Rob Sonic

Rob Sonic
Birth name	Rob Smith
Born	Washington, D.C., United States
Origin	Bronx, New York City, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, producer
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Definitive Jux
Associated acts	Sonic Sum, Hail Mary Mallon
Website	RobSonic.com

Rob Sonic is a hip hop artist from The Bronx, born in Washington DC. As a child growing up, he devoted himself to many styles of music and was a follower of artists such as The Beatles, Run DMC, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, Led Zeppelin, Public Enemy, Muddy Waters, Ultramagnetic MC's, The Clash among many others.

In 2000, Rob gained critical acclaim as the front man of the group Sonic Sum, whose album The Sanity Annex won rave reviews in the U.S., Europe and Japan, with Spin voting it the “2nd Best Album of the Year that No One Heard”.

Word got around and soon came offers from artists like DJ Krush and Funkstörung to work with them on their albums, a collaboration with Slug (from Atmosphere) and Mike Ladd, plus shout outs from Radiohead, Bobbito Garcia, Autechre and others.

During 2003, he signed to Definitive Jux after he and label head El-P realised they shared the same management, and released his first solo album, Telicatessen, on the label in 2004 along with his sequel album Sabotage Gigante in 2007. The track "Sniper Picnic" from Telicatessen was featured in the Activision game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. Also, his song "Brand New Vandals" was featured in the game "Skate 3". He appears on the tracks "Dark Heart News" and "The Harbor Is Yours" from Def Jux labelmate Aesop Rock's 2007 album None Shall Pass.

In 2011, Sonic released an album with Aesop Rock and DJ Big Wiz under the alias Hail Mary Mallon named Are You Gonna Eat That?. The album was released with Rhymesayers Entertainment.

Albums

• Telicatessen (2004)
• Telicatessen Instrumentals (2005)
• Sabotage Gigante (2007)
• Are You Gonna Eat That? (2011) (with Aesop Rock and DJ Big Wiz as Hail Mary Mallon)

Singles

• Death Vendor b/w Dyslexia (2004)
• Shoplift (2004)
• Fatman & Littleboy b/w The Over Under (2006)
• Rock The Convoy (2007)

Guest appearances

• "F.U. For Failure Ugly" - from Def Jux Presents 2 compilation (Definitive Jux, 2002)
• "Truancy" - from Fantastic Damage by El-P (Definitive Jux, 2002)
• "Dyslexia" - from Def Jux Presents 3 compilation (Definitive Jux, 2004)
• "One Night At The Bar" (with Camu Tao, Cryptic One, El-P, Murs) - from "The Barhoppin Single" by Hangar 18 (Definitive Jux, 2004)
• "Walk Through" - from Year of the Beast by C-Rayz Walz (Definitive Jux, 2005)
• "Long Division" - from A Heap of Broken Images by Blue Sky Black Death (Mush Records, 2006)
• "Flyentology" (with Trent Reznor) - from I'll Sleep When You're Dead by El-P (Definitive Jux, 2007)
• "Dark Heart News" - from None Shall Pass by Aesop Rock (Definitive Jux, 2007)

Production credits

• "Winners Take All" - Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives by Aesop Rock (Definitive Jux, 2005)
• "New Vandals" - from Definitive Swim (Adult Swim/Definitive Jux, 2007)
• "Dark Heart News" - from None Shall Pass by Aesop Rock (Definitive Jux, 2007)

External links

• SuicideGirls Interview with Rob Sonic