Siddiq Booker aka Creature (born November 10, 1973) is a New York City-based independent underground rapper, vocalist, writer and composer who works in the rap, hip hop, and afro-punk genres.

Early life

Booker was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and was raised in the

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

neighborhood of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Creature was inspired growing up listening to Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" and fellow Queens residents,

Run DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

's, "Sucker MCs" on a boombox at the pool in Corona. He started playing in bands at 15. In high school he met Buc Live and then GED school met Gab Gatcha, both with whom he eventually formed the group, The Triflicts, in 1991. Creature had his first record deal at age 20.

Career

The Triflicts

The Triflicts was an underground hip hop group including Creature, Gab Gatcha and Buc Live. The group gained attention after Gab Gatcha mentioning their name on the first Beatnuts album on which he debuted. In 1996 Stretch and Bobbito played "I'm Terror" from a demo for 4th and Broadway Records, then played "Genuine" from their debut single released by Hydra Records on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show of WKCR radio. The group's work was also played on Hot97, New York's premier hip hop radio station, in a song battle against Goodie Mob, where Goodie Mob won. The group went their separate ways when Buc stopped rapping and Gab refocused his time on work with The Beatnuts and later Gab spent some time in prison. Sergent Records from France published their unreleased demos in 2014.

Sky Pimps

Rob Sonic, Sonic Sum and

Mike Ladd Mike Ladd is an American hip hop musician from Boston, Massachusetts. He is based in Paris, France. ''The Guardian'' described him as "the king of the hip-hop concept." Early life Mike Ladd was born in Boston, Massachusetts. As a child, he live ...

with Creature formed his next collective project, the Sky Pimps in the late 90s.

RebelMatic

In 2008 Creature bumped into a high school acquaintance and decided to form a band, RebelMatic. Since he had been in a punk rock band before he rhymed, so RebelMatic, his hip hop infused

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band, was a perfect fit. They tell the public that they don't get the full experience of the band's energy until you see them live. They work through new music live and draw inspiration from bands ranging from

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

and

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

. RebelMatic opened for Kool AD in 2014 and played at

AfroPunk Festival Afropunk Festival is an annual arts festival that features music, film, fashion, and art produced by alternative black artists. The Afropunk Festival began in 2005, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Afropunk Festivals have also been ...

in New York in 2013 and 2017.

Solo work

Creature's style has been described as "agile" and "pre-knee jerk" contemporary rap battling. After his first group, The Triflicts, started going their separate ways, Creature was featured on

The X-Ecutioners The X-Ecutioners are a group of American hip hop DJs/turntablists from New York City, New York. The group formed in 1989 and currently consists of three DJs, including Total Eclipse, DJ Boogie Blind, DJ Precision. Original members of the grou ...

' first album, X-Pressions. In the late 1990s he met Sole, El-P and Antipop Consortium. In 2000 he worked with Mike Ladd on the Infesticons for the album, ''Gun Hill Road''. And wrote a

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

for a single from

MC Jin Jin Au-Yeung (; born June 4, 1982), known professionally as MC Jin, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and comedian of Chinese descent. Jin is notable for being the first Asian American solo rapper to be signed to a major record label ...

's ''

The Rest Is History ''The Rest Is History'' is Jin's debut album. It was released on October 19, 2004. Background Originally titled ''Almost Famous'', the album was delayed for over a year. Originally slated for a Summer 2003 release it was pushed back to an Oct ...

'' album in 2003. That same year he was featured on ''

Vaudeville Villain ''Vaudeville Villain'' is the third studio album by British-American rapper-producer MF DOOM, released on September 16, 2003 under the pseudonym of Viktor Vaughn. All of the tracks are produced by Sound-Ink record label members Heat Sensor, King ...

'' by

MF Doom Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

. In 2004 he went on tour with

Rob Sonic Robert Smith, better known by his stage name Rob Sonic, is an American rapper and record producer from the Bronx, New York. He has been a member of the groups Sonic Sum and Hail Mary Mallon. He is a founder of the record label Skypimps Music. B ...

Telicatessen ''Telicatessen'' is the debut solo album by American hip hop artist and former Sonic Sum member Rob Sonic, released by the Definitive Jux label on September 7, 2004. An instrumental version of the album was released the following year, also by D ...

debut album tour. Following that Creature had a song with Rob Sonic and Hangar 18 called "Sniper Picnic” that was featured on the Tony Hawk video game. He collaborated with Kool AD on his own album with the song, "Warhol's Wig" that received much acclaim. He has also toured with

Angelo Moore Angelo Carmen Christopher Moore (born November 5, 1965) is an American musician, best known for his work as lead singer and saxophonist for the Los Angeles ska and funk metal band Fishbone. Moore also performs and records under the stage name Dr ...

and collaborated with

Ari Up Ariane Daniele Forster (17 January 1962 – 20 October 2010), known by her stage name Ari Up, was a German vocalist best known as a member of the English punk rock band the Slits. Biography Ari Up was born in Munich, West Germany. Both her pare ...

