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LoDeck

LoDeck (b. October 11, 1979) is a Belorussian-born American rapper and recording artist. EARLY LIFE Boris was born in Gomel, Belarus, a city with close proximity to Chernobyl. After the incident in 1986, his family became eligible for a refugee Visa, which was granted in 1991, at which point he moved to Brooklyn, New York. He learned English from listening to Snoop Dogg and Apache, citing The Chronic and Doggystyle as most influential in his later recording career. He rapped in high school under different monikers, going by Rhum, DFC and Lowerdeck (wordplay on Upper Deck) - but later shortened it to LoDeck, as Lowerdeck is also boro in Manhattan, not Brooklyn. He often states LoDeck is an acronym which stands for Life or Death Eternal Continuum King, which is why L and D are always capitalized. MUSIC CAREER 1999- 2003: Old Trolls New Bridge, Bash It, NYC Underground rap In 1997, LoDeck made his first rap demo called "Chasin' Smoke" with DJ Oz, a former engineer for Whodini. DJ Oz saw a lot of potential and encouraged LoDeck to continue rapping. "Chasin' Smoke" won a Demo spotlight on HiphopElements.com where he soon began collaborating with other up-and-coming artists like Mac Lethal, Chum Chopz and Sev Statik via the site's forums. In 1999 LoDeck began attending various battles in NYC and rhyming at places like Nyuorikan Poets Cafe, Wetlands and Union Square. He co-founded a collective of producers and freestyle/battle MCs around the world and named it jOHNNY23 after a short story by William Burroughs. That year, they released a compilation "Old Trolls New Bridge" which featured guests like Vastaire of Can Ox, Okktagon Zupreme and Breez Evahflowin'. As a 20 year old MC, he appreciated the mentorship of veterans like Breez Evahflowin' (founder of Stronghold) and Okktagon Zupreme (co-founder of Alien Nation.) He sharpened his skills with some of the best rappers as well as learning valuable history of East Coast Underground, collaborating with both artists on numerous tracks in the future. During this time, LoDeck preformed around East Coast with jOHNNY23 and solo, appearing on various underground compilations, radio shows and cyphers. He linked up with future Def Jux office manager DJ ese and released his first solo EP "Bash It" in 2001 on ese's Embedded Studios label. The EP got some acclaim in press and more attention in the underground circles. 2003-2007: Dream Dentistry, Derived from Empty Bottles, Behold a Pale Donkey LoDeck appeared on Tes' Lex Records (UK) 2003 release "Tes x 2" - trading adrenaline pumping humorous punchlines on "Late to Work" After "Dream Dentistry", LoDeck and Dub-L collaborated on a video single "Monday Night Live" and recorded a demo project called "CAVI-R" which gained interests from A&Rs at Fat Beats Records. Ultimately, Fat Beats passed on the project for financial reasons. In 2006, Dub-L mastered and mixed "Derived from Empty Bottles" - a mixtape that LoDeck put out independently. That year, LoDeck also appeared on Australia-released "Dirt Music" album with rappers Hykoo and Australian battle champion Billy Bunks, and France-released vinyl by French underground MC/Graf legend Spag Cynofilik on a track titled "Blue Girl." LoDeck released his second full length LP "Behold A Pale Donkey" in 2007. The cover art featured a spoof on the famous William Cooper book cover "Behold a Pale Horse" painted acrylic on board by Boxguts. Around this time, LoDeck became well known in New York's underground scene, appearing on bills with Heltah Skeltah, Beatnuts, Jeru, Keith Murray and many others. "Behold the Pale Donkey" original CD pressing sold out in less than 2 months. 2008-2011: Postcards from the Third Rock, The Man Who Saved the World, Issues with Lil' B After LoDeck's appearance on Omega One's "Memento" album with the track "Coup D'Etat", the two collaborated for a b-side on Omega One's 12" released on Nature Sounds, an "Apocalypse Now" influenced ode to horrors of war titled "Still Cambodia" The track also features a classic verse from JAK PROGRESSO. Studio sessions for these tracks were very successful, as Omega One and LoDeck aimed to make a full length album. While failing to get substantial major label deal due to issues with sample clearance, jOHNNY23 Records were able to cover the studio session costs, secure worldwide distribution, a publicist, and offer both LoDeck and Omega One some advance money. As other labels looked on, jOHNNY23 were eventually given permission to release LoDeck and Omega One's collaborative double album "Postcards from the Third Rock." It was released in US on November 4, 2008 - the day of Obama's victory speech. The label held a raucous release party in Brooklyn, co-celebrating both events. The album featured cover art by Mars1 and collaborations with heavy wordsmiths like C-Rayz Wallz, Marq Spekt and JAKPROGRESSO and received heavy acclaim from hiphop publications in US and Europe. It received a phenomenal 9.8 rating from IGN.com and the lead single "No Rims" landed LoDeck and Omega One the Independent Spotlight spot in December 2008 issue of The Source. It was described as one of the cornerstone albums for "psych rap" by Tinymixtapes.com. Despite the critical acclaim, jOHNNY23 Records, lacking proper management, ran out of promotional budget and lost their distribution deal with Groove Attack. Neither LoDeck nor Omega One was able to claim any financial profit from an otherwise stellar effort. Meanwhile, LoDeck's bi-lingual prowess was on full display. "Na Lubom Yazike" - a track he released on "Behold a Pale Donkey" was gaining popularity in Russian speaking countries. With his Russian born BMX legend-turned-producer Will Taubin, he recorded more songs using this unique style of rhyming bars that blended English language set ups with Russian punchlines and vice versa. In 2010, he collaborated with Saint Petersburg's top MC, Smoky Mo' on a jazzy single "Cuban Cigars" which was prominently featured on the front page of hiphop.ru. During this time, he recorded a song called "Black Russianz" with CRayz Wallz and "KGB-CIA" with MF Bash. The latter was never released. From 2009 to 2011, LoDeck joined the production crew of a film "The Man Who Saved the World" travelling across US and Denmark, as a Russian translator and script-writing assistant. He worked closely and developed a close friendship with ex-Soviet Colonel Stanislav Petrov, the hero of the movie. LoDeck did most of translating, and English language adaptation of the film's script. He also did the on-screen subtitles. While on break from shooting the film in Copenhagen, LoDeck returned to Brooklyn and obtained Blockhead's permission to use his "Throwaway Beats" to create an album titled "Fresh Boris of Bensonhurst episode 2 "The Mini-Bar: Mini-Concoctions for MAXIMUM IMPACT™" Using lofi and obscure vocal samples as a collage between short raps of varied cadences, he created 15 tracks matching 15 moods of the composer. The 16th bonus track "Dose after Dose" samples Sister Wendy Beckett and was not includeded on the CD, but made only available as a bonus via direct fan email. In 2011, a rapper named Lil B released a song called "Myspace" which uses Omega One's beat from a song called "Still Cambodia" featured on the "Postcards from the Third Rock" album. Lil B shouts out LoDeck on the track but credits himself with the beat's production. 2012-2015: Freestyle Cologne, Collaborations with Snowgoons, The Great Blowfly, Pomegranate jOHNNY23 was making it's expansion out to the West Coast, as acts such as 2Ugli and Bloody Monk Consortium joined the collective. In 2012, LoDeck collaborated with 2Ugli and 2Mex for "Break Yo Self" a powerful banger produced by Snowgoons. LoDeck was also featured on Snowgoons' 2nd album "Black Snow 2" on "The Code" with 2Ugli and Raekwon. The track remains one of the highest viewed music clips from that album. It also appears on DJ Flipcyde's "Picasso" mixtape showcasing Best of Raekwon. LoDeck co-wrote "Because You Stink" a digital-only album recorded with Boxguts, under the group name Freestyle Cologne. He appeared on Bloody Monk Consortium track "Blood Letter" which also features the late PH aka Pumpkinhead. In 2015, LoDeck reached out to Blowfly and the two recorded "Kids" - a seriously weird but funky song that spoke out against child molestation. Sadly, it turned out to be one of Blowfly's last recordings. He ends it by saying "I'd like to thank the guy who made this track Boris LoDeck! Boris!" The song, produced by Will Taubin, was included on the next full length release titled "Pomegranate." Other collaborations on the project include Tame One, BurntMD, JAKPROGRESSO and Breezly Brewin. Recorded