Can’t we just send all rappers to Minnesota? This wouldn’t be a punishment. It wouldn’t be cruel or unusual, but for their own good, like a trip to the Betty Ford Clinic. You see, there’s something in this land of more lakes than they know what to do with (I think the way the math shakes out, it’s one private poolnasium for every 3.2 citizens of the great state that buttresses the border between us and Canada with more of what those Canadians already have – merciless winters). We laugh about the brutality of them during the summer, but we do get scared of having to deal with them again when we realize it’s just a matter of time. The Doomtree crew, to which P.O.S. is the treasurer and the treasured and the affiliated Rhymesayers posse would be perfect role models for bullshit artists like Ja Rule, Chamillionaire and Chingy and the lukewarm new material dudes like Busta Rhymes are putting out these days. The factory says that flesh and money talk sells and substance walks, so the “artists” who want both of those things in triplicate and then some listen to the factory. Everyone’s bought into easy bake hip-hop game and actually putting your neck out there to show a principled, not going to take this lying down message is wasted effort. But if you want any of that – the good stuff, we’ll call it – there’s a place in this country (north to most of us) where you can’t get away from it and Stefon Alexander – Mr. P.O.S. – is better than most. He’s still a young man, but his convictions are taut. You’ll hear him kick up some sawdust and come charging. You’ll hear him snort like an agitated buffalo. You’ll hear no amity for the president of the United States of America. You’ll hear him warn that there’s more to life – “It don’t take mills to eat meals.” On this set of songs – recorded over the Lollapalooza weekend in early August – Alexander shows off his cuddly side with some improvisational freestyling during interludes and Turbo Nemesis’ instrumental outros. He says Doomtree a lot and it’s hard to fault him for wanting to promote as we see all those involved with that label and its mother, Rhymesayers, as being the most noble and inspiring hip-hop artists working today. He says Doomtree’s teeth, wings all that. You’ll laugh when he starts making wookie noises. It sounds like he’s talking about porn in one spot and at the end of “Shoplifting,” he asks you to give it up, “Even in front of your computer, put your hands up, not like a stick-up, but just how you listen to a song. I appreciate that.” Done and done. – Sean Moeller

First song
Music for Shoplifiting (P.O.S.) [2.98MB] [2075 downloads]


– original version appears on “Ipecac Neat”
“One of the last songs I wrote for the “Ipecac” record. I’d been sitting on that beat for a long time, but I couldn’t get the words to work out. It came together as a track of where my mind was at the time. I think it kind of sets the mood for the entire record. To me, there’s no central point to that song. It doesn’t make sense without the sum of all the parts. It’s pretty much me asking the listener, ‘Hey, what about this?’ and ‘Hey, what about this?’ It’s a whole bunch of ‘Hey, what about this?’

Second song
Yeah Rght (P.O.S.) [1.35MB] [1761 downloads]


– original version appears on “Audition”
“The beat was so incredibly intense. It’s short because I was struggling to get it out before it left me. That line, ‘I want to see a politician with callouses…” I want to see a politician who gets to make decisions for us in a more legit way than just through voting or having more money. I want to see one of them actually use their hands, to remember what it’s actually like to work their asses off and that they weren’t born into being money. Someone who’s shown time and time again that they have hearts. It’s really hard to feel like you can write songs about this stuff. I used to have some really snappy answers when politics came up, but I don’t anymore.”

Third song
Living Slightly Larger (P.O.S.) [3.96MB] [1808 downloads]


– original version appears on “Audition”
“It was kind of a joke around the old Doomtree house after I released my first record. We were like, ‘This couch sucks, let’s get a new used couch.’ Or, ‘I got a new shirt, you want my old one?’ It’s about living better. It’s a rap sandwich.”

Fourth song
De La Souls (P.O.S.) [3.59MB] [1915 downloads]


– original version appears on “Audition”
“It’s really personal, but it fits a template. That’s the De La Soul verse that I just made fit with my life. The Bouncing Souls and De La Soul are my favorite bands from back when I was 14. They’re still two of my favorite bands. They always came off as inspiring rather than being assholes.”

Doomtree
P.O.S.
Rhymesayers Entertainment