Sole (artist)
Encyclopedia
Tim Holland, known as Sole, is an alternative hip hop
artist and a co-founder of the Anticon
collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing
traditional hip hop
topics and cliches. While mostly known for his rapping, Sole is also a producer and has released an instrumental album under the alias Man's Best Friend (styled mansbestfriend). Sole is also part of the group Sole and the Skyrider Band.
and Moodswing9 as the DJ (then known as "Cuz the Highlander"). The group released the album Mad Skillz and Unpaid Billz under the name Northern Exposure, selling more than 300 copies. In 1997, Sole, with JD Walker & Moodswing9, released a 12" under the name "Live Poets", garnering college radio play and selling a few thousand copies.
In early 1998, Sole and rapper Pedestrian coined the name "Anticon
" and together started a collectively-owned record label under the name. In 1998, Sole, along with Alias and Doseone
, traveled to Minneapolis and, together with Slug of Atmosphere, recorded the first official Anticon release: the album Deep Puddle Dynamics. Sole and Pedestrian moved Anticon to California
, settling in the Oakland area.
In 2000 Sole released his first official solo album through Anticon, titled Bottle of Humans
. This was followed up in 2003 with Selling Live Water
. Later that year, Sole moved to Barcelona, Spain
. Two years later, after living abroad, Sole released Live from Rome
in 2005. Soon after, he moved back to the United States, relocating to Flagstaff, Arizona.
In 2007 Sole, along with the band Skyrider, formed a group called "Sole & The Skyrider Band". They released a self-titled
album the same year. In 2009 the album Plastique
was released. The album Hello Cruel World
was released in 2011.
In 2010 Sole left the Anticon label, citing a desire to further experiment with his music, independently of the collective, and also due to his belief that the label has developed away from what he initially intended it to be.
Aside from his official releases through Anticon, Sole has also released a slew of self-produced albums on his own imprint, Black Canyon. These include various compilations of unreleased material, as well as the releases of his "mansbestfriend" project. Currently, as he is no longer with Anticon, Sole self-releases all his material.
Sole is currently based in Denver, Colorado. He is married to Yasamin Holland, whose name is referenced occasionally in his lyrics.
What's It All About (1996)
Music Without a Face (1998)
The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel?
(1999)
Bottle of Humans
(2000)
Paint by Number Songs
(2001)
uck rt
(2001)
We Ain't Fessin' (Double Quotes) (2002)
Man's Best Friend Volume 1
(2002)
Selling Live Water
(2003)
Man's Best Friend Volume 2: No Thanks
(2003)
Live from Rome
(2005)
Man's Best Friend Volume 3: My Own Worst Enemy
(2005)
Exhile
(2007)
Man's Best Friend Volume 4: Poli.Sci.187
(2007)
Sole and the Skyrider Band
(2007)
Desert Eagle Volume 1
(2008)
The Secret History of Underground Rap (2008)
Battlefields
(2009)
Plastique
(2009)
Man's Best Friend Volume 5
(2011)
Man's Best Friend Volume 6: Radioactive Rain
(2011)
Hello Cruel World
(2011)
YTX (2011)
Write or Die (2011)
Untitled Project (2011)
Desert Eagle Volume 2 (2012)
(2009)
Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel
(2011)
Nuclear Winter Volume 3 (2012)
(2002)
Songs That Went Tin (2005)
Sole and the Skyrider Band Remix LP
(2009)
Spring Offensive Volume 1: Nuclear Winter Remixes
(2010)
Dispatches from the American Fall (2011)
Respect (1997, 45 Below)
Banquet of Sarcasm (1998, 45 Below)
Rain Men (1999, anticon.)
Bottle of Humans (1999, anticon.)
Sideshow (2001, Mush Records)
Salt on Everything (2002, anticon.)
Plutonium (2003, anticon.)
God Save the Whales (2005)
New Single (2005, anticon.)
