Kevin Baldwin, better known by his stage name Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind or simply Stoupe, is an American
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 "s ...
,
DJ, and member of the
underground hip hop group
Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz (Vincenzo Luvineri) and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In 19 ...
. Stoupe has worked with only a limited number of artists outside of Jedi Mind Tricks, including
7L & Esoteric
7L & Esoteric (7LES) are an underground hip hop duo from Boston, Massachusetts, known for battle rhymes and boom bap production. 7L is the duo's DJ/producer and Esoteric is the MC. 7L & Esoteric are both prominent members of underground hip ...
,
Canibus
Germaine Williams (born December 9, 1974), better known by his stage name Canibus, is an American rapper and actor. He initially gained fame in the 1990s for his ability to freestyle, and eventually released his debut album Can-I-Bus in 1998. ...
, Virtuoso and
Guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
of
.
About.com placed him on its list of the "Top 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Producers".
Career
After years as a duo and then a trio, Baldwin left
Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz (Vincenzo Luvineri) and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In 19 ...
in 2011 and ''
Violence Begets Violence
Violence Begets Violence is the seventh studio album by underground Philadelphia hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks. This is their only album to not feature production from Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind because "his heart wasn't into making JMT recor ...
'' would be their only album to not feature Stoupe production.
Vinnie Paz
Vincenzo Luvineri (born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is a Sicilian American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the fr ...
stated in a blog on the JMT website that Stoupe had lacked interest in the group and decided to focus on other things in his career, such as his side groups, and that Stoupe would not be producing any of the tracks on the new JMT album. However, Stoupe returned to Jedi Mind Tricks in 2014 and
Jus Allah
James Bostick (born June 30, 1978), better known by his stage name Jus Allah, is an American rapper from Camden, New Jersey. He is best known for being a former member of Philadelphia-based hip hop groups Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) and Army of th ...
left the group for the second time. Stoupe and Paz worked on a new album called
The Thief and the Fallen, which was released on June 2, 2015.
Stoupe's only full-length solo album
Decalogue
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...
was released on March 31, 2009, under
Babygrande Records
Babygrande Records is an American independent record label based in New York City, founded by Chuck Wilson. Babygrande is distributed by The Orchard and represented by the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood.
History
Babygrande Records was ...
. It featured a mixture of underground and popular rappers (for instance
M.O.P.) performing over Stoupe's productions.
In 2010, Baldwin and long-time associate Liz Fullerton formed a duo together called Dutch and they released their first album ''
A Bright Cold Day
''A Bright Cold Day'' is the debut album by American trip hop duo Dutch, which consists of Jedi Mind Tricks producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind and singer Liz Fullerton. The album was released on June 8, 2010 under Enemy Soil.
Track listing
' ...
'' on June 8 under Enemy Soil. Fullerton had previously contributed vocals to
Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz (Vincenzo Luvineri) and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In 19 ...
' song Death Messiah.
In 2011, Stoupe released his follow-up album, this time with side project Vespertina, featuring songwriter Lorrie Doriza, who was previously featured in
Decalogue
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...
, entitled "The Waiting Wolf" on May 10 under his label Dusty Pockets.
In November 2013, as one of the first acts on Stoupe's new production company, Bad Tape Music, Red Martina released their debut ''Intransit'' with Stoupe as the producer on all thirteen tracks.
Other band members are rapper Noesis (from
Philadelphia Slick), multi-instrumentalist Ish Quintero, and vocalist Hayley Cass.
In November 2017, Red Martina released their second album, ''Come On Home''.
In 2017,
Stoupe teamed up with singer
Eamon to co-produce a record called the
Golden Rail Motel
''Golden Rail Motel'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Eamon. It was released on September 15, 2017, by Huey Ave Music. Recording sessions for the album took place between 2016 and 2017 at The Lion's Den and The Space Ship ...
. Stoupe was not only responsible for the production on this record, but also holds writing credits on some of the songs. The album was well received with critics and songs from the Golden Rail Motel were featured in films and television. The song "You and Only You" was included on the original soundtrack of
Ocean's 8
''Ocean's Eight'' (stylized onscreen as ''Ocean's 8'') is a 2018 American heist action thriller comedy film directed by Gary Ross and written by Ross and Olivia Milch. The film is both a continuation of and a spin-off from Steven Soderbergh's ' ...
, other songs were featured in TV series like
Black-ish
''Black-ish'' (stylized as black·''ish'', `black·''ish'', and black''ish'') is an American sitcom television series created by Kenya Barris. It aired on ABC from September 24, 2014, to April 19, 2022, running for eight seasons. ''Black-ish' ...
and
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
's
On My Block.
On July 1, 2019, Stoupe released a cryptic concept album called "they." available only on a limited vinyl run. The project's focus is quoted as "
ninstrumental exploration into markov's dynamics and the human condition." This mostly instrumental album featured co-production by C-Lance and performances by Recognize Ali and Lorrie Doriza.
Production credits
With Jedi Mind Tricks
With Red Martina
With Canibus
Other projects
EPs, singles and other production
References
{{Authority control
Place of birth missing (living people)
Hip hop record producers
Living people
Army of the Pharaohs members
Year of birth missing (living people)
Jedi Mind Tricks members