People Under The Stairs - The Albums

The Albums

The Next Step

The duo continued performing and recording, and in 1998 used Thes One's student loan funds to release their first 12-inch, entitled The Next Step, pt. 2. 250 copies were pressed, and then the stamper at the pressing plant broke. 200 more copies were made from a different master (without the secret bonus track, "Live At The Fishbucket"); which on the first-run appeared on the b-side. In the late summer of 1998, the group independently released their first album, entitled The Next Step, which Thes One produced and engineered in its entirety.

That same year, just weeks after the 12-inch was released, the shopkeeper of the (now closed) Mr. Bongo record shop, purchased a large number of copies for his shop. When he played it in the store, customers rushed the counter and it sold out within 7 minutes. Seeing the demand, the shopkeeper called Chris Smith, owner of Om Records in San Francisco, and urged him to get in contact with PUTS. Initially, Smith contacted the group regarding a one-song deal for Om's compilation albums, Deep Concentration and Mushroom Jazz; but upon hearing more of the duo's material offered them a four album deal.

PUTS signed with Om Records in 1999. They played their first world tour in late summer of the same year, initially as support for the "Deep Concentration" project. Later that year (while touring Europe) they performed as a solo act with local openers.

Question in the Form of an Answer

Question in the Form of an Answer was released in June 2000. The lead 12” single, "Youth Explosion", sold the full run of 15,000 copies pressed in its first month, and was not repressed in order to promote the second and third singles—"The Cat" and "We’ll Be There"—each of which went on to sell 15,000 copies. The album was critically acclaimed for its eclectic and diverse range of beats rooted in jazz and psychedelic rock; and PUTS continued with another set of world tours to support the records, this time adding Japan and Australia to their route.

Following the release of the second album, Thes One began to coordinate strings of world tours for PUTS. The tour culminated in performances at the UK’s famous Glastonbury Festival in 2001 (alongside Kelis); and successful shows at the Reading, Leeds, and the Essential festivals in London (where the group was joined with Biz Markie, Ice-T, Jeru, Masta Ace and De La Soul on the final Sunday of the festival).

'"O.S.T

In between managing tours and performing, Thes One began producing and engineering the third PUTS album, which was released in June 2002 as O.S.T. (Original Soundtrack). Critically acclaimed for its broad musical influences and dead on hip hop sound, songs such as "Montego Slay" and "Acid Raindrops" quickly became favorites and helped solidify the group's dedicated worldwide fan base, and it remains a fan favorite to this day.

'"...Or Stay Tuned

Released in August 2003, ...Or Stay Tuned was the group's fourth album and final release on Om Records. The album was labeled an EP due to contractual issues, but was considered by many (including the group), to be a full-length contribution. PUTS continued to tour the globe, spending 7–8 months of the year on the road at times.

'"Stepfather

Thes One continued to tour with PUTS through 2005 and began production on the next album, Stepfather. He inked a deal for the group with local Los Angeles label, Basement Records, and coordinated the release's elaborate deluxe packaging with long time friend, Joshua Dunn (of the design team, Secret Pizza Party). Stepfather (released in 2006), was the fifth full-length release and met with critical acclaim. Stepfather presented a more modern and personal direction for the group. Consisting of Thes One’s turn towards left-of-center rhythm’s and modern soul and disco, it was his most ambitious production yet; though songs like "Tuxedo Rap" seemed a simple return to hip-hop’s disco rap roots. The group toured in the US throughout that year, taking then unknown rock-rap group, Gym Class Heroes, as opening act with them.

Stepfather debuted on the Billboard charts May 6, 2006 at #32, on the Heatseaker Chart, and #35 on the Independent Albums chart.

Fun DMC

Fun DMC is the sixth studio album by PUTS, released on Gold Dust Media, a division of Studio !K7. Recorded throughout the summer of 2008, the theme of the album is summertime fun in Los Angeles. The background and intros/outros of most songs on the album have audio recorded around LA that summer. The name of the album is a homage to Run–D.M.C.; and in anticipation of the album, the group released the mix tape, "Funner than Leather"—a play on the Run–D.M.C.-inspired (and Rick Rubin-directed) film, Tougher Than Leather.

After touring extensively throughout Australia (2004–2007), Thes One and Double K wrote the song, "The Wiz", about their travels down under. In summer 2008, the group worked with director Matt Bird to film the video for "The Wiz" while on location in Sydney. The filming of the video involved underwater cameras, cranes, and a helicopter shot, and is the group's most elaborate music video to date. Following a nationwide tour of the US in support of the album, PUTS celebrated their 10-year anniversary with a sold out show at Los Angeles’ historic El Rey Theatre (December 2008).

On October 18, 2009, Fun DMC debuted on the Billboard charts as #6 on the Heatseekers List.

In spring of 2011, the group released a 'dub version' of the album that Thes One had made while mixing the Fun DMC album in 2008, which was available exclusively on their newly launched website.

In February 2009, PUTS became one of the only independent American music groups to tour China, selling out shows in both Beijing and Shanghai. PUTS, amongst other shows, was confirmed to play the Coachella Music Festival and Bonaroo Music Festival in 2009. Immediately following their performance at Bonaroo, Spin Magazine declared the group's performance: "The Best...Period"

Carried Away

Released on October 13, 2009, Carried Away was the group's seventh album. As explained by The Onion in their AV club review: "'Carried Away' proves that Thes One and Double K will be pumping out sunny, laid-back party anthems long after the Internet memes grow stale". Carried Away debuted at #5 on the iTunes hip hop charts; and was featured by iTunes, which noted: "As usual with PUTS, Carried Away is a self-contained effort with no guest producers or MC cameos, just entertaining rhymes and straightforward beatwork dotted with well-placed samples meant to delight hip-hop purists everywhere." Carried Away debuted on the Billboard charts at #23 on the Heatseeker Charts. Fans who had followed the group for years noted in many submitted reviews that the album was a return to classic PUTS material. Though demand to tour the US following the release of Carried Away was strong, PUTS was determined to break into new parts of the world. They toured Brazil and the southern cape of Africa following the release of the album.