Kelvin Mercer (born August 17, 1969), also known by his stage name Posdnuos, Plug 1 and occasionally Pos, is an American rapper and record producer from

East Massapequa, New York East Massapequa is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 19,854 at the time of the 2020 census. The ...

, best known for his work as one third of the

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- ...

trio

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

. Through his work with the group, Mercer is considered to be one of the most consistent and underrated MCs of all time. Beginning with the highly acclaimed ''

3 Feet High and Rising ''3 Feet High and Rising'' is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group De La Soul, released on February 6, 1989, by Tommy Boy Records. It was the first of three collaborations with the producer Prince Paul, and was the critical and ...

'' in 1989, Mercer has gone on to release nine albums with De La Soul.

Cameos and album appearances

Aliases

All three members of De La Soul have used a number of aliases. The following are Mercer's most significant: * Posdnuos/Pos – Pronounced "poss-duh-noose" (). The name may be a combination of the reversed words ''sop'', meaning "gift," and ''sound'', a name Mercer went by while acting as a high school DJ. According to some sources, the fact that the words spelled backward are "sounds op .e., operative is intentional. * Plug One – An early concept for ''

'' involved music being transmitted from

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by three

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

plugs (each one representing a member of the group). Though this idea was abandoned, the titles "Plug One", "Plug Two" and "Plug Three" still became relevant on the album. Mercer's title of Plug One would eventually evolve into Plug Wonder Why, which would be shortened to a homophone of the original, Plug Won. * Mercenary – Derived from the last name, "Mercer". This name was given to him by DCQ, brother of

Mos Def Yasiin Bey ( ; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social an ...

. * P-Pain – Caricature of the rapper

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

. He uses this alias in the song "Supervillainz" by

DOOM Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Kelvin 1969 births African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers Alternative hip-hop musicians American dance musicians American hip-hop record producers East Coast hip-hop musicians Grammy Award winners Living people Rappers from New York (state) Rappers from the Bronx People from Long Island De La Soul members 21st-century American rappers Record producers from New York (state) 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians