P.O.S

For other uses, see POS.

P.O.S.
P.O.S. at 2009's Warped Tour.
Background information
Birth name	Stefon Alexander
Born	August 18, 1981 (1981-08-18) (age 30)
Genres	Alternative hip hop, punk
Occupations	Rapper, singer, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, and drummer
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Drums
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Doomtree, Rhymesayers
Associated acts	Doomtree, Cadillac Blindside, Gayngs, Marijuana Deathsquads, Building Better Bombs
Website	www.myspace.com/posisruiningmylife

Stefon Alexander, better known by his stage name P.O.S, is an American rapper, singer and multi-instrumentalist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is currently signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment and is a founding member of the label/collective Doomtree. He has also fronted a number of punk rock bands and is currently serving as guitarist and vocalist for Building Better Bombs, as well as vocalist and keyboardist for Marijuana Deathsquads.

Biography

Naming

Stefon first began as a punk rock musician. In high school, Stefon and his friends played punk shows in a band called "Om" in which he came to be referred to as "Pissed Off Stef", or "P.O.S". Since then the abbreviation has been given other meanings including "Product of Society","Patrick O'Sullivan", "Promise of Stress", "Promise of Skill", "Point of Sale", "Plain Ole Stef", and "Piece of Shit". Stefon has said that "[it] means anything that fits into my song."

Entering rap

At first hostile to hip-hop, P.O.S soon decided that rap was a valid alternative method of expression. He began creating music that was increasingly influenced by the genre.

In 2001, P.O.S, rapper Syst, and DJ Anomaly formed a short-lived hip-hop group called Cenospecies. They released one album titled In Definition in 2002 before shortly breaking up. The group won the award for Best Band to Break Up in the Past 12 Months in the year-end issue of The City Pages

Doomtree

P.O.S is a founding member of the Doomtree Collective, a nine member group of MCs, Producers, and DJs. His first EP False Hopes and debut album Ipecac Neat were originally released exclusively through Doomtree. The album caught the attention of Rhymesayers Entertainment who, in 2004, signed him and re-released Ipecac Neat. Since that point, his albums have been jointly released by both Doomtree and Rhymesayers.

In January 2006, his sophomore record, Audition was released, raising his profile nationally. Since then he has mainly focused on Doomtree associated projects. In 2007 the whole collective released a collaborative album also called False Hopes, and in 2008 released the self-titled Doomtree. Live shows throughout Minneapolis and the country are usually supported by other members of the collective.

In February 2009 P.O.S. released Never Better. The album came with a unique form of artwork. The liner notes, which include six transparent slides, can be rearranged to put the listener's own personal touch on the cover and backing art. The first single "Drumroll" was received well among college and alternative radio alike.

Style

P.O.S retains his punk rock influence in songs like "Kidney Thief", which contains a sample from "Out of Reach" by the now defunct band Baxter, and "De La Souls", which contains a sample from "Argyle" by the punk band The Bouncing Souls. He has described his music as "rap to skateboard to".

Shows

P.O.S often plays local shows throughout Minnesota and occasionally tours the country with other artists signed to Rhymesayers. In promotion of his first solo album, Ipecac Neat, P.O.S toured across the United States and Canada with DJ Turbo Nemesis, Mac Lethal, and Sims. In 2007, P.O.S opened for Gym Class Heroes on The Darryl Hall for President Tour. P.O.S is also been about of the 2006 and 2007 Warped Tours. In 2007, he was scheduled to play every date on the tour. In Fall 2008, P.O.S joined Underoath on tour, an artist he'd previously sampled on the track "POS is Ruining My Life".

The release of his new album coincided with the "Never Better Tour" which took P.O.S (along with other members of Doomtree crew) on a twenty city tour, culminating in a homecoming show in Minneapolis, MN. In early 2009 P.O.S was on tour with Atmosphere and Attracted To The Gods on the "When God Gives You Ugly Tour". In the summer of 2009, P.O.S played Warped Tour on the Hurley.com stage. On the Calgary date of the 2009 Warped tour, P.O.S filled in for Timothy McTague of Underoath on guitar. In the fall of 2009 P.O.S toured as direct support for Bad Brains on the West Coast. In 2009 he also supported The King Blues on their tour.

Other projects

P.O.S. is a vocalist and guitarist in the punk band Building Better Bombs, who released an album called Freak Out Squares in 2007 on indie label Init records. He was also in a band called Cenospecies with fellow Minneapolis natives Syst (short for System) and DJ Anomaly (Jason Heinrichs). They formed in 2001 and released an album called Indefinition in 2002. The group disbanded shortly after the release of the album.

Recently, he has also started a side project with Astronautalis, after each contributed a song to each other's latest records. They will also be in the studio together to record an album in January.^[1]

P.O.S. is currently a member of the Minneapolis indie supergroup Gayngs, whose first album was released in 2010 on Jagjaguwar Records. The band also features members of Solid Gold, The Rosebuds, and Bon Iver, among others.

Members of Marijuana Deathsquads played as P.O.S.' backing band at Coachella in 2010, and he frequently joins them for live shows in Minneapolis. Marijuana Deathsquads consists of musicians from Gayngs, as well as Building Better Bombs, and will be releasing their first CD later this year.

P.O.S. is a member of punk/ hardcore band Wharf Rats. Other members include Chris 2 (bass) of Anti-Flag and Wade MacNeil of Alexisonfire (guitar).

Discography

Albums

Release date	Title	Label	Chart positions
2002	P.O.S & Cecil Otter: False Hopes 1	Doomtree Records	-
2003	P.O.S & Cecil Otter: False Hopes Mega!	Doomtree Records	-
March 16, 2004	Ipecac Neat	Rhymesayers Entertainment	-
Jan 29, 2006	Audition	Rhymesayers Entertainment	-
2007	False Hopes (Doomtree album)	Doomtree Records	-
2008	Doomtree (album)	Doomtree Records	-
Feb 03, 2009	Never Better	Rhymesayers Entertainment	#106 US[2]
2011	No Kings (Doomtree album)	Doomtree Records	-

Singles

• "Half Cocked Concepts" (2005)
• "Bleeding Hearts Club" (2006)
• "P.O.S Is Ruining My Life" (2006)
• "Goodbye" (2009)
• "Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)" (2009)
• "Optimist (We Are Not For Them)" (2009)
• "Purexed" (2009)

External links

• P.O.S on Myspace
• P.O.S on Rhymesayers.com
• P.O.S on Doomtree.net
• P.O.S Never Better Official Site
• P.O.S at Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT show review - P.O.S Salt Lake show review by SLUG Magazine

References

1. ^ http://www.sputnikmusic.com/news.php?newsid=11860
2. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p673349/charts-awards

Persondata
Name	P O S
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Short description
Date of birth	August 18, 1981
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Date of death
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