New York-based spoken-word artist and hip-hop producer Mike Ladd, the brain behind the fictitious collectives Majesticons and Infesticons, focused on sculpting a musical background to his poetry than in beats and rhymes on Easy Listening 4 Armageddon (1997) and especially Welcome to the Afterfuture (1999).

After EP Vernacular Homicide (Ozone, 2001), Nostalgialator (K7, 2004), the first album credited simply to his name, was a humbler effort that seemed to pay tribute to the sounds of his childhood.

Negrophilia: The Album (Thirsty Ear, 2005) is a collaboration with pianist Vijay Iyer and drummer Guillermo Brown (plus horns and electronics).

Father Divine (ROIR, 2005) was a repetition of his themes.