. Creature performed with Homeboy Sandman and

Aesop Rock Ian Matthias Bavitz (born June 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American rapper and producer from Long Island, New York. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerge ...

at Irvin Plaza the summer of 2016. Before the digital age of music PR, like Percee-P, Lucky & Sdaerd, L.I.F.E.long, and MC Jin, Creature spent many hours selling his

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

, direct, in front of Fatbeats and at clubs on the streets of New York. Creature created a concert series called ''The Coffee Grind'' that featured a mix of under-represented hip hop artists with those more well known like

Just Ice Joseph Williams Jr. (born June 22, 1965), better known by the stage name Just-Ice, is an American rapper from New York City. A former bouncer at punk clubs, Williams was the first of the New York rappers to embrace gangsta rap, and when he bur ...

Camp Lo Camp Lo is an American hip hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. The duo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba (Salahadeen Wilds) and Geechi Suede (Saladine Wallace). The duo is perhaps best known for their 1997 hit " Luch ...

, and

Sadat X Derek Murphy (born December 29, 1968), better known as Sadat X, is an American rapping, rapper, best known as a member of alternative hip hop group Brand Nubian. Originally known as Derek X, Sadat takes his name from former Egyptian president ...

The Underdog's Manifesto

In 2006, Creature wrote the book, ''The Underdog's Manifesto: A Guerilla Artist's Path to Independence,'' with Dax-Devlon Ross. The book was published by Outskirts Press and reissued in 2008 by Outside the Box Publishing. The book explores Creature's journey of being a self-produced independent artist and how he learned creative ways to publicize and package one's work. ''Underdog's Manifesto'' includes interviews with

Percee P John Percy Simon (born July 9, 1969), better known by his stage name Percee P, is an American rapper from The South Bronx, New York City. ''Unkut'' described him as the "legendary lyricist of the subterranean". Career In 2007, Percee P released ...

, Duo Live and “Lucky” Logan P. McCoy and an afterword by

Jeremy Glick Jeremy Logan Glick (September 3, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked and crashed as part of the September 11 attacks. Aware of the earlier attacks at the World Trade Center, ...

Coffee Grind Media

Creature has two independent production companies, one called Creaturenomics and one called Coffee Grind Media, LLC.

Personal life

Creature, or Siddiq Booker, has two children. His son helped to name the 2017 album for RebelMatic, ''Eat The Monster.''

Discography

Releases

* 2005: ''Never Say Die'' – featuring

Slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...

, Jin, and

Busdriver Regan Farquhar (born February 12, 1978), better known by his stage name Busdriver, is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles, California. He has collaborated with rappers such as Myka 9, Milo, Nocando, Open Mike Eagle, 2Mex, and Radioi ...

. * 2007: ''Hustle to be Free'' * 2011: ''Chester Himes EP'' * 2013: ''Black Lagoon Radio'' * 2015: ''Torn Together –'' featuring Kool AD,

Vordul Mega Shamar Gardner (born March 24, 1979), better known by his stage name Vordul Mega (a.k.a. Vordul Megallah), is an American rapper from New York. He is one half of underground hip hop duo Cannibal Ox and a member of the hip hop group Atoms Family ...

, SavKills, Nutso and

Homeboy Sandman Angel Del Villar II (born September 24, 1980), better known by his stage name Homeboy Sandman, is an American rapper from Elmhurst, Queens, New York, United States. Career Homeboy Sandman recorded and released his first EP, ''Nourishment'', in M ...

. Production by Preservation (Ka &

Yasiin Bey Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

) and Omega One. * 2020: ''The day night stood still'' (Coffee Grind Media /

a night on canopy A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

)

Collaborations

* 1996: ''Genuine / Don't Make Me Try'' (single) ''–'' (with The Triflicts) * 2000: ''Gun Hill Road –'' (with The Infesticons) * 2003: ''The Majesticons vs. The Infesticons'' / ''Beauty vs. Ugly'' (The Instrumental Albums) (2xLP) ''–'' (with The Infesticons) * 2004: featured with Jin, "So Afraid" on ''The Rest is History –'' (as S. Booker) * 2009: ''Prey For The Vulture'' – (with RebelMatic) * 2010: ''Bedford Park'' ''–'' (with The Infesticons) * 2014: ''Elephant Amnesia'' ''–'' (with RebelMatic) * 2014: ''93-94 Unreleased Demos EP'' ''–'' (with The Triflicts) * 2017: ''Eat The Monster EP –'' (with RebelMatic)

Videos

* 2012: Creature, "Embrace the Day," produced by Prefuse 73, directed by Rodolfo Duran. * 2015: Creature, “Warhol’s Wig” featuring Kool AD, directed by Skila. * 2015: Creature, "Sore Eyes" featuring Vordul Mega, produced by Noble Dru.

Works and publications

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Creature Hip hop collectives Musicians from New York City Living people Rappers from New York City 1973 births 21st-century American rappers