Deadlee
Encyclopedia
Joseph Lee, better known by his stage name Deadlee, is an American
rapper and songwriter based in Los Angeles
, California
. The musician, who is of Mexican American
and African American
descent, launched his career back in 2000. In 2002, he released the critically acclaimed debut album 7 Deadlee Sins. He released the followup album, Assault With a Deadlee Weapon, in late 2006. Deadlee is known for his lyrics, which tackle subjects such as race, class
, sexuality and police brutality
.
and thrash rock
, his lyrics tackled subjects like race, class
, sexuality
and police brutality
. The album became one of the first albums produced during the underground musical movement, homo hop
, which started in the early 2000s. He went on to perform at a variety of music festivals including the "Peace Out Festival" in Oakland, California
, "Peace Out East" in New York City
, and "HomoAGoGo" in Olympia, Washington
. The mainstream gay community did not initially accept his confrontational style during his first few years in the music industry. The "Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival" grew larger and even restricted him from performing at the festival. As his name became more synonymous with the growing homo hop scene, the LGBT community eventually grew to accept him and also his music. Deadlee later performed at the "Los Angeles Latin Gay Pride Festival", the annual Christopher Street "West Los Angeles Pride"
festival in West Hollywood, and the "San Francisco LGBT Pride
" Main Stage two years afterwards.
, DMX
and 50 Cent
, the lyrics deal with LGBT
issues and hardships that are recurring today. Assault With a Deadlee Weapon features more heavy production and a lot of support from fellow rappers and artists such as Johnny Dangerous, Tori Fixx
, Salvi-Mex, Dutchboy, Barnes, Drastiko, Clint Catalyst
and others. The music video for his song "Good Soldier II" has been played numerous times on the MTV
-owned network LOGO
.
In June 2009, Deadlee made four appearances in the prestigious Fresh Meat Festival, a tres moderne variety show spotlighting the cream of LGBT performers. He began with an angry spoken word piece written during a college tour, and moved into two classic Deadlee 2213 songs, the dance anthem, "Nasty" and the riveting and erotic "Carnival in My Mind." Deadlee was acclaimed as both riveting and ferocious, surprising and astonishing the audience and proving himself a superb performer, able to bring the goods in any venue, gay or other.
Deadlee has made serious inroads into the movie industry as an actor, appearing in several films including the popular hood comedies, "Hoochie Mamma Drama" and "Getting High In The Barrio". He also made an appearance as a homeless junkie in the Bruce LaBruce
zombie thriller, L.A. Zombie
and he starred in LA's Longest Running Play "Eavesdropper". A new album is set to be released in late 2011.
, The Advocate
, Frontiers Magazine and URB magazine. In 2007, Deadlee was the subject of mainstream entertainment news, with publications like Rolling Stone
and CNN
, after he announced a Spring Tour called "HomoRevolution Tour 2007" and attacked Eminem, DMX
, and 50 Cent as "homophobic." The tour was covered in the British Guardian newspaper and Deadlee appeared on The Tyra Banks Show
along with Tori Fixx
and Foxxjazell.
Despite his notoriety as a controversial gay rapper, Deadlee has also contributed music to On the Downlow
, directed by Tadeo Garcia, and Vengeance, directed by Daniel Zirilli. Both movies feature songs contained on Assault with a Deadlee Weapon. In addition, Deadlee demonstrated his acting skills in Zirilli's gangbanger drama. He is also a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild
. In 2006, he also made film festival appearances in support of the homohop documentary, Pick Up the Mic, which he is featured in. He also appears on the LOGO network's documentary series, Hip Hop Homos.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rapper and songwriter based in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The musician, who is of Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
and African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
descent, launched his career back in 2000. In 2002, he released the critically acclaimed debut album 7 Deadlee Sins. He released the followup album, Assault With a Deadlee Weapon, in late 2006. Deadlee is known for his lyrics, which tackle subjects such as race, class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
, sexuality and police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
.
2000-2004
Deadlee officially launched his career in 2000. In 2002, he released his debut album 7 Deadlee Sins. A blend of hip hopHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and thrash rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, his lyrics tackled subjects like race, class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
, sexuality
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
. The album became one of the first albums produced during the underground musical movement, homo hop
Homo hop
Homo hop is a genre of hip hop music performed by LGBT artists and performers. It has been described as "a global movement of gay hip-hop MCs and fans determined to stake their claim in a genre too often associated with homophobia and anti-gay lyrics."...
, which started in the early 2000s. He went on to perform at a variety of music festivals including the "Peace Out Festival" in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, "Peace Out East" in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and "HomoAGoGo" in Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
. The mainstream gay community did not initially accept his confrontational style during his first few years in the music industry. The "Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival" grew larger and even restricted him from performing at the festival. As his name became more synonymous with the growing homo hop scene, the LGBT community eventually grew to accept him and also his music. Deadlee later performed at the "Los Angeles Latin Gay Pride Festival", the annual Christopher Street "West Los Angeles Pride"
Christopher Street West
Christopher Street West is the non-profit organization that produces the Los Angeles LGBT Pride Celebration held every June in its host city of West Hollywood, California, USA....
festival in West Hollywood, and the "San Francisco LGBT Pride
San Francisco Pride
The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a parade and festival held in June each year in San Francisco to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies...