Don't Try to Stop It / Rust Belt Fellows (2010, Poetic Dissent)
(2008) by Noah23
"1 for No Money" on The Free Houdini (2009) by Themselves
"Trouble With Kids" on Naked Dinner
(2010) by Time
"Long Live the Short Lived" on The One Man Band Broke Up (2010) by Ceschi
"Don't Jock the Dead" on 13 Stories (2010) by Factor
"Living in a Vacuum" on Lawson Graham (2010) by Factor
"Kill You" on Waterloo (2011) by Kay the Aquanaut
"Murder City" on Fry Cook on Venus
(2011) by Noah23
"The Great Deluge" & "Fukushima Tokyo Electric Russian Roulette" on J-A-P-A-N: A Fake Four Inc. Japan Relief Benefit EP (2011) by Fake Four Inc
"Darkside of the Moon" on Terminal Illness (2011) by Noah23
& Krem
Alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...
artist and a co-founder of the Anticon
Anticon
Anticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...
collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing
Deconstruction
Deconstruction is a term introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1967 book Of Grammatology. Although he carefully avoided defining the term directly, he sought to apply Martin Heidegger's concept of Destruktion or Abbau, to textual reading...
traditional hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
topics and cliches. While mostly known for his rapping, Sole is also a producer and has released an instrumental album under the alias Man's Best Friend (styled mansbestfriend). Sole is also part of the group Sole and the Skyrider Band.
Career
Sole recorded his first demo in 1992. At age 15, Sole assembled group called "45 Below Records", which included fellow rapper AliasAlias (artist)
Brendon Whitney, known as Alias, is an abstract hip hop musician and producer. He is mainly affiliated with the anticon. label/collective.-Biography:...
and Moodswing9 as the DJ (then known as "Cuz the Highlander"). The group released the album Mad Skillz and Unpaid Billz under the name Northern Exposure, selling more than 300 copies. In 1997, Sole, with JD Walker & Moodswing9, released a 12" under the name "Live Poets", garnering college radio play and selling a few thousand copies.
In early 1998, Sole and rapper Pedestrian coined the name "Anticon
Anticon
Anticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...
" and together started a collectively-owned record label under the name. In 1998, Sole, along with Alias and Doseone
Doseone
Adam Drucker, better known as Doseone , is an American MC, artist, and poet from Idaho. Dose is known for his nasal, high pitched, fast polyrhythmic rapping style and abstract lyrics. He often simultaneously performs synth, sampler, or keyboard on stage. His words tend to express upon topics of...
, traveled to Minneapolis and, together with Slug of Atmosphere, recorded the first official Anticon release: the album Deep Puddle Dynamics. Sole and Pedestrian moved Anticon to 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...
, settling in the Oakland area.
In 2000 Sole released his first official solo album through Anticon, titled Bottle of Humans
Bottle of Humans
Bottle of Humans is a 2000 album by hip-hop artist Sole. A dispute with anticon.'s distributor caused the album to go out of print until it was remastered and reissued in 2003 with minor changes to the artwork and tracklisting....
. This was followed up in 2003 with Selling Live Water
Selling Live Water
Selling Live Water is a 2003 album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"Da Baddest Poet"#"Shoot the Messenger"#"Salt on Everything"#"I Hope You Like My Stupid Painting"#"Respect, Pt. 3"#"Tokyo"#"Plutonium"#"Sebago"#"Slow, Cold Drops"...
. Later that year, Sole moved to Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. Two years later, after living abroad, Sole released Live from Rome
Live from Rome
Live From Rome is a 2005 album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"Cheap Entertainment" #"Self Inflicted Wounds" #"Predictions" #"Sin Carne"...
in 2005. Soon after, he moved back to the United States, relocating to Flagstaff, Arizona.
In 2007 Sole, along with the band Skyrider, formed a group called "Sole & The Skyrider Band". They released a self-titled
Sole and the Skyrider Band
Sole and the Skyrider Band is a self-titled 2007 album by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider.-Track listing:#"A Sad Day for Investors"#"Ghost Assassinating Other Ghosts"#"Nothing Is Free"#"The Bridges Let Us Down"...
album the same year. In 2009 the album Plastique
Plastique (album)
Plastique is a 2009 album by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider.-Track listing:#"Children of Privilege"#"Battlefields" #"Longshots"#"Nothing Part 2"#"More"#"Pissing in the Wind"#"Bait"#"Mr Insurgent"#"Black"...
was released. The album Hello Cruel World
Hello Cruel World (2011)
Hello Cruel World is a 2011 album by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider.-Track listing:#"Napoleon" #"D.I.Y."#"Hello Cruel World"#"Fire"#"Bad Captain Swag"...
was released in 2011.
In 2010 Sole left the Anticon label, citing a desire to further experiment with his music, independently of the collective, and also due to his belief that the label has developed away from what he initially intended it to be.
Aside from his official releases through Anticon, Sole has also released a slew of self-produced albums on his own imprint, Black Canyon. These include various compilations of unreleased material, as well as the releases of his "mansbestfriend" project. Currently, as he is no longer with Anticon, Sole self-releases all his material.
