Cage (rapper)

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Cage
Also known as Cage, Cage Kennylz, Alex The Worm King, CK, Agent Orange, Water Mouth
Origin Flag of the United States Middletown, New York, United States
Genre(s) Hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper
Years active 1992–Present
Label(s) Eastern Conference
Definitive Jux
Associated acts Cardboard City,
The Weathermen,Leak Bros, Nighthawks, Smut Peddlers, Shoot Frank
Website Cage Homepage
Definitive Jux - Bio

Cage (real name Christian Palko, sometimes known as Cage Kennylz) is an American hip hop artist from Middletown, New York in Orange County. He is known for his lyrics inspired by his experiences in a mental institution as a teenager. He is also notable for a short-lived feud with Eminem (insults directed at him on The Slim Shady LP) in the late 1990s. He is also known for his duo musical collaborations, groups like Smut Peddlers with Mr. Eon, Leak Bros with Tame One and, Nighthawks with Camu Tao. He is also the founder of the Weathermen.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Born in Wurzberg, Germany to American parents. His father, Bill Murray, was an MP in the US army stationed on a West German military base where Cage and his parents lived until Murray was dishonorably discharged for selling and using heroin. When he was 4, Cage and his family were sent back to the US where they took up residence in Middletown, NY.

When they got to Middletown, his father continued to abuse heroin, often making Cage assist by pulling homemade tourniquets around his arm. His father left them suddenly with another woman. The last time Cage saw his father, he had a standoff with the New York State Police after threatening his family with a shotgun. He was arrested and Cage has not seen him since. He was 8 years old at the time.

By the time his mother was on her third marriage, Cage was kicked out of Middletown Highschool during his freshman year. His stepfather would beat him, and he received a scar over his eye from being punched in the head. Around this time, Cage started using drugs (LSD, mescaline, cannabis, alcohol). His mother sent him to live with his uncle, a Vietnam veteran who never retired from the army, on a German military base for a year. His uncle hated him, beating him and sending him home to America after a year.

Cage began to get into all sorts of trouble, including arrest for drug possession and fighting in the streets. He was put on probation for charges, but after several violations found himself facing real jail time. His mother convinced the judge that Chris was mentally unstable, and instead of prison, he was sent to the Stony Lodge Psychiatric hospital for a 2-week evaluation which turned into an 18-month stay.

During his stay at "The Lodge", Cage was part of a small group of medical guinea pigs who were chosen to be the test subjects for a new and untested drug called Prozac, which hadn’t hit the market yet. Misdiagnosed and placed on Prozac, Cage became suicidal and made several attempts to try to kill himself, first by hanging himself with his shoe laces, and then by hoarding his mandatory lithium doses for a month and attempting an overdose. He was subsequently put on suicide watch.

He was restrained over twenty times for periods of up to 13 consecutive hours (illegally), sometimes by straight jacket and sometimes by 10-point bed restraints. Cage would later refer to this period in his life as his "rap college". He would spend his time doing the only thing he could, which was go deep into his mind and hone his imagination into the visceral and dramatic writing style he still retains.

After being subjected to Lithium, Prozac, and a host of other drugs (and then more drugs to counter the side effects produced by the initial medication), Cage went from being a troubled teenager into a legitimately bi-polar young man.

He was eventually released on outpatient program and christened himself Alex, after the protagonist from A Clockwork Orange.[1]

[edit] Rap career

Cage made his debut with "Rich, Bring 'Em Back," a track from Pete Nice's solo album Dust to Dust in 1993. He then went on to release several singles, most notably "Agent Orange", which sampled the theme from Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange, which also played on his alter-ego, "Alex the Worm King". Produced by underground stalwart Necro, the "Agent Orange" released on Bobbito Garcia's Fondle 'Em Records and received heavy airplay on influential programs like Retard Riot Radio. It quickly established his position in a growing field of underground "white rappers". Around this time Cage was embroiled in a public feud with then rapper Eminem, with each claiming the other had appropriated the style of tightly controlled delivery and unsettling subject matter.