in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Riverside, CA, "Pomegranate" consists of 16 one-word titled tracks, loosely related to the story of Adam and Eve. It was initially pressed up in Taiwan as a limited edition demo and sold out shortly. The lead single "Son" produced by JAKPROGRESSO, was released as an animated video. The re-mastered and re-sequenced deluxe version of the album, or "Pomegranate XXL" is slated for release in 2021. That year, he also got a chance to work with famed video director Dan The Man, as he filmed his cameo verse for Krussia's "The One Who Knocks." The song is a Russian-English language barfestt that celebrates Russian speaking artists in hip hop history. 2016-current: dePROGRAMMer, Blasphemy, No Known Survivors, All is Xmas LoDeck dropped a mixtape of 23 tracks, called "dePROGRAMMer" in 2017, a psychodelic follow up to "Pomegranate" The mixtape includes Blockhead's "Tinsletown" remix which has LoDeck trade bars about the state of the culture with Marq Spekt and Billy Woods. In 2019, him and long-time collaborators, the production team from Cali known as The Golden Godz, released a gold limited edition 12" for a track titled "Blasphemy (The Joel Olsteen Mix)" The track is a remix of the original found on "Pomegranate" and features guest verses from East and West coast lyrical legends Aceyalone and Breezly Brewin. The b-side features a remix to "Son" , "Rich'n'Insane" (another track from "Pomegranate") and instrumentals. The single charted at #1 on Hiphop Gods Radio Top 20 on August 21, 2019 That year, he also appeared on A.M Breakups' project, trading grim punchlines with Elucid on a track called "Pelham One Two Three" During the COVID lockdown, LoDeck recorded a 7 track EP titled "No Known Survivors" It features 7 different producers, including a haunting collaboration with Machina Muerte's Mestizo titled "My Mic Needs Oxygen." Bad Touch-produced "Haze Nug Soliloqui" received play on Chuck D's Mixcloud show, as well as praise on his social media. On December 21, 2020 LoDeck and The Golden Godz released a full length digital-only album "All is Xmas" The album features Dezmatic and jOHNNY23's Boxguts and Mike2Twenty. Album was well received on Spotify and Bandcamp, making the Underground Hiphop top seller list in January-February 2021. Additional bonus tracks were since recorded and will be included on the physical release. MUSICAL STYLE LoDeck's writing shows influences of NYC early 90's battle rap infused, rough cadence with mind expanding references and groundbreaking writing patterns. He is known for an immensly wide variety of topics in his rhymes, as well as original, truly outside-the-box concepts. He is also known for flipping famous tracks and including the original ad libs but writing around them to create an artificial collaboration. For example, he "flipped" Kris Kross' "Jump" into a song about dunking ("A.I.D.S" or Athens International Dunk Showcase), Lil Wayne's "Leather So Soft" into an absurd bragging anthem "20 Furs", Ras Kass' "Soul On Ice" into an over-the-top drinking ballad "Liquor Proof MC", and most recently Adrianna Grande's "7 Rings" into a morbid story about horrors of war on a song with the same title. He has also incredulously flipped the theme song lyrics to "Fresh Prince" into a coming of age immigration story rap on "Fresh Boris of Bensonhurst" LoDeck frequently appears on Boxguts' "Hot Bref Boy" mixtape series and randomly pops up on various JAKPROGRESSO releases. In 2021, LoDeck and Boxguts added DJ Redd Rock to their Freestyle Cologne banner and recorded numerous releases, most notably "L'eau De Guts", "Bad Nanny EP" and "Sea of Buildings" with Sadat X and Sutterhouse Swish. LoDeck appears on 19 tracks of "Psychology 230"- an album with Sutterhouse Swish and Otherwize released in 2023 LoDeck is planning to publish a book of writing in various formats, an open source movie script, an EP called "Lexodus" produced by Bloody Monks Consortium's Lex Luger, amongst other projects. He is also prominantly featured on jOHNNY23's latest album "No Scope" LoDeck is an avid translator of Russian language and an advocate for preservance of Russian artistic heritage and writing culture. He was Vasily Lomachenko's translator for HBO Boxing's Lomachenko vs Walters. He has made translations of Russian novels by Ilya Stogoff, Vladimir Sorokin and Michael Bulgakov but remains unpublished.