Dead Residents
Last updated: 14 September 2009
Dead Residents are a Cardiff troupe with a fine pedigree and even finer grasp of humour-laced hip-hop.
Few players on the Welsh hip-hop scene have collective experience to rival that of Junior Disprol, Chud Jackson and Stagga, the present core of Dead Residents.
Open mic veteran Disprol is arguably the best connected of the group. An MC and producer, his initial breakthrough to a wider audience arrived as a founder member of cult heroes Fleapit, who also featured beatsmith Secondson, another artist to later make his mark solo. He has accumulated collaborations with some of the country's brightest talents, including Roots Manuva, Jehst, Task Force and Aspects, gaining much respect on the hip-hop circuit around the UK and beyond in the process.
Disprol and fellow MC/producer Jackson formed Dead Residents after Fleapit split in 2002, although their roots together span back to the 1980s, in a combo named C75. They are currently completed by sometime Optimas Prime DJ/producer Rob Skagg, aka Stagga, also a dubstep artist in his own right, now based in Berlin after making his name in Cardiff.
The Residents debuted in recorded form with punchy 2004 EP Poltergeist Frequency and equally well-received single Pigeon Street followed the subsequent year. First album Keep Britain Tidy landed in 2006, garnering a notable collection of positive national press clippings. They then went head to head with Optimas Prime on 2007's Drop EP, its lead track Boogaloo complemented by a zombie-filled promotional video.
Arguably, however, it wasn't until 2009 full-length Triple Crown where their cocksure grasp of chortle-worthy wordplay and twisted punch-lines were fully realised. Track titles including Cum Bubbles, Number Wang and Scumbongo gave the game away about the verbal humour employed and eye-popping surrealist imagery. The backing, meanwhile, built on reverence for the thumping beats of golden age hip-hop twinned with an interest in forward-thinking electronic production betrayed in Stagga's solo dubstep work, even nodding to 1980s computer games on Smash Robot Vs. Pacman Ghost.
Prolific musicians in and outside of their main concern, the extended Dead Residents family snakes across South Wales, with their additional projects stretching that reach further still: Stagga is also part of seasoned crew Undecorated Veteranz with 4Dee and Joe Blow.
Back in the studio laying down new material at the tail end of summer 2009, the Dead Residents are readying a downloadable EP and mixtape for future release.
Key works
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Keep Britain Tidy (2006)
The workmanlike debut album, featuring Optimas Prime and Aggaman of London crew Beefeaterz. -
Triple Crown (2009)
Dead Residents come of age on their vintage, rip-roaring second set.