" Main Stage two years afterwards.
Present
After being involved in several motion picture soundtracks and documentaries, Deadlee released his much anticipated sophomore album, Assault with a Deadlee Weapon. Fueled with retaliatory attacks on rap and hip-hop's alleged homophobes such as EminemEminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
, DMX
DMX (rapper)
Earl Simmons , better known by his stage name DMX, is a multiplatinum American rapper and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s. His stage name pays tribute to the Oberheim DMX drum machine, an instrument he used when he made his own rap beats in the 80's...
and 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
, the lyrics deal with LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
issues and hardships that are recurring today. Assault With a Deadlee Weapon features more heavy production and a lot of support from fellow rappers and artists such as Johnny Dangerous, Tori Fixx
Tori Fixx
Tori Fixx is one of the first openly gay hip hop artists, and also produces music for other noted queer performers. He is based in Minneapolis.-Career:In the mid-90s, he DJed at parties for Prince at Paisley Park Studios in Minnesota....
, Salvi-Mex, Dutchboy, Barnes, Drastiko, Clint Catalyst
Clint Catalyst
Clint Catalyst is an American author, actor, spoken word performer, and stylist.Catalyst has covered music, fashion, LGBT issues, and popular culture for magazines including LA Weekly, Frontiers, Out, Surface and Swindle.-Early life:Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Catalyst was raised an only child...
and others. The music video for his song "Good Soldier II" has been played numerous times on the MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
-owned network LOGO
Logo (TV channel)
Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
.
In June 2009, Deadlee made four appearances in the prestigious Fresh Meat Festival, a tres moderne variety show spotlighting the cream of LGBT performers. He began with an angry spoken word piece written during a college tour, and moved into two classic Deadlee 2213 songs, the dance anthem, "Nasty" and the riveting and erotic "Carnival in My Mind." Deadlee was acclaimed as both riveting and ferocious, surprising and astonishing the audience and proving himself a superb performer, able to bring the goods in any venue, gay or other.
Deadlee has made serious inroads into the movie industry as an actor, appearing in several films including the popular hood comedies, "Hoochie Mamma Drama" and "Getting High In The Barrio". He also made an appearance as a homeless junkie in the Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce is a Canadian writer, filmmaker, photographer and underground gay porn director based in Toronto, Ontario.-Biography:...
zombie thriller, L.A. Zombie
L.A. Zombie
L.A. Zombie is a 2010 queer cinema zombie film. The film is written and directed by Bruce LaBruce and stars gay pornographic actor François Sagat. The film premiered in competition at Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland in 2010.-Synopsis:...
and he starred in LA's Longest Running Play "Eavesdropper". A new album is set to be released in late 2011.
Public reception
He received considerable press with articles or reviews in the now defunct QV Magazine, LA WeeklyLA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
, Frontiers Magazine and URB magazine. In 2007, Deadlee was the subject of mainstream entertainment news, with publications like Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, after he announced a Spring Tour called "HomoRevolution Tour 2007" and attacked Eminem, DMX
DMX (rapper)
Earl Simmons , better known by his stage name DMX, is a multiplatinum American rapper and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s. His stage name pays tribute to the Oberheim DMX drum machine, an instrument he used when he made his own rap beats in the 80's...
, and 50 Cent as "homophobic." The tour was covered in the British Guardian newspaper and Deadlee appeared on The Tyra Banks Show
The Tyra Banks Show
The Tyra Banks Show, also known as and shortened to Tyra or The Tyra Show, is an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks. The last new episode aired on Friday, May 28, 2010.-2005-2009: Syndication:...
along with Tori Fixx
Tori Fixx
Tori Fixx is one of the first openly gay hip hop artists, and also produces music for other noted queer performers. He is based in Minneapolis.-Career:In the mid-90s, he DJed at parties for Prince at Paisley Park Studios in Minnesota....
and Foxxjazell.
Despite his notoriety as a controversial gay rapper, Deadlee has also contributed music to On the Downlow
On the Downlow
On the Downlow is the 2004 debut film of director Tadeo Garcia, a low budget film starring Michael Cortez and Tony Sancho.Proving very popular with the film critics and the public, it was released on DVD in January 9, 2007.-Synopsis:...
, directed by Tadeo Garcia, and Vengeance, directed by Daniel Zirilli. Both movies feature songs contained on Assault with a Deadlee Weapon. In addition, Deadlee demonstrated his acting skills in Zirilli's gangbanger drama. He is also a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
. In 2006, he also made film festival appearances in support of the homohop documentary, Pick Up the Mic, which he is featured in. He also appears on the LOGO network's documentary series, Hip Hop Homos.
Discography
| # | Title | Release date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 Deadlee Sins | 2002 | D&D Records | Compact Disc Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
|
| 2 | Assault With a Deadlee Weapon | August 15, 2006 | Bombastic Records | Compact Disc Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
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