Lateef Daumont, better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Lateef the Truthspeaker, or

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

as Lateef, is a hip hop artist from

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

(United States). He is a member of several hip hop groups such as

Latyrx Latyrx is an American alternative hip hop duo consisting of Lateef the Truthspeaker and Lyrics Born. The roots of their partnership lay in the formation of the Solesides collective at the University of California, Davis. History The crew's chart ...

Lateef and the Chief Lateef and the Chief (sometimes stylized as Lateef & the Chief) is an American hip hop group from California. Originally known as Maroons, it consists of rapper Lateef the Truthspeaker (of Latyrx) and producer Chief Xcel (of Blackalicious). In 2 ...

, and

the Mighty Underdogs The Mighty Underdogs is an American hip hop supergroup from the San Francisco Bay Area. It consists of rappers Gift of Gab and Lateef the Truthspeaker and producer Headnodic. History The Mighty Underdogs was formed when Lateef the Truthspeaker, ...

. He was the founding member of the Solesides collective, which became

Quannum Projects Quannum Projects (also known as Quannum MCs) is an American hip hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been active since 1992, when it was formed at UC Davis under the moniker Solesides Records. It is also the name of the ...

Life and career

Lateef was raised in

East Oakland East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...

, where his father was security detail for the Black Panthers. His mother, a Panther medic, was a roommate and political associate of

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

. He is of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and Puerto Rican descent. He has released several mixtapes such as ''Ahead of the Curve'' (2007), ''Truth Is Love'' (2009), and ''Truth at Sea'' (2011). His solo debut album, ''

Firewire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...

'', was released in 2011. It features contributions from Chief Xcel,

Del the Funky Homosapien Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972), better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien (sometimes stylized as Del tha Funkee Homosapien) or Sir DZL, is an American rapper. Music career 1988–1997: Early life and beginnings Born in O ...

, the Grouch,

Lyrics Born Tsutomu "Tom" Shimura (born September 2, 1972), better known by his stage name Lyrics Born (formerly Asia Born), is a Japanese-American rapper, singer, and producer. He is one half of the duo Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker. Early life Shim ...

Dan the Automator Daniel M. Nakamura better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer from San Francisco, California. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. Early life Nakamura was bo ...

and

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996. Biography Early years (1989–1995) DJ Sh ...

. He was also featured on the songs "

Wonderful Night "Wonderful Night" is a song by English big beat musician Fatboy Slim, released as a single from his album '' Palookaville''. It features vocalist Lateef the Truthspeaker, credited monomously as Lateef on the single release. The song is often play ...

" and "

That Old Pair of Jeans "That Old Pair of Jeans" is a song by English electronic music producer Fatboy Slim, released on 26 June 2006 as a single from his greatest hits album ''The Greatest Hits – Why Try Harder''. It features vocals from American rapper Lateef the ...

" by

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

Discography

Albums

Lateef the Truthspeaker * ''

'' (2011)

* '' The Album'' (1997) * '' The Second Album'' (2013)

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

* ''Maroons:Ambush'' (2004)

The Mighty Underdogs The Mighty Underdogs is an American hip hop supergroup from the San Francisco Bay Area. It consists of rappers Gift of Gab and Lateef the Truthspeaker and producer Headnodic. History The Mighty Underdogs was formed when Lateef the Truthspeaker, ...

* '' Droppin' Science Fiction'' (2008) * ''

The Prelude ''The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem '' is an autobiographical poem in blank verse by the English poet William Wordsworth. Intended as the introduction to the more philosophical poem ''The Recluse,'' which Wordsw ...

'' (2007)

Mixtapes

* ''Ahead of the Curve'' (2007) * ''Truth Is Love'' (2009) * ''Truth at Sea'' (2011) * ''Latyrical Madness Vol. 1'' (2011)

Singles

* "The Wreckoning" (1996)

Guest appearances

Blackalicious Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful p ...

- "Deep in the Jungle" from ''

Melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

'' (1994) * Blackalicious - "Back to the Essence" from '' A2G'' (1999) * Blackalicious - "If I May" and "Smithzonian Institute of Rhyme" from '' Nia'' (1999) * Blackalicious - "4000 Miles" and "It's Going Down" from ''

Blazing Arrow ''Blazing Arrow'' is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious. It was released on MCA Records on April 30, 2002. It peaked at number 49 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Critical reception Steve Huey of AllMusic gave the album ...

'' (2002) *

- "Mashin' on the Motorway" from '' The Private Press'' (2002) *

- "The Last Trumpet" from '' Later That Day'' (2003) *

Lifesavas Lifesavas is a hip hop group from Portland, Oregon. Their style exhibits tag-team rhymes, matter-of-fact storytelling and a soulful production. The emcee's styles and song writing skills are showcased in the arrangements of a funky collection o ...

- "Emerge" from ''Spirit in Stone'' (2003) *

General Elektriks General Elektriks is the musical project of French keyboard player, composer, singer, and producer Hervé Salters. He also uses the moniker RV, a contraction of the pronunciation of his first name in French. History Hervé Salters, a French nat ...

- "Take You Out Tonight" from ''Cliquety Kliqk'' (2003) *

- "

" and "The Journey" from ''

Palookaville Palookaville may refer to: * ''Palookaville'' (film), a 1995 comedy film * ''Palookaville'' (album), a 2004 electronic album by Fatboy Slim * ''Palookaville'' (comics), an alternative comic book See also * Palooka (disambiguation) {{disa ...

'' (2004) * Haiku D'Etat - "Top Qualified" from '' Coup de Theatre'' (2004) * Freeform Five - "Losing My Control" from ''Strangest Things'' (2005) * Lyrics Born - "The Last Trumpet (Halou Remix)" from '' Same !@#$ Different Day'' (2005) * Blackalicious - "Side to Side" from '' The Craft'' (2005) * DJ Shadow - "

Enuff "Enuff" is a song by the American hip hop producer DJ Shadow featuring the American rappers Q-Tip and Lateef the Truthspeaker, released on September 25, 2006 as the second single from his third studio album '' The Outsider'' (2006). Music v ...

" from '' The Outsider'' (2006) * Fatboy Slim - "

" and "

Champion Sound ''Champion Sound'' is the only studio album by the duo Jaylib ( hip hop musicians J Dilla and Madlib). Half of the songs are produced by Madlib and feature J Dilla on vocals, and the other half are produced by J Dilla and feature Madlib on voca ...

" from ''

The Greatest Hits – Why Try Harder ''The Greatest Hits – Why Try Harder'' is a compilation album by English electronic musician Fatboy Slim, released on 19 June 2006. In addition to previously released material, the album includes two new tracks: "Champion Sound" and "That O ...

'' (2006) * DJ D-Sharp - ''Truth Spoken Mixtape: Volume 1'' (2007) * Kidkanevil - "5th Gear" from ''Problems & Solutions'' (2007) *

Z-Trip Zach Sciacca (born July 22, 1971), better known as DJ Z-Trip, is an American DJ and producer. He is a pioneer of the mashup movement. He was the 2009 recipient of the "America's Best DJ Award". As a producer he has worked with artists across di ...

- "On My Side" from ''All Pro Soundtrack'' (2007) * Stateless - "This Language" from '' Stateless'' (2007) *

Galactic Galactic is an American jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...

- "No Way" from ''

From the Corner to the Block ''From the Corner to the Block'' is the fifth studio album by the New Orleans-based jazz fusion/funk group Galactic. Unlike the group's other albums, ''From the Corner to the Block'' is a collaboration with various alternative hip hop musicians. ...

'' (2007) *

Curumin Curumin (born Luciano Nakata Albuquerque July 28, 1976, in São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian musician whose style incorporates elements of samba, funk, jazz, bossa nova, and hip hop. He sings in Portuguese and speaks fluent English. His first ...

- "Kyoto" from ''

JapanPopShow ''JapanPopShow'' is the second album of Brazilian singer/drummer Curumin. It was co-produced by Curumin, Gustavo Lenza and Lucas Martins in 2008 and released originally by YB Music in Brazil. Quannum Projects Quannum Projects (also known as ...

'' (2008) * The BPA - "So Fukt" from ''

I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat ''I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat'' is the debut album of British electronic act The Brighton Port Authority. It was released on Southern Fried on 6 January 2009 exclusively on amazon.com, with a regular release on 3 February. The Bri ...

'' (2009) * Killa Kela - "Situation" from ''Amplified!'' (2009) * Blundetto - "My One Girl" from ''Bad Bad Things'' (2010) * Lyrics Born - "Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart" from '' As U Were'' (2010) * Smokey Joe & the Kid - "Strange Days" from ''Nasty Tricks'' (2013) * Blackalicious - "Alpha and Omega" from ''

Imani Vol. 1 ''Imani Vol. 1'' is the fourth and final studio album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious. It was released on September 18, 2015. Critical reception At Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music ...

'' (2015)

Compilation appearances

* '' Quannum Spectrum'' (1999) * '' Solesides Greatest Bumps'' (2000) * '' Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti'' (2002)

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lateef The Truthspeaker Living people American musicians of Puerto Rican descent African-American male rappers Hispanic and Latino American rappers Rappers from Oakland, California Quannum Projects artists 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 1975 births 20th-century African-American people