Sole is currently based in Denver, Colorado. He is married to Yasamin Holland, whose name is referenced occasionally in his lyrics.
Albums
Mad Skillz and Unpaid Billz (1992)- w/ AliasAlias (artist)Brendon Whitney, known as Alias, is an abstract hip hop musician and producer. He is mainly affiliated with the anticon. label/collective.-Biography:...
& Moodswing9AnticonAnticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...
, as Northern Exposure
What's It All About (1996)
- w/ JD Walker & Moodswing9AnticonAnticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...
, as Live Poets
Music Without a Face (1998)
The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel?
The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel?
The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel? is the 1999 debut album by Deep Puddle Dynamics, a collaboration between hip-hop artists Sole, Alias, Doseone and Slug....
(1999)
- w/ AliasAlias (artist)Brendon Whitney, known as Alias, is an abstract hip hop musician and producer. He is mainly affiliated with the anticon. label/collective.-Biography:...
, DoseoneDoseoneAdam Drucker, better known as Doseone , is an American MC, artist, and poet from Idaho. Dose is known for his nasal, high pitched, fast polyrhythmic rapping style and abstract lyrics. He often simultaneously performs synth, sampler, or keyboard on stage. His words tend to express upon topics of...
& SlugSlug (rapper)Sean Michael Daley, better known by his stage name Slug or "'Sep Seven'", is an American rapper. He is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Slug is best known as one fourth of the hip hop group Atmosphere, which he founded with Derek Turner...
, as Deep Puddle DynamicsDeep Puddle DynamicsDeep Puddle Dynamics was a collaborative group featuring hip-hop artists Sole, Alias, Doseone and Slug. In 1999, they released their album The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel? on Anticon.-Albums:*The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel?...
Bottle of Humans
Bottle of Humans
Bottle of Humans is a 2000 album by hip-hop artist Sole. A dispute with anticon.'s distributor caused the album to go out of print until it was remastered and reissued in 2003 with minor changes to the artwork and tracklisting....
(2000)
Paint by Number Songs
Paint by Number Songs
Paint by Number Songs is a 2001 album by hip-hop group So-Called Artists, a collaboration between Anticon members Sole, Alias and DJ Mayonnaise.-Track listing:#"I Don't Know How to Start This"#"The Skin Song and Dance"#"Manic Autumn Wednesday Face"...
(2001)
- w/ Alias & DJ MayonnaiseAnticonAnticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...
, as So-Called Artists
uck rt
Uck rt
uck rt is a 2001 album by hip-hop artist Sole. Tracks 2, 10 & 11 are early versions of tracks that would appear on his 2003 Anticon release Selling Live Water....
(2001)
We Ain't Fessin' (Double Quotes) (2002)
- w/ Alias, Doseone & Slug, as Deep Puddle Dynamics
Man's Best Friend Volume 1
Man's Best Friend Volume 1
Man's Best Friend Volume 1 is a 2002 album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"Exile"#"Mad Lucky"#"Judges Ain't Nothing But Guts With a Halo "#"Sinking Life Raft"#"Spoken Word Piece"#"Hard to Burn"#"Alone, Yet Not Alone"#"Heaven"...
(2002)
Selling Live Water
Selling Live Water
Selling Live Water is a 2003 album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"Da Baddest Poet"#"Shoot the Messenger"#"Salt on Everything"#"I Hope You Like My Stupid Painting"#"Respect, Pt. 3"#"Tokyo"#"Plutonium"#"Sebago"#"Slow, Cold Drops"...
(2003)
Man's Best Friend Volume 2: No Thanks
Man's Best Friend Volume 2: No Thanks
Man's Best Friend Volume 2: No Thanks is a 2003 album by hip-hop artist Sole. Inititially self-released, the album was repackaged and remixed with additional tracks in 2004 and released by Morr Music under the title The New Human Is Illegal, with Sole using "Man's Best Friend" as an alternate...
(2003)
Live from Rome
Live from Rome
Live From Rome is a 2005 album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"Cheap Entertainment" #"Self Inflicted Wounds" #"Predictions" #"Sin Carne"...
(2005)
Man's Best Friend Volume 3: My Own Worst Enemy
Man's Best Friend Volume 3: My Own Worst Enemy
Man's Best Friend Volume 3: My Own Worst Enemy is a 2005 album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"In Honor of All Magnets"#"Philosophical Germ"#"My Own Worst Enemy"#"Howling in a Vacuum"#"The New Official"#"Impermanent"#"Last Song of Oakland"...
