Cody Chesnutt

BIOGRAPHY

Cody Chesnutt, born Antonious Thomas on October 21, 1968, is an Atlanta-born R&B and neo soul musician whose music fuses rock, funk, soul, hip hop and blues. As a teenager he performed onstage in his hometown before relocating to Los Angeles, where he wrote and produced songs for Death Row Records act Six Feet Deep and fronted the band The Crosswalk during a short-lived deal with Hollywood Records. After that band dissolved, Chesnutt recorded The Headphone Masterpiece (2002), a sprawling 36-song double album cut on a 4-track cassette recorder in his home studio, 'The Sonic Promiseland.' Distributed independently before landing on his own label, it drew strong reviews from Rolling Stone, The A.V. Club and The Village Voice, and its track 'The Seed' became a minor sensation when The Roots reworked it as 'The Seed (2.0),' with Chesnutt himself on guitar and vocals.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Chesnutt's reputation rests on The Headphone Masterpiece, a defiantly homemade, emotionally raw record that critics praised for its restless, genre-blurring sprawl. Rolling Stone called it one of the year's most emotionally raw albums, while Robert Christgau highlighted its abundance of ideas and talent. Its afterlife via The Roots' 'The Seed (2.0)' brought his music to MTV and BET audiences, and his 2003 Shortlist Music Prize nomination and appearance in Dave Chappelle's Block Party further cemented his standing as an unpolished but singular voice in soul and R&B.

GEORGE'S PLAYS