# Mike Ladd

Mike Ladd is an American alternative hip-hop artist. Based in Paris, France, The Guardian once described him as "the king of the hip-hop concept."

## Early life

Mike Ladd was born in Boston, Massachusetts. As a child, he lived in India and Zimbabwe for a while. He graduated from Hampshire College.

## Career

Ladd's debut studio album, Easy Listening 4 Armageddon, was released in 1997. He released Welcome to the Afterfuture in 2000. Nostalgialator was released in 2004. In 2005, he released Negrophilia: The Album, which was inspired by Petrine Archer-Straw's book of the same name. In that year, he also released Father Divine on ROIR. He has also released several collaborative albums with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer.

## Style and influences

Mike Ladd's influences range from Funkadelic to King Tubby, Minor Threat, and Charles Stepney.

## Discography
### Studio albums

* Easy Listening 4 Armageddon (1997)
* Welcome to the Afterfuture (2000)
* Gun Hill Road (2000) (as The Infesticons)
* Beauty Party (2003) (as The Majesticons)
* In What Language? (2003) (with Vijay Iyer)
* Nostalgialator (2004)
* Negrophilia: The Album (2005)
* Father Divine (2005)
* Still Life with Commentator (2007) (with Vijay Iyer)
* Maison Hantée (2008) (with Alexandre Pierrepont)
* Anarchist Republic of Bzzz (2009) (as Anarchist Republic of Bzzz)
* Bedford Park (2010) (as The Infesticons)
* Why Waste Time (2012) (as Sleeping in Vilna)
* Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project (2013) (with Vijay Iyer)
* Gain (2016) (with Jeff Parker, High Priest, and Tyshawn Sorey, as Illtet)
* Epiphany (2017) (with Mankwe Ndosi, Sylvain Kassap, and Dana Hall)
* La chose commune (2017) (with Emmanuel Bex, David Lescot, Elise Caron, Géraldine Laurent, and Simon Goubert)
* Visions of Selam (2018) (with Arat Kilo and Mamani Keita)
* The Dead Can Rap (2020)
* Transatlantic (2023) (with David Sztanke Soundtrack from the Netflix Series)
* EXILLIANS (2023) (with MIKE LADD, T.I.E, JUICE ALEEM)

### Live albums

* Live from Paris (2000)

### EPs

* Vernacular Homicide (2001)
* Kids and Animals (2011)

### Singles

* "Blah Blah" (1998)
* "5000 Miles" / "Planet 10" (2000)
* "Activator Cowboy" (2001)
* "Wild Out Day" / "Jet Pack" (2003)
* "Housewives at Play" (2004)
* "Shake It" (2004)

### Guest appearances

* Youngblood Brass Band - "Peace" from Unlearn (2000)
* Mr. Flash - "Basementized Soul" from Le Voyage Fantastique (2001)
* Thawfor - "Where Thawght Is Worshipped 2.2" from Where Thawght Is Worshiped (2001)
* The Opus - "Where Thawght Is Worshipped 3.0" from 0.0.0. (2002)
* Terranova - "Sublime" and "Heroes" from Hitchhiking Non-Stop with No Particular Destination (2002)
* Emmanuel Santarromana - "Les Halles" from Métropolitain (2003)
* Huge Voodoo - "NYPD Blues" from Affordable Magic (2003)
* Sonic Sum - "Films" from Films (2004)
* Jackson and His Computerband - "TV Dogs (Cathodica's Letter)" from Smash (2005)
* Daedelus - "Welcome Home" from Exquisite Corpse (2005)
* Stacs of Stamina - "Baghdad Boogie" from Tivoli (2005)
* Blue Sky Black Death - "Long Division" from A Heap of Broken Images (2006)
* Coldcut - "Everything Is Under Control" from Sound Mirrors (2006)
* Soylent Green - "Eating People" from Software and Hardwar (2006)
* dDamage - "Alphabet & Burners" from Shimmy Shimmy Blade (2006)
* Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer - "Machiavelli vs. Lao Tseu" and "Machiavelli vs. Lao Tseu (Remix)" from Mo' Dougly Weird Stories (2007)
* Apollo Heights - "Missed Again" from Disco Lights (2007)
* Grand Pianoramax - "Showdown" from The Biggest Piano in Town (2008)
* Arsenal - "Turn Me Loose" from Lotuk (2008)
* Solex vs. Cristina Martinez & Jon Spencer - "R Is for Ring-A-Ding" and "Action" from Amsterdam Throwdown King Street Showdown! (2009)
* Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer with Jessica Fitoussi - "Dirty Finders" from Modonut (2009)
* DJ Spooky - "Known Unknowns" from The Secret Song (2009)
* U-God - "Lipton" from Dopium (2009)
* Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer - "Norman Bates" from Remi Domost (2010)
* Walker Barnard - "Ooty on Wax" and "Ooty on Wax (Iron Curtis Remix)" from Alacazam (2011)
* Grand Pianoramax - "Domestic Bliss" from Smooth Danger (2011)
* Birdapres - "Not the Only Man" from Catch an L (2011)
* Busdriver - "Electric Blue" from Beaus$Eros (2012)
* Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer - "Life at the 9th" from Modonut 2 (2012)
* Roberto Fonseca - "Mi Negra Ave Maria" from Yo (2012)
* Ben Muller - "The Last One to Preach" (2013)
* Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer - "Wild Gun Mike" from Modonut Invasion (2013)
* Dr. John - "Mack the Knife" from Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch (2014)
* Nevche - "Rendez-Nous L'Argent" from Rétroviseur (2014)
* Uncommon Nasa - "Black Hole" from Written at Night (2017)
* R.A.P. Ferreira - "An Idea Is a Work of Art" from Purple Moonlight Pages (2020)
* Billy Woods - "Christine" from Aethiopes (2022)

### Remixes

* Enrico Macias - "Le Vent Du Sud (Mike Ladd Remix)" from Enrico Experience (2000)
* Yo La Tengo - "Nuclear War (Version 4)" (2002)
* Antipop Consortium - "Ghostlawns (Mike Ladd Mix)" (2002)
* Yameen - "Spirit Walker (Mike Ladd Remix)" from Never Knows More (2009)