Christopher Tafoya (born June 2, 1975), 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 ...

Sleep or Sleep of Oldominion, is an American hip hop artist from

Farmington, New Mexico Farmington is a city in San Juan County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census the city had a total population of 46,624 people. Farmington (and surrounding San Juan County) makes up one of the four Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

, who is currently based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. He is a founding member of the

Pacific Northwest hip hop Northwest hip hop is hip hop or rap music that originates from the Pacific Northwest of North America, encompassing major cities such as Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), and other towns. Northwest hip hop music mixes elements from various ...

collective

Oldominion Oldominion is an American hip hop collective, consisting of more than twenty members. It was described by Casey Jarman of ''Willamette Week'' as the "Northwest's largest hip-hop crew" which "united the local underground rap scene for the first ti ...

and hip hop duo

The Chicharones The Chicharones are an American/Canadian alternative hip hop duo, composed of Sleep of Oldominion and Josh Martinez, and are usually accompanied by DJ Zone. They are known for their socially conscious lyrics, energetic live performances and stron ...

alongside

Josh Martinez Matthew Edward Kimber (born August 6, 1977), better known by his stage name Josh Martinez, is a Canadian rapper, record producer and record label executive. In the early 2000s, Martinez started his own label, Camobear Records, to which fellow r ...

. He is signed to

Strange Famous Records Strange Famous Records is an indie hip hop record label based in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded by Sage Francis. Artists on its roster include B. Dolan, Cecil Otter, Prolyphic, and Sleep, among others. History Strange Famous Records st ...

Early life

Tafoya grew up in the small town community of

. He is of Mexican descent. At the age of five, Sleep was already rapping and b-boying with his friends and relatives in the small town, with himself naming

Run DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...

as an important influence when he first began. In addition to the hip hop he heard early on, his father was a former bass player for blues musician

Gatemouth Brown Gatemouth is an affectionate name for one who talks too much. Gatemouth can refer to: * Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown U.S. R&B singer * Arnold "Gatemouth" Moore U.S. singer * Louis Armstrong was nicknamed "Gatemouth" early in his career * Gatemouth ( ...

, and would play a wide array of music, from Mariachi, to Blues, to Rock. Sleep also grew up with seven other brothers who all played musical instruments and had a grandfather who was also a multi instrumentalist. Entering the world of rap, he felt that his talents as both an MC and a writer were overly slept on, hence the creation of his name Sleep. Growing up in New Mexico, Sleep went to the same school as Onry Ozzborn, which led them to meet Pale Soul. Together, they formed the group Oraclez Creed, which would later become

after combining with Frontline (

Destro Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, usually referred to simply as Destro, is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books, and cartoon series. He is the leader of the Iron Grenadiers, and founder of M.A.R.S ...

, Nyqwil, and Snafu). After the join, the massive

collective grew to over twenty members.

Musical career

2001-2008: ''Riot by Candelight'', ''Christopher'' and the Chicharones

Sleep released his debut album, ''Riot by Candlelight'', in 2002. Following the release, he was heavily involved in the multiple albums by Oldominion. In 2001, Sleep met Canadian rapper

by chance encounter at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

festival in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Together, the two would create the hip hop duo ''

the Chicharones The Chicharones are an American/Canadian alternative hip hop duo, composed of Sleep of Oldominion and Josh Martinez, and are usually accompanied by DJ Zone. They are known for their socially conscious lyrics, energetic live performances and stron ...

.'' Sleep's second album, ''

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

'', was released in 2005 (and then re-released with bonus tracks in 2009).

2009-2013: Strange Famous Records and ''Hesitation Wounds''

Leading up to 2009, Sleep had contacted Sage Francis in an attempt to receive a feature for his upcoming album, which eventually led to his signing to Sage's independent label

. In 2009, Sleep released his third solo album, '' Hesitation Wounds.'' It features verses from

Grayskul Grayskul is an American hip hop duo based in Seattle, Washington, consisting of rappers Onry Ozzborn and JFK Ninjaface. Since its formation in 2003, the group has released ten solo albums. The duo often collaborate with artists from the Pacifi ...

and

Del the Funky Homosapien Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972), better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien (sometimes stylized as Del tha Funkee Homosapien) or Sir DZL, is an American rapper. Music career 1988–1997: Early life and beginnings Born in O ...

as well as production from likes of Zavala and Reanimator, among others.

2014-present: ''Oregon Failure''

Sleep's fourth solo album, ''

Oregon Failure ''Oregon Failure'' is a studio album by American rapper Sleep, a member of the Pacific Northwest hip hop collective Oldominion. It was released on Strange Famous Records in 2014. The album is entirely produced by Maulskull, and it features gues ...

'', was released on April 15, 2014 on Strange Famous Records as well. The entire album is produced by Maulskull and has features from Onry Ozzborn and

Ceschi Julio Francisco "Ceschi" Ramos (born July 24, 1981), better known as Ceschi Ramos, or simply as Ceschi (pronounced "chess-key"), is an American hip hop musician based in New Haven, Connecticut. He is a co-founder of Fake Four Inc. He won the Con ...

, among others.

Style

Sleep's style has been described as "having intricate rhyme schemes and rapid-fire delivery," with his lyrics being both witty and personal.

Discography

Solo

Studio albums

* ''Riot by Candlelight'' ** Released: November 5, 2002 ** Label: Under the Needle Recordings * ''

'' ** Released: May 31, 2005 ** Label: Up Above Records ** Re-Released: November 24, 2009 ** Label:

* '' Hesitation Wounds'' ** Released: June 29, 2009 ** Label: Strange Famous Records * ''

'' (produced by Maulskull) ** Released: October 20, 2014 ** Label: Strange Famous Records

EPs

* ''Christopher Promo EP'' (2005) * ''While You Were Sl33ping'' (2012) (with Maulskull)

Singles

* "Man in a Box / Cats Like Y'All" (2002) * "Say Goodbye / The Heat" (2005) * "Testimony" (2005)

Collaborative albums

* ''S7V7N Days'' (2002) (with Onry Ozzborn, as Aurora) * ''Combination Locked'' (2007) (with Zelly Rock)

References

External links

Sleep
at

Sleep
on

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 la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sleep (rapper) Underground rappers Musicians from Portland, Oregon Rappers from New Mexico Rappers from Oregon People from Farmington, New Mexico 1976 births Living people West Coast hip hop musicians American rappers of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American musicians 21st-century American rappers