Kelvin Mercer

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Kelvin Mercer

| image = De La Soul - Gods of Rap Tour 2019 - Berlin (39 von 49).jpg

| caption = Mercer at Gods of Rap 2019 in Berlin, Germany

| image_size =

| background = solo_singer

| alias = {{flatlist|

Posdnuos
Mercenary
Plug One
Sop Sound
Plug Wonder Why
Pos

}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|8|17}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/posdnuos-mn0000980320|title=Posdnuos - Album Discography|website=AllMusic|access-date=May 19, 2019}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| genre = East Coast hip hop

| occupation = Rapper, record producer

| years_active = 1988–present{{cite web|author=Greg Tate|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/De-La-Soul|title=De La Soul|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=2019-11-23}}

| label = Tommy Boy, Sanctuary, AOI

| current_member_of = De La Soul

}}

File:De La Soul - Gods of Rap Tour 2019 - Berlin (45 von 49).jpg

Kelvin Mercer (born August 17, 1969), also known by his stage name Posdnuos, Plug 1 and occasionally Pos, is an American rapper and record producer from East Massapequa, New York,{{cite web | url=https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/hip-hop-public-enemy-de-la-soul-fvsg0ybn | title=Strong Island's in the house: When hip-hop ruled LI | date=August 10, 2023 }} best known for his work as one third of the hip hop trio De La Soul. Through his work with the group, Mercer is considered to be one of the most consistent and underrated MCs of all time.{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/2011/09/dj-shadow/|title=DJ Shadow: The Internet Is Not Your Savior|last=DJ Shadow|date=September 23, 2011|access-date=September 23, 2011|publisher=Wired.com}} Beginning with the highly acclaimed 3 Feet High and Rising in 1989, Mercer has gone on to release nine albums with De La Soul.

Cameos and album appearances

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Artist ! Album ! Track ! With
2000 \| Rawkus Records \|Hip Hop for Respect \|One Four Love (Part 1) \| Various Artists
2001 \| Adam F \|Kaos: The Anti-Acoustic Warfare \|Time 4 Da True \|Davie
2002 \| Mint Royale \| Dancehall Places \|Show Me \|
2005 \| Gorillaz \|Demon Days \|Feel Good Inc \|
2006 \| Oh No \|Exodus into Unheard Rhythms \|Smile a Lil Bit \|
rowspan="2"\| 2007 \| LA Symphony \|Unleashed \|Universal \|
DJ Jazzy Jeff \|The Return of the Magnificent \|Let Me Hear U Clap \|
rowspan="2" \| 2008 \| Jake One \|White Van Music \|Oh Really \| Slug of Atmosphere
J-Live \|Then What Happened \|The Upgrade \| Oddisee
rowspan="2" \| 2009 \| Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip \|Thou Shalt Always Kill (single, re-release) \| \|
Master Ace and Edo G \|Arts and Entertainment \|Good Music \|
2010 \| Slum Village \|Villa Manifesto \|Scheming \| Phife Dawg, J Dilla and Vice Verse
rowspan="2" \| 2011 \| DJ Shadow \|The Less You Know, the Better \|Stay the Course \| Talib Kweli
Mac Miller \|Official remix \|Of the Soul \|Raewon
rowspan="4" \| 2013 \| Statik Selektah \|Extended Play \|Game Break \| Lecrae and Termanology
Marco Polo \| PA2: The Director's Cut \|Glory (Finish Hard) \|A.G., Masta Ace and Dion Jenkins
Wrekonize \|The War Within \|Church Road \|
Yancey Boys \|(Illa J and Frank Nitt) Sunset Blvd. \|Beautiful \| Botni Applebum
2014 \| Statik Selektah \|What Goes Around \|God Knows \|Bun B and Jared Evan
rowspan="2" \| 2015 \| Étienne de Crécy \|Super Discount 3 \|WTF \| Dave
Hot Chip \|Why Make Sense? \|Love Is the Future \|
2018 \| The Black Eyed Peas \|Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 \|All Around the World \| Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad
2019 \|Grand Analog \|Mutations \|(single) \|
2020 \| Potatohead People \|Mellow Fantasy \|Baby Got Work \| Kapok
rowspan="4" \| 2022 \| Robert Glasper \|Black Radio III \|Everybody Love \|Musiq Soulchild
Phife Dawg \|Forever \|2 Live Forever \|Little Brother and Darien Brockington
Diamond D \|The Rear View \|Flyin' High \|
Ibrahim Maalouf \|Capacity to Love \|Quiet Culture \|
rowspan="2" \|2023 \|Planet Hemp \|JARDINEIROS: A COLHEITA \|NUNCA TENHA MEDO \|
Statik Selektah \|Round Trip \|Round Trip (for Dave) \|
rowspan="2" \|2024 \|Ana Tijoux \|Vida \|''Tu sae \|Talib Kweli
Common & Pete Rock \|The Auditorium Vol. 1 \|When the Sun Shines Again \|Bilal

