Born in Boston, MA, Michael C. Ladd received his B.A. in Black expatriates in the Nineteenth century from Hampshire College and an M.A. in Poetry from Boston University. He has written and produced six critically acclaimed albums: Easy Listening For Armageddon (Scratchie/Mercury), Welcome to the AfterFuture and Vernacular Homicide (LikeMadd/Ozone) and The Infesticons: Gun Hill Road,The Majesticons: Beauty Party (Big DaDa/Ninja Tune), and In What Language, a collaborative effort with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer. His most recent solo album, Nostalgialator, was released on !K7 Records in summer 2004 to much critical acclaim. February 2005 sees the release of Negrophilia, a electro/hip hop/jazz confabulation on Thirsty Ear Records, which will continue to place Mike at the leading edge of progressive urban music. In addition, he is currently recording a dub album for ROIR, a side-project under the name Father Divine, alongside Hi Priest of Anti Pop Consortium, multi-instrumentalist Vijay Iyer and co-producer Raz Mesinai of Badawi fame.
Mike has collaborated with several artists including Company Flow, Saul Williams, MURS, Terranova, Slug (Atmosphere), Cannibal Ox, Roots Manuva, Ultra Living, DJ Mehdi, Ken Ishii, and others plus hasremixed songs for the likes of Yo La Tengo, Anti Pop Consortium and Enrico Macias. He began his musical career in a punk rock band and through the years has fused a combination of genres, from hip hop to spoken word to rock to electronic music, to form his own incredible incarnation of afro punk. First signed to Scratchie/Mercury Records by the Smashing Pumpkins, he has assembled a body of work rare amongst his peers and influenced indie music in ways still yet to be seen. Guided by the voices of Parliament Funkadelic, Charles Stepney, The Bad Brains, Burt Bacharach, Kraftwerk, Bollywood and De La Soul, Mike Ladd exists at the heart of progressive black music today. He has toured extensively for the last 5 years throughout America and Europe and has established a cult following in the process.
As a Fellow at the Institute for Arts and Civic Dialogue at Harvard University, Mike produced and directed Blood Black and Blue, an audio documentary/performance about Black police officers in the United States. Michael recently completed a fellowship at the Asia Society, where he, along with pianist Vijay Iyer, created a musical/theatrical/visual installation entitled “In What Language”, a project about people of color in relation to globalization in the context of airports. They are currently working on a new installation, Still Life with Commentator, which has been commission by the Brooklyn Academy of Music (B.A.M.). He has been published in several literary magazines including Long Shot Review and Bostonia. His work is also featured in the book Swing Low, Black Men Writing and several anthologies, including, Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café, In Defense of Mumia, Bum Rush The Page, Por La Victoire and Everything But the Burden. Mike Ladd lives in Paris.