The double K, half of the Los Angeles rap duo People Under the Stairs, is dead. According to the Los Angeles County coroner, Double K died yesterday (January 30) at his home. DJ Mark Luv, a friend, claimed he died asleep. A cause of death has not yet been revealed. He was 43 years old.
Double K and Thes One formed People Under the Stairs in 1997. Their long collaboration was based on DIY principles as, as producers and MCs, they tried, produced and disguised all of their music. In 1998, the duo released their full-length debut The next step, Followed by Question in the form of an answer in 2000. OST, his most beloved LP, arrived in 2002.
People Under the Stairs continued to release records and tours frequently throughout his 22-year career. In 2011, Mac Miller took them on tour as openers. The duo also released a steady stream of records until their dissolution in 2019, their 12th and final album being titled Sincereley, The P. Before releasing their farewell album, the duo played their latest show at London’s Jazz Cafe in 2018.
In 2019 they spoke with Double K and Thes One The Los Angeles Times about his legacy and the decision to make Sincereley, The P his latest album. Thes One referred to the article as the duo’s “exit interview,” and the two artists reflected on the two more decades they created music together. “Where I grew up, there was the negative and I had the positive, which was my music,” Double K. said. “I was surrounded by negativity, the things that happened on the streets, the things that I thought I wanted to be a part of. I decided this was more important. I just went out to my room, listening to music, and then I met this guy and he had someone else with whom to listen to music. “