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Artist

! Album

! Track

! With

2000

| Rawkus Records

|Hip Hop for Respect

|One Four Love (Part 1)

| Various Artists

2001

| Adam F

|Kaos: The Anti-Acoustic Warfare

|Time 4 Da True

|Davie

2002

| Mint Royale

| Dancehall Places

|Show Me

2005

| Gorillaz

|Demon Days

|Feel Good Inc

2006

| Oh No

|Exodus into Unheard Rhythms

|Smile a Lil Bit

rowspan="2"| 2007

| LA Symphony

|Unleashed

|Universal

DJ Jazzy Jeff

|The Return of the Magnificent

|Let Me Hear U Clap

rowspan="2" | 2008

| Jake One

|White Van Music

|Oh Really

| Slug of Atmosphere

J-Live

|Then What Happened

|The Upgrade

| Oddisee

rowspan="2" | 2009

| Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

|Thou Shalt Always Kill (single, re-release)

Master Ace and Edo G

|Arts and Entertainment

|Good Music

2010

| Slum Village

|Villa Manifesto

|Scheming

| Phife Dawg, J Dilla and Vice Verse

rowspan="2" | 2011

| DJ Shadow

|The Less You Know, the Better

|Stay the Course

| Talib Kweli

Mac Miller

|Official remix

|Of the Soul

|Raewon

rowspan="4" | 2013

| Statik Selektah

|Extended Play

|Game Break

| Lecrae and Termanology

Marco Polo

| PA2: The Director's Cut

|Glory (Finish Hard)

|A.G., Masta Ace and Dion Jenkins

Wrekonize

|The War Within

|Church Road

Yancey Boys

|(Illa J and Frank Nitt) Sunset Blvd.

|Beautiful

| Botni Applebum

2014

| Statik Selektah

|What Goes Around

|God Knows

|Bun B and Jared Evan

rowspan="2" | 2015

| Étienne de Crécy

|Super Discount 3

|WTF

| Dave

Hot Chip

|Why Make Sense?

|Love Is the Future

2018

| The Black Eyed Peas

|Masters of the Sun Vol. 1

|All Around the World

| Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad

2019

|Grand Analog

|Mutations

|(single)

2020

| Potatohead People

|Mellow Fantasy

|Baby Got Work

| Kapok

rowspan="4" | 2022

|Everybody Love

|2 Live Forever

|Little Brother and Darien Brockington

Diamond D

|The Rear View

|Flyin' High

Ibrahim Maalouf

|Capacity to Love

|Quiet Culture

rowspan="2" |2023

|Planet Hemp

|JARDINEIROS: A COLHEITA

|NUNCA TENHA MEDO

Statik Selektah

|Round Trip

|Round Trip (for Dave)

rowspan="2" |2024

|Ana Tijoux

|Vida

|''Tu sae

|Talib Kweli

Common & Pete Rock

|The Auditorium Vol. 1

|When the Sun Shines Again

|Bilal

Aliases

All three members of De La Soul have used a number of aliases. The following are Mercer's most significant:

Posdnuos/Pos – Pronounced "poss-duh-noose" ({{IPAc-en|p|ɒ|s|d|ə|n|u|s}}). The name may be a combination of the reversed words sop, meaning "gift," and sound, a name Mercer went by while acting as a high school DJ.{{Cite news |last=Harrington |first=Richard |date=1989-05-18 |title=DE LA SOUL'S MIND-BENDING RAP |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/05/18/de-la-souls-mind-bending-rap/af8f9493-1894-41e2-88f2-ed2057247d0b/ |access-date=2025-05-19 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} According to some sources, the fact that the words spelled backward are "sounds op [i.e., operative]" is intentional.{{Cite web|url=https://musicbrainz.org/artist/57c44102-301c-43d0-91d6-66d71ffd5376|title=Posdnuos - MusicBrainz|website=musicbrainz.org|access-date=2019-05-19}}
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, which would be shortened to a homophone of the original, Plug Won.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
Mercenary – Derived from the last name, "Mercer". This name was given to him by DCQ, brother of Mos Def.{{Cite web|url=http://www.daveyd.com/delasoulpt1interview.html|title=De La Soul Interview|website=www.daveyd.com|access-date=2019-05-19}}
P-Pain – Caricature of the rapper T-Pain. He uses this alias in the song "Supervillainz" by DOOM.