Platinum Pied Pipers is a

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

-based

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and R&B group composed of producer

Waajeed Robert O'Bryant, also known as Waajeed is an American music producer from Detroit, and one half of the hip hop and R&B group Platinum Pied Pipers, and a founding member of Tiny Hearts. He formed the Bling47 record label in 2002, which has rel ...

(Robert O'Bryant), and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

Saadiq (Darnell Bolden). Their music usually features a rotating and varied array of artists.

Background

The two met through

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Baatin in 1992. Sometime in 2000, they decided to form a duo and began releasing 12"s and

mixtapes In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

. It was their collaboration with

Dwele Andwele Gardner (born February 14, 1978), known professionally as Dwele, is an American R&B singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He is best known for his guest appearance on Kanye West's 2007 single " Flashing ...

in 2003, however, called "Ridin' High" which caught the ears of music listeners, and set the stage for a full-length album. The pair have a rather distinctive mixture of sounds as, although Waajeed is primarily a

hip hop producer Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "sc ...

, Saadiq is a

protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

producer

Barrett Strong Barrett Strong Jr. (February 5, 1941 – January 28, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter known for his recording of "Money (That's What I Want)", which was the first hit single for the Motown record label. He is also known for his songw ...

, making for a finely tuned middleground. As stated in interviews, the name "Platinum Pied Pipers" was chosen at random and has no connection to the

Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to the Middle Ages. The earliest refere ...

folk tale Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used va ...

. Since Detroit is their hometown, they have said that the city is very important to them. Their debut album '' Triple P'' was released in 2005 on

Ubiquity Records Ubiquity Records is an American independent record label that focuses on multiple genres, including but not limited to hip hop, Electronic music, electronic, funk, Latin music, Latin, Soul music, soul, jazz, singer-songwriter, and other genres. ...

. Their second album ''Abundance'' was released January 20, 2009. Wajeed stated: "...our tastes have changed—times have changed. It’s definitely a different record, but there are still a lot of similarities."

Discography

Albums

* '' Triple P'' - (2005, Ubiquity) * ''Abundance'' - (2009, Ubiquity)

12"s

* "Ridin' High" b/w "Open Your Eyes" - (2003,

) **featuring

* "Stay With Me"*, "I Got You"*, "Your Day Is Done"^ - (2004,

) ** featuring

Tiombe Lockhart Tiombe Lockhart is an American singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. She is a former member of Cubic Zirconia. Early life Lockhart was born in Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of 12 she moved to Los Angeles and completed the Los Angeles County Hi ...

** featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow * "Act Like You Know"* b/w "Now Or Never"^ - (2005,

) ** featuring

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

** featuring Tiombe Lockhart * "Shotgun", "Fever" (2005,

) ** featuring Jay Dee (J Dilla), Invincible & Medaphoar

References

External links

Ubiquity RecordsPPP article
February 2009
BBC articleOkay Player article
{{Authority control J Dilla American hip-hop record producers Detroit hip-hop groups Midwest hip-hop groups Musical groups established in 2000 Ubiquity Records artists 2000 establishments in Michigan