Christopher Tafoya (born June 2, 1975), better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Sleep or Sleep of Oldominion, is an American

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- ...

artist from

Farmington, New Mexico Farmington (Navajo language, Navajo: Tóta') is a city in San Juan County, New Mexico, San Juan County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 46,624 people. Farmington (and ...

, who is currently based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. He is a founding member of the Pacific Northwest hip hop collective Oldominion and hip hop duo The Chicharones alongside Josh Martinez. 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 (rapper), Sleep, among others. History Strange Fa ...

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 Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...

with his friends and relatives in the small town, with himself naming

Run DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as ...

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, 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 Oldominion after combining with Frontline (

Destro Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, usually referred to simply as Destro, is a fictional Character (arts), character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books, and cartoon series. He is the Scottish people, Scottish leader of ...

, Nyqwil, and Snafu). After the join, the massive Pacific Northwest hip hop 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 Josh Martinez by chance encounter at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Together, the two would create the hip hop duo '' the Chicharones.'' 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 Paul William "Sage" Francis (born November 18, 1976) is an American independent underground rapper from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of Strange Famous Records. Early life and education Francis was born in Miami, Florid ...

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 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'', 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, 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 * '' Oregon Failure'' (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. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{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