Kelvin Mercer
Kelvin Mercer (born August 17, 1969, in The Bronx, New York) is a rapper, producer, and one-third of the hip hop trio De La Soul. He is known more famously by his alias Posdnuos, or simply Pos. He was born in the Bronx, New York and grew up in East Massapequa, New York.
Mercer and David Jude Jolicoeur were childhood friends. They met Vincent Mason in the early 1980s while attending Amityville High School in Long Island, New York. Mercer's father was a jazz fan.
As a member of De La Soul, Mercer is generally regarded as one of the most consistent and underrated MCs of all time. He has imparted some of his hard-earned experiences in songs such as "Held Down", and "Trying People", from AOI: Bionix. On the latter, he raps: "We were supposed to rid the world of danger / These days we nod heads and small talk like polite strangers / It's natural to fall off, just land close to the tree / I'll be there if they need me to be".
Mercer is also known for his witty, double entendre-laden battle rhymes. "Fuck bein' hard, Posdnuos is complicated" from Buhloone Mindstate's "In the Woods". For example in "Down Syndrome" from 1996's Stakes Is High, he states: "I be a piece of the East Coast, so give a toast to Plug Wonder Why / Back in the day who soaked his words in ginger / So when I ran a phrase in June, you didn't catch it 'til December".
Podcasts:
-
by J Live
One To 31
by: J LiveWhat up man? We’re back
Ah what up? Fancy meeting you here
Yeah what up man, how you been?
Been good, yo sit down man
Time to start
Oh yeah?
Peace, peace, peace
My name is Justice Allah
I way to New York my way of my old earth
(That means mother)
My father came here from Haiti about 40 years ago
My father did not teach me his language
I barely knew him as my father
He is like the devil in that he gave me nothing
Why’s he like the devil?
Because he avoided me since I was a little boy
Why do you not seek him out now that you’re a grown man?
Because my mother gave me food for thought and belly
Does this have anything to do with the above question?
I didn’t need him to acquire the knowledge of myself
What is the knowledge of your self?
I own self is a righteous god
Are there any gods other than righteous?
I beg your pardon, I never heard of one
After all that degree ain't hard
Cause if you ain't righteous how you supposed to be god
Another question you might have no doubt
How does god on his album cover looking knocked out?
For me it’s simple and plain
Let me explain
Its symbolic to the fact I’ve been through some things
I was tripping to taking no ass whooping literally I’m just trying to show
you my pain
Cause life imitates art like even before I had kids naming my best album
the best part
The life of this artist was drawing kind off dark
But darkness accentuates the light’s spark
To reveal there’s room full of powder keg
That explodes into all of these sounds
So visually that was me knocked out
Musically this is me getting up off the ground
I use the assault and battery to energize
And set sail on a whole nother enterprise
Boldly go where MCs are scared to
Man up in ways boys ain’t prepared to
Take life’s hardest hits one the chin
Wife the blood off my cheek and begin again
So why these rappers fantasize and pretend
This just shows you art imitates life now and then
How many records have your released as J Live?
A little over five
How many records have you sold combined since your first album?
Approximately 100,000
Do you mean to say that the millions of people
Who love hip-hop aren’t aware of your music?
Yes sir
I can hardly believe that unless they were blind, deaf and dumb
Well they were made blind deaf and dumb
By popular culture since they were babies
Can a label fool J Live?
No not nowadays
Do you mean to say the labels will fool J Live in the ten years?
The labels made the interpretation I’d receive gold for my labor
More than I could earn in my own company
Then did you receive gold?
The labels disappeared
And there was no one there to speak my language