He later reemerged as a member of the hip hop group, the Smut Peddlers, alongside Mr. Eon and DJ Mighty Mi from The High and Mighty. The group released an album entitled Porn Again in 2001 on famed New York rap label Rawkus Records. Cage went on to release his debut solo album, Movies For The Blind, in 2002 on The High and Mighty's record label, Eastern Conference Records. He also recorded collaboration albums with Camu Tao (Nighthawks) and Tame One (Waterworld), and his group The Weathermen (referring to the Weather Underground) with their "Conspiracy Mixtape."

Cage's latest album, Hell's Winter, was released on September 20, 2005, and demonstrated how Cage had cleaned up his act, turning his back on drugs, and dropping the misogynistic language inherent to rap's macho vocabulary. This resulted in a mature and intelligent, although still emotional, album which pointed towards a very personal direction for future albums. In an interview for PopMatters [2], when asked what was new about the album, he replied, "There's no misogyny on it. It's not a really self-indulgent record, it's not self important battle rap bullshit. It's not about money and cars it's about reality.I make progressive rap it's as simple as that.The first record sort of glorified drugs and psychosis and it just felt like it was crazy for the sake of being crazy."

A recent Vanity Fair Interview with Transformers star Shia LaBeouf hints at a possible big screen adaptation of Cage's life story starring LaBeouf himself.[3] It was later confirmed in an article in the Dec.07 issue of Spin that the film was actually happening. [4]

Depart From Me, Cage's second studio album from Definitive Jux Records is delayed, Release date TBA. It will have appearances and from Daryl Palumbo and Wes Eisold, and most of the production from Daryl Palumbo, F Sean Martin, and XO Skeletons, and far less production from hip hop producers. El-P, Camu Tao, Blockhead, and Aesop Rock each contribute one track. No vocal tracks for "Depart From Me" have been completed yet.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo releases

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs

[edit] Mixtapes

  • For your Box (2002)

[edit] Other projects

[edit] Smut Peddlers

[edit] Nighthawks

  • Nighthawks (2002)

[edit] The Weathermen

[edit] Leak Bros

[edit] Singles

[edit] Cage

  • "Crazy Men Ahead (demo)"(1991)
  • Radiohead" / Agent Orange (1997)
  • 4 Letter Word / Mersh EP (1998)
  • 54 (1999)
  • Mersh (1999)
  • Sanford's Revenge / Pu-tang For A Penny (2000)
  • Suicidal Failure / The Weather Report / Dust vs. Ecstacy (2000)
  • The Left Hand Path / Escape To '88 (2000)
  • Movies For The Blind LP (2002)
  • Weather Proof EP (2003)
  • Haterama / Too Much (Remix) (2003)
  • Numb (To The Gun) / Middletown NY / I Want It Al (2004)
  • Hell's Winter (Promo) (2005)
  • Hell's Winter LP (2005)
  • Scenester / Left It To Us (2005)
  • Shoot Frank / Days (2005)

[edit] Smut Peddlers

  • One By One / The Hole Repertoire (1997)
  • First Name Smut / For The Record (1999)
  • Talk Like Sex / The Redlight (1999)
  • That Smut / Medicated Minutes (2000)
  • That Smut Pt. 2 (2001)
  • Talk Like Sex Pt. 2 / The Red Light / Anti Hero's (Remix) (2001)
  • Bart Burnt (Remix) / Bart Burnt / Take A Hit (2002)

[edit] Nighthawks

  • Cop Hell / Night Hawks / Come To Daddy (2002)

[edit] DVDs

  • The Home Movies (2003)
  • Hells Winter Tour (2006)

[edit] Appears On

[edit] Trivia

[edit] References

  1. ^ Definitive Jux - Cage Bio
  2. ^ PopMatters Music Interview | To Hell and Back: An Interview with Cage
  3. ^ Vanity fair article
  4. ^ http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q227/wmprez/SPINSHIACAGE-1.jpg

[edit] External links


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