the Layman

Originally from the dirty South, Birmingham, AL, Layman moved to the chi in 1997 in order to study gospel radio and recording. Layman spent many of his high school years making songs through pause loop tapes, radio shack mics, two channel mixers, and eventually a notepad. Though much of the environment of the dirty consisted of what would eventually be dubbed “crunk” music, Layman’s interest leaned more towards those of his relatives in South Philadelphia. The daunting task therefore ensued of attempting to recognize both genres which still rages to this day.

A year after moving to the chi and after numerous hiphop pickup groups, Layman and a few college buddies formed a live hiphop band. It was an eclectic group which attempted to include as many influences as possible. The band put out a demo and performed shortly before disbanding.

Then during the summer of ’99 Layman and a fellow band emcee Overflo(then named Jubily) formed the group Stowaways which along with Quadosh hiphop created an underground buzz in the go ill by performing at various open mics and starting the “Chat Room” venue in Wicker Park. The duo released Confirmation soon after forming and a year later released the EP That’s Not My Kind of Music that were both well received critically. However in the summer of 2001 the Stowaways went their separate ways after the release of their greatest CD Do Black People Like HipHop?

Layman soon thereafter released a solo LP titled But I’m Sayin Tho’ after joining forces with the legendary Ryan Officer from Indianapolis. As a new member of Peculiar, Layman and Ryan Officer worked tirelessly on solo and collaborative LPs: Love: the Ep, The Dark Side of the Earth, Please Try Again, Undergraduates, Byproduct Jones, and Love: the Demo. Recently the two have linked to form the “Odd Couple” and have worked with many artists on the production end and rhymin.

Presently Layman is apart of the A8 crew and is currently producing/ engineering Stephstaa, Ryan Officer, GQ tha teacher, and Jabba Jones.

Beatnuts, the mighty Mos, the rest of Native tounges, and Outkast