(2005)
Exhile
Exhile
Exhile is a 2007 EP by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"The American Standard"#"Terror in the Water"#"Self Fulfilling Prophets"#"I Can't Stand "#"The Binger Is Over"#"All I Ever Wanted "#"Nothing Wrong "...
(2007)
Man's Best Friend Volume 4: Poli.Sci.187
Man's Best Friend Volume 4: Poli.Sci.187
Man's Best Friend Volume 4: Poli.Sci.187 is a 2007 instrumental album by hip-hop artist Sole. Sole adopted the "Man's Best Friend" moniker for this album , intending upon releasing instrumental work under that name...
(2007)
Sole and the Skyrider Band
Sole and the Skyrider Band
Sole and the Skyrider Band is a self-titled 2007 album by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider.-Track listing:#"A Sad Day for Investors"#"Ghost Assassinating Other Ghosts"#"Nothing Is Free"#"The Bridges Let Us Down"...
(2007)
- w/ Skyrider
Desert Eagle Volume 1
Desert Eagle Volume 1
Desert Eagle Volume 1 is a 2008 album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"Shock"#"My Concept"#"This Old World Don't Need Hope"#"The Owners of the World"#"Tar on Tar"#"Untitled"#"The Numbers"#"You Don't Need a Thermometer"...
(2008)
The Secret History of Underground Rap (2008)
Battlefields
Battlefields (album)
Battlefields is a 2009 EP by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider.-Track listing:#"Battlefields" #"This Bad Reputation"#"Cutoffmoon"#"Good Bacteria"#"Battlefields "#"Black "...
(2009)
- w/ Skyrider
Plastique
Plastique (album)
Plastique is a 2009 album by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider.-Track listing:#"Children of Privilege"#"Battlefields" #"Longshots"#"Nothing Part 2"#"More"#"Pissing in the Wind"#"Bait"#"Mr Insurgent"#"Black"...
(2009)
- w/ Skyrider
Man's Best Friend Volume 5
Man's Best Friend Volume 5
Man's Best Friend Volume 5 is a 2011 album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"Welcome to the Future"#"Cell Memory"#"Proletarian Dreams"#"Never Suffer Fools"#"Terra-Dome"#"Can't Kill a Ghost"#"I Walk Alone"#"Rep-Resent"#"El Dorado"#"F.Y.L.Y...
(2011)
Man's Best Friend Volume 6: Radioactive Rain
Man's Best Friend Volume 6: Radioactive Rain
Man's Best Friend Volume 6: Radioactive Rain is a 2011 EP by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"One Step Ahead"#"Blood Oath"#"Planet Earth"#"Murderous Ritual"#"Vaults and Walls"#"Olympic Games"#"Everything Will Be O.K."...
(2011)
Hello Cruel World
Hello Cruel World (2011)
Hello Cruel World is a 2011 album by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider.-Track listing:#"Napoleon" #"D.I.Y."#"Hello Cruel World"#"Fire"#"Bad Captain Swag"...
(2011)
- w/ Skyrider
YTX (2011)
Write or Die (2011)
- w/ Skyrider
Untitled Project (2011)
- w/ BleubirdBleubirdJacques Bruna , better known by his stage name Bleubird. is an American rapper originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is known for his rapid-fire delivery, comic relief, lyrical wit, and freestyle ability....
& K-the-I???K-the-I???K-the-I??? is an American rapper and producer born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and now based in Los Angeles, California.K-the-I??? began recording in 2002, and released several small-issue records before signing with Mush Records in 2006...
Desert Eagle Volume 2 (2012)
Mixtapes
Nuclear Winter Volume 1Nuclear Winter Volume 1
Nuclear Winter Volume 1 is a 2009 mixtape album by hip-hop artist Sole.-Track listing:#"Intropocalypse"#"Every Day I'm Hustling"#"My President" #"Push It"#"So the Rich Can Sleep Tonight"...
(2009)
Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel
Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel
Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel is a 2011 mixtape album by hip-hop artist Sole. It is intended as an experiment in "rap as journalism", with several of the tracks having been quickly composed in response to current events and released separately in the months leading up to the release of the...
(2011)
Nuclear Winter Volume 3 (2012)
Compilations
Learning to WalkLearning to Walk (Sole album)
A compilation of early Sole singles and demos recorded between 1994 and 1998, released on the Anticon sister label, 6 Months.# Prosperity # 3rd Person # Losers at the Edge # Banquet of Sarcasm # 3 Guys in a Bar...
