire In 2010, Yameen released an anime ...

- "Spirit Walker (Mike Ladd Remix)" from ''Never Knows More'' (2009)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ladd, Mike Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Hampshire College alumni Rappers from Boston American rappers American male rappers 21st-century American rappers American spoken word artists Hip-hop record producers Big Dada artists Definitive Jux artists ROIR artists Thirsty Ear Recordings artists 21st-century American male musicians