Christopher Tafoya (born June 2, 1975), better known by his stage name Sleep or Sleep of Oldominion, is an American hip hop artist from

Farmington, New Mexico Farmington is a city in San Juan County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census the city had a total population of 46,624 people. Farmington (and surrounding San Juan County) makes up one of the four Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

, who is currently based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. He is a founding member of the Pacific Northwest hip hop collective Oldominion and hip hop duo The Chicharones alongside

Josh Martinez Matthew Edward Kimber (born August 6, 1977), better known by his stage name Josh Martinez, is a Canadian rapper, record producer and record label executive. In the early 2000s, Martinez started his own label, Camobear Records, to which fellow r ...

. He is signed to Strange Famous Records.

Early life

Tafoya grew up in the small town community of

. He is of Mexican descent. At the age of five, Sleep was already rapping and

b-boying Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

with his friends and relatives in the small town, with himself naming

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 ...

as an important influence when he first began. In addition to the hip hop he heard early on, his father was a former bass player for blues musician

Gatemouth Brown Gatemouth is an affectionate name for one who talks too much. Gatemouth can refer to: * Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown U.S. R&B singer * Arnold Moore, Arnold "Gatemouth" Moore U.S. singer * Louis Armstrong was nicknamed "Gatemouth" early in his career ...

, and would play a wide array of music, from Mariachi, to Blues, to Rock. Sleep also grew up with seven other brothers who all played musical instruments and had a grandfather who was also a multi instrumentalist. Entering the world of rap, he felt that his talents as both an MC and a writer were overly slept on, hence the creation of his name Sleep. Growing up in New Mexico, Sleep went to the same school as

Onry Ozzborn Michael Sean Martinez (born March 25, 1979), better known by his stage name Onry Ozzborn, is an American rapper and producer from Seattle, Washington. He is a founding member of alternative hip hop groups such as Grayskul, Dark Time Sunshine, and ...

, which led them to meet Pale Soul. Together, they formed the group Oraclez Creed, which would later become Oldominion after combining with Frontline (

Destro Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, usually referred to simply as Destro, is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books, and cartoon series. He is the leader of the Iron Grenadiers, and founder of M.A.R.S. ...

, Nyqwil, and Snafu). After the join, the massive Pacific Northwest hip hop collective grew to over twenty members.

Musical career

2001-2008: ''Riot by Candelight'', ''Christopher'' and the Chicharones

Sleep released his debut album, ''Riot by Candlelight'', in 2002. Following the release, he was heavily involved in the multiple albums by Oldominion. In 2001, Sleep met Canadian rapper

by chance encounter at the South by Southwest festival in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Together, the two would create the hip hop duo '' the Chicharones.'' Sleep's second album, '' Christopher'', was released in 2005 (and then re-released with bonus tracks in 2009).

2009-2013: Strange Famous Records and ''Hesitation Wounds''

Leading up to 2009, Sleep had contacted

Sage Francis Paul William "Sage" Francis (born November 18, 1976) is an American independent underground rapper from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of Strange Famous Records. Early life and education Francis was born in Miami, Florida ...

in an attempt to receive a feature for his upcoming album, which eventually led to his signing to Sage's independent label Strange Famous Records. In 2009, Sleep released his third solo album, ''

Hesitation Wounds Hesitation Wounds is an American hardcore punk supergroup formed in 2012. The band was founded by Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré; guitarist Neeraj Kane of The Hope Conspiracy and formerly of The Suicide File and Holy Fever; bassist Stephen LaC ...

.'' It features verses from

Grayskul Grayskul is an American hip hop duo based in Seattle, Washington, consisting of rappers Onry Ozzborn and JFK Ninjaface. Since its formation in 2003, the group has released ten solo albums. The duo often collaborate with artists from the Pacifi ...

and Del the Funky Homosapien as well as production from likes of Zavala and Reanimator, among others.

2014-present: ''Oregon Failure''

Sleep's fourth solo album, '' Oregon Failure'', was released on April 15, 2014 on Strange Famous Records as well. The entire album is produced by Maulskull and has features from

and

Ceschi Julio Francisco "Ceschi" Ramos (born July 24, 1981), better known as Ceschi Ramos, or simply as Ceschi (pronounced "chess-key"), is an American hip hop musician based in New Haven, Connecticut. He is a co-founder of Fake Four Inc. He won the Con ...

, among others.

Style

Sleep's style has been described as "having intricate rhyme schemes and rapid-fire delivery," with his lyrics being both witty and personal.

Discography

Solo

Studio albums

* ''Riot by Candlelight'' ** Released: November 5, 2002 ** Label: Under the Needle Recordings * '' Christopher'' ** Released: May 31, 2005 ** Label: Up Above Records ** Re-Released: November 24, 2009 ** Label: Strange Famous Records * ''

'' ** Released: June 29, 2009 ** Label: Strange Famous Records * '' Oregon Failure'' (produced by Maulskull) ** Released: October 20, 2014 ** Label: Strange Famous Records

EPs

* ''Christopher Promo EP'' (2005) * ''While You Were Sl33ping'' (2012) (with Maulskull)

Singles

* "Man in a Box / Cats Like Y'All" (2002) * "Say Goodbye / The Heat" (2005) * "Testimony" (2005)

Collaborative albums

* ''S7V7N Days'' (2002) (with

, as Aurora) * ''Combination Locked'' (2007) (with Zelly Rock)

References

External links

Sleep
at Strange Famous Records
Sleep
on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sleep (rapper) Underground rappers Musicians from Portland, Oregon Rappers from New Mexico Rappers from Oregon People from Farmington, New Mexico 1976 births Living people West Coast hip hop musicians American rappers of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American musicians 21st-century American rappers