(2002)
Songs That Went Tin (2005)
Sole and the Skyrider Band Remix LP
Sole and the Skyrider Band Remix LP
Sole and the Skyrider Band Remix LP is a 2009 compilation album by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider. The album consists of remixes of tracks from their self-titled 2007 debut.-Track listing:#"A Sad Day for Investors" Sole and the Skyrider Band Remix LP is a 2009 compilation album...
(2009)
Spring Offensive Volume 1: Nuclear Winter Remixes
Spring Offensive Volume 1: Nuclear Winter Remixes
Spring Offensive Volume 1: Nuclear Winter Remixes is a 2010 compilation album by hip-hop artist Sole. The album consists of remixes of tracks from his 2009 mixtape Nuclear Winter Volume 1.-Track listing:#"Introapocalypse"#"Push It"...
(2010)
Dispatches from the American Fall (2011)
Singles
Sole (1995, 45 Below)- w/ Live Poets
Respect (1997, 45 Below)
- w/ Live Poets
Banquet of Sarcasm (1998, 45 Below)
Rain Men (1999, anticon.)
- w/ Deep Puddle Dynamics
Bottle of Humans (1999, anticon.)
Sideshow (2001, Mush Records)
- w/ So-Called Artists
Salt on Everything (2002, anticon.)
Plutonium (2003, anticon.)
God Save the Whales (2005)
New Single (2005, anticon.)
Don't Try to Stop It / Rust Belt Fellows (2010, Poetic Dissent)
- w/ Kaigen
Also appears on
"Tragic Comedy" on Rock Paper ScissorsRock Paper Scissors (album)
Rock Paper Scissors is a 2008 album by hip-hop artist Noah23.A music video was produced for "Fame".-Track listing:...
(2008) by Noah23
Noah23
Noah Raymond Brickley, better known by his stage name Noah23, is an alternative hip hop artist and founder of the Plague Language collective.- Biography :...
"1 for No Money" on The Free Houdini (2009) by Themselves
Themselves
Themselves is an Oakland-based hip hop group, made up of rapper Doseone and producer Jel . Dax Pierson, from the affiliated group Subtle, has played keyboards for the group, though he is not considered an official member. To date, the group has released three full-length albums and two singles...
"Trouble With Kids" on Naked Dinner
Naked Dinner
Naked Dinner is the third full-length album by Denver hip hop artist Time, released on August 25, 2009 on Dirty Laboratory Productions in association with Hip Hop Vinyl. It features appearances from C-Rayz Walz of Def Jux and Sole of Anticon. In early 2010 Naked Dinner charted at #19 in the...
(2010) by Time
Time (rapper)
Time, born Chris Steele, is an American independent hip hop artist, who was brought up in north Denver, Colorado. He is one of the original members of Dirty Laboratory Productions. He is also one half of the hip hop group Calm.-Rap career:...
"Long Live the Short Lived" on The One Man Band Broke Up (2010) by Ceschi
"Don't Jock the Dead" on 13 Stories (2010) by Factor
"Living in a Vacuum" on Lawson Graham (2010) by Factor
"Kill You" on Waterloo (2011) by Kay the Aquanaut
"Murder City" on Fry Cook on Venus
Fry Cook on Venus
Fry Cook on Venus is a 2011 album by hip-hop artist Noah23.Music videos were produced for "Bright Green Laces" and "Intagible Heart Crescendo".-Track listing:...
(2011) by Noah23
Noah23
Noah Raymond Brickley, better known by his stage name Noah23, is an alternative hip hop artist and founder of the Plague Language collective.- Biography :...
"The Great Deluge" & "Fukushima Tokyo Electric Russian Roulette" on J-A-P-A-N: A Fake Four Inc. Japan Relief Benefit EP (2011) by Fake Four Inc
Fake Four Inc
Fake Four Inc. is an independent record label based in New Haven, CT. It was founded in 2008 by Ceschi and David Ramos. According to an interview with Ceschi on Ugsmag.com, the Ramos brothers started Fake Four with help from San Bernardino, California's Grimm Image Records and Dayton, Ohio's Squids...
"Darkside of the Moon" on Terminal Illness (2011) by Noah23
Noah23
Noah Raymond Brickley, better known by his stage name Noah23, is an alternative hip hop artist and founder of the Plague Language collective.- Biography :...
& Krem