Biography
Although not a major figure within hip-hop, Asian-American rapper Pete Miser has earned positive critical notice and built a modest but devoted following. His approach blends jazz textures with alternative rap, drawing frequent comparisons to East Coast acts such as De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr, the Roots, Digable Planets, and the Jungle Brothers. While he avoids the more eccentric edges of the style, his approachable persona, thoughtful lyricism, and preference for jazz-inflected beats have placed him squarely in the alterna-rap lane. Far removed from gangsta themes, Miser steers clear of thug-life narratives and instead gravitates toward what the culture terms the positive tip; nonetheless, his writing engages substantive issues, among them racism, nuclear weapons, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Born Peter Ho on February 3, 1971, in Portland, OR, Miser spent his formative years in the Pacific Northwest rather than on the East Coast. There he fronted and oversaw the alternative rap collective Five Fingers of Funk throughout the 1990s; the group’s name, a nod to the 1973 martial-arts film Five Fingers of Death, playfully highlighted his Asian heritage. During that decade he also launched his own imprint, Ho-Made Media, which issued the band’s recordings as well as his debut solo project, the 1996 album What It Be. Combined sales of those Five Fingers of Funk releases and What It Be surpassed 20,000 units—modest compared with the platinum achievements of Snoop Doggy Dogg and Jay-Z, yet sufficient to establish a foothold in the alterna-rap underground.
After six years with the group, Miser relocated to New York City and made his home in Brooklyn. While based in the borough, he joined Dido’s band as a DJ in the early 2000s and accompanied the British trip-hop artist on an international tour. In 2002 he issued his follow-up album, Radio Free Brooklyn, through Ho-Made Media.
Born Peter Ho on February 3, 1971, in Portland, OR, Miser spent his formative years in the Pacific Northwest rather than on the East Coast. There he fronted and oversaw the alternative rap collective Five Fingers of Funk throughout the 1990s; the group’s name, a nod to the 1973 martial-arts film Five Fingers of Death, playfully highlighted his Asian heritage. During that decade he also launched his own imprint, Ho-Made Media, which issued the band’s recordings as well as his debut solo project, the 1996 album What It Be. Combined sales of those Five Fingers of Funk releases and What It Be surpassed 20,000 units—modest compared with the platinum achievements of Snoop Doggy Dogg and Jay-Z, yet sufficient to establish a foothold in the alterna-rap underground.
After six years with the group, Miser relocated to New York City and made his home in Brooklyn. While based in the borough, he joined Dido’s band as a DJ in the early 2000s and accompanied the British trip-hop artist on an international tour. In 2002 he issued his follow-up album, Radio Free Brooklyn, through Ho-Made Media.
Albums
