Clouddead

Clouddead
Origin	Cincinnati, Ohio, United States[1]
Genres	Experimental hip hop, Alternative hip hop, Cloud rap
Years active	1999–2004
Labels	Mush Records,[2] Big Dada[3]
Associated acts	Greenthink, Reaching Quiet, Object Beings
Past members	Doseone Why? Odd Nosdam

Clouddead (styled as cLOUDDEAD)^[4][5] was an experimental hip hop group consisting of Doseone (Adam Drucker), Why? (Yoni Wolf) and Odd Nosdam (David Madson).

The group's name came from a nonsensical knock-knock joke Drucker's sister told him when she was five years old.^[3]

Style

Generally Drucker and Wolf provide the group's vocals while Madson produces the music.^[3] Occasionally Madson's vocals can be heard, while Drucker and Wolf provide music, especially for the group's second album.

Clouddead's sound is notoriously hard to define, and although it is undoubtedly grounded in "traditional" hip-hop, influences as varied as electronica, psychedelic music and indie rock can be heard. Because of this non-traditional take on hip-hop, more conservative elements of the rap community have characterized Clouddead as "smartarse surrealism," with some elements of the community rejecting the notion that the group can be classed as hip hop at all,^[6] ignoring Sole's request to "just call it hip hop."

History

Clouddead's first six 10-inch singles were compiled as a self-titled album, Clouddead, in 2001.

Printed on the sleeve of the single "Dead Dogs Two" is "this is cLOUDDEAD number 9 of ten," indicating that as of Ten (2004), Clouddead have finished making music as a group. In an interview around Ten's release, Drucker hinted that tensions between Madson and Wolf, as well as each member's heavy workload, had hastened the group's demise.^[7]

Discography

Albums

• cLOUDDEAD (2001)
• Ten (2004)

EPs

• The Peel Session (2001)

Compilations

• Clouddead Beats: Collaged at Mom's (1998-2000) (2007)

Singles

• "Apt. A" (2000)
• "And All You Can Do Is Laugh" (2000)
• "I Promise Never to Get Paint on My Glasses Again" (2001)
• "Jimmy Breeze" (2001)
• "Cloud Dead Number Five" (2001)
• "Bike" (2001)
• "The Sound of a Handshake / This About the City" (2002)
• "Dead Dogs Two" (2004)

References

1. "CLOUDDEAD Interview". The Milk Factory. February 2004.
2. "Mush Artists: cLOUDDEAD". Mush Records. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
3. "Big Dada cLOUDDEAD". Big Dada. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
4. Prato, Greg. "cLOUDDEAD > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
5. "NME Artists: cLOUDDEAD / Biography". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
6. Clarke, Paul. "Californian hip-hop gets spacey". BBC Collective. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
7. Wheeler, Melissa. "Clouddead and Buried". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 23, 2009.

External links

• Clouddead on Mush Records
• Clouddead on Big Dada