James Timothy "Tim" Holland Jr. (born September 25, 1977), 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 ...

Sole, is an American underground hip hop artist from Portland, Maine. He is one of eight co-founders of the record label Anticon. He has been a member of the groups Northern Exposure, Live Poets, Deep Puddle Dynamics, So-Called Artists, Da Babylonianz,

Sole and the Skyrider Band Sole and the Skyrider Band is an alternative hip hop quartet based in Denver, Colorado. The band consists of rapper Tim Holland a.k.a. Sole, producer Bud Berning a.k.a. Skyrider, multi-instrumentalist William Ryan Fritch, and drummer John Wagn ...

and Waco Boyz.

Career

Sole recorded his first demo in 1992. At age 15, he assembled 45 Below Records, which included rappers

Alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the ...

, JD Walker, and producer DJ Moodswing9 (then known as Cuz the Highlander). Sole and Moodswing9 released the album ''Mad Skillz and Unpaid Billz'' together as Northern Exposure, selling more than 300 copies. In 1997, Sole released a 12" as Live Poets with JD Walker and Moodswing9. It garnered college radio play and sold a few thousand copies. In early 1998, Sole and rapper

Pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

coined the name Anticon and together started a collectively owned record label under the name. Later it was set up as a standard corporation with eight shareholders. In the same year, Sole traveled to Minneapolis with Alias and Doseone. They recorded the album '' The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel?'' as Deep Puddle Dynamics with

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 ...

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

. Sole and Pedestrian moved Anticon to Oakland, California. In 2000, Sole released the first official solo album '' Bottle of Humans'' on Anticon. As So-Called Artists, he released '' Paint by Number Songs'' with Alias and DJ Mayonnaise in 2001. Sole's second solo album ''

Selling Live Water ''Selling Live Water'' is a solo studio album by American hip hop artist Sole. It was released on Anticon in 2003. It peaked at number 126 on the CMJ Radio 200 chart, as well as number 7 on CMJ's Hip-Hop chart. Production ''Selling Live Water'' w ...

'' was released in 2003 and received positive reviews; Pitchfork Media gave it a 7.3, Metacritic gave it a score of 77 and a user score of 9.5 out of 10. Later that year, he moved to Barcelona. Two years later, he released the third solo album ''

Live from Rome ''Live from Rome'' is a solo studio album by American hip hop artist Sole. It was released on Anticon in 2005. Critical reception At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album rece ...

'' in 2005. Soon after, he moved back to the United States, relocating to

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has ...

. In 2007, Sole released ''

'' as

. Its second album ''

Plastique Plastic explosive is a soft and hand-moldable solid form of explosive material. Within the field of explosives engineering, plastic explosives are also known as putty explosives or blastics. Plastic explosives are especially suited for explos ...

'' was released in 2009. In 2010, Sole left Anticon, citing a desire to further experiment with his music, independently of the collective, and also due to his belief that the label developed away from what he initially intended it to be. Sole and the Skyrider Band then released its third album. '' Hello Cruel World'' was released in 2011 to generally positive reviews. Aside from his official releases on Anticon, Sole has also released self-produced albums on his own imprint Black Canyon. These include various compilations of unreleased material, as well as the releases of his Man's Best Friend project, various mixtapes, and collaborations with platinum certified producer DJ Pain 1. As he is no longer with Anticon, Sole currently self-releases his solo records.

Personal life

Sole is based in Brunswick, Maine. He married Yasamin Al-Hussaini on January 1, 2004, and her name is referenced occasionally in his lyrics. While living in Denver, Sole was active in the local outpost of the Occupy Wall Street political movement, various anarchist projects and hosts a podcast about revolutionary politics and radical philosophy called "The Solecast."

Selected discography

Sole :* '' Bottle of Humans'' ( Anticon, 2000) :* ''uck rt'' (2001) :* ''

'' (Anticon, 2003) :* '' Mansbestfriend Pt. 2: No Thanks'' (2003) :* ''

'' (Anticon, 2005) :* ''Mansbestfriend Pt. 3: Myownworstenemy'' (2005) :* '' Poly.Sci.187'' (Anticon, 2007) :* ''Desert Eagle'' (2008) :* ''

A Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing ''A Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing'' is a solo studio album by American hip hop artist Sole. It was released on November 13, 2012. The title derives from a letter written by Karl Marx. A music video was created for "Assad Is Dead". Cri ...

'' (Black Canyon, 2012) :* '' No Wising Up No Settling Down'' (Black Canyon, 2013) :* ''Crimes Against Totality'' (Black Canyon, 2013) :* ''Mansbestfriend 7'' (Black Box Tapes, 2015) :* ''Let Them Eat Sand'' (Black Box Tapes, 2018) :* ''Destituent'' (Black Box Tapes, 2019) :* ''MBFX'' (Black Box Tapes, 2021) Sole & DJ Pain 1 :* '' Death Drive'' (Black Canyon, 2014) :* ''Nihilismo'' (Black Box Tapes, 2016) :* ''No God nor Country'' (Black Box Tapes, 2019) :* ''Post American Studies'' (eMERGENCY hEARTS, 2022)

:* ''

'' (Anticon, 2007) :* ''

'' (

Fake Four Inc. Fake Four is an independent record label based in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded by brothers Ceschi and David Ramos in 2008. According to an interview with Ceschi on Ugsmag.com, the Ramos brothers started Fake Four with help from Grimm ...

, 2009) :* '' Hello Cruel World'' (Fake Four Inc., 2011) Whitenoise (Sole with Yasamin Holland) :* ''No More Dystopias'' (Black Canyon, 2013) :* ''Ruins'' (Black Box Tapes, 2015) Other collaborations :* ''What's It All About'' (45 Below, 1996) (with JD Walker & Moodswing9, as Live Poets) :* '' The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel?'' (Anticon, 1999) (with

, Doseone &

, as Deep Puddle Dynamics) :* ''Red Dawn: A Baybridge Epic'' (2001) (with

, as Da Babylonianz) :* ''Paint by Number Songs'' ( Mush, 2001) (with Alias & DJ Mayonnaise, as So-Called Artists)

References

External links

Official website

Sole
on Discogs {{DEFAULTSORT:Sole 1977 births Anticon American atheists American rappers East Coast hip hop musicians Libertarian socialists Living people Rappers from Maine Underground rappers 21st-century American rappers Morr Music artists