BIOGRAPHY

Lateef the Truthspeaker is a Grammy nominated MC who is most well known for his role as 1/5 of the Bay Area rap collective, Quannum Projects. Originally dubbed ‘Solesides’, he and partners DJ Shadow, The Gift of Gab, Chief Xcel & Lyrics Born helped usher in the “Underground” era of Hip-Hop in the early to mid-90’s and has established himself as not only a prolific solo artist, but also as a member of some of the most eclectic and superstar groups to come out of the Bay Area including Latyrx (w/ Lyrics Born), Maroons (w/ Chief Xcel), The Mighty Underdogs (w/ The Gift of Gab & Headnodic), and Roots & Tings (w/ Winstrong & Jah Yzer).

Lateef (born Lateef Daumont) was raised in Oakland, CA by former Black Panthers. Growing up in a politically charged household set the stage for an MC who has gone on to be as politically outspoken as he is creative. Writing rhymes as early as 13, Lateef honed his craft from his early years in high school all the way through his attendance at UC Davis – where he met his aforementioned Quannum cohorts.

Since writing classic tracks such as “Lady Don’t Tek No” (a Bay Area anthem penned with fellow Latyrx member Lyrics Born), “Want You Back” (The Mighty Underdogs) and “Wonderful Night” (a collaboration with Fatboy Slim) Lateef has gone on to cement himself in the world music scene through frequent collaborations with Blackalicious, DJ Shadow and the aforementioned Fatboy Slim as well as a diverse catalog of material which includes 6 albums, 3 EPs, 5 Mixtapes and countless features.

Lateef and Latyrx partner Lyrics Born released The Second Album (the long-awaited follow-up to the first Latyrx album from 1997) which saw him on the road in support of the highly anticipated sequel as well as touring extensively with Blackalicious - which led to a number of shows featuring himself, The Gift of Gab & Lyrics Born officially under the moniker Quannum MCs for the first time in a long time, prior to the Gift of Gab’s recent passing.

In 2020 Lateef teamed up with long time collaborator and Reggae vocalist Winstrong, along with All-Star Reggae DJ Jah Yzer to release a new HipHop/Reggae/Dancehall/Afrobeats project called Roots & Tings and released their debut album, All Of This. The politically charged music was featured on several benefit projects as well, including one for Rock The Vote, and another for the Movement For Black Lives.

The pandemic brought about a number of new endeavors as Lateef- together with other upstanding citizens in entertainment and non-profit spaces- launched the vaccine informational community initiative Vaxx Facts which aimed to tie local Black and Brown doctors to local communities of color. Events were held to foster this communication with the help of partners including the Alameda County Public Health Department, Together Towards Health, Oakland Public Schools (Fremont High), Oakland Roots FC, Umoja Health, Oakland Roots Community Clinic,The Native American Health Center, Live FREE, Levis, and others.

Lateef has gone on to help curate and consult other events with a split focus on both art and social responsibility, including the Urban Peace Movement’s hugely successful Town Up Tuesday, a voter registration event at Lake Merrit which engaged over 2000 Black and Brown youth, politically.

Lateef is currently working on new ways to contribute and build more communal power, locally, using primarily culture and art. Creatively, he is working on a new album entitled Experimental Slap with Nick Andre as well as a second Roots & Tings LP entitled Timebomb, and a new entity including Herve of General Elektriks and Leeroy (formally of Saian Supa Crew).

There are also rumors of recording with Chief Xcel.

You can connect with him on Twitter (@TruthspeakerHQ), Facebook (facebook.com/lateefthetruthspeaker) and Instagram (instagram.com/truthspeaker) and his official website www.lateefthetruthspeaker.com.

Photographer: Mark Austin Heim