Kelvin Mercer

Kelvin Mercer

Kelvin Mercer (born August 17, 1969, The Bronx, New York) is a rapper, producer, and one-third of the hip hop trio, De La Soul. He is known more famously by his alias Posdnuos, or simply Pos. He was born in the Bronx, New York and grew up in East Massapequa, New York.

Mercer and David Jude Jolicoeur were childhood friends. They met Vincent Mason in the early 1980s while attending Amityville High School in Long Island, New York. Mercer's father was a jazz fan.

As a member of De La Soul, Mercer is generally regarded as one of the most consistent and underrated MCs of all time. He has imparted some of his hard-earned experiences in songs such as "Held Down", and "Trying People", from AOI: Bionix. On the latter, he raps: "We were supposed to rid the world of danger / These days we nod heads and small talk like polite strangers / It's natural to fall off, just land close to the tree / I'll be there if they need me to be".

Mercer is also known for his witty, double entendre-laden battle rhymes. "Fuck bein' hard, Posdnous is complicated..." - Pos; Buhloone Mindstate Album 92-93 For example in "Down Syndrome" from 1996's Stakes Is High, he states: "I be a piece of the East Coast, so give a toast to Plug Wonder Why / Back in the day who soaked his words in ginger / So when I ran a phrase in June, you didn't catch it 'til December".

He is a member of the Spitkicker collective.

He recently appeared on Jake One's White Van Music, on the track "Oh Really" with Slug of Atmosphere, and he has also appeared on Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip's re-release of Thou Shalt Always Kill in 2009.

Aliases

All three members of De La Soul have a variety of known aliases and nicknames used throughout the group's career. The following are the most significant:

• Posdnuos - Pronounced "pas-ta-noos". The name is the combination of the reversed words "Sop," meaning "leftover," and "Sound," a name Mercer went by while acting as a high school DJ.
• Plug One - An early concept for 3 Feet High and Rising involved music being transmitted from Mars by three microphone plugs (each one representing a member of the group). Though this idea was abandoned, the titles "Plug One", "Plug Two" and "Plug Three" still became relevant on the album. Mercer's title of Plug One would eventually evolve into Plug Wonder Why.
• Mercenary - Derived from the last name, "Mercer". This name was given to him by DCQ, brother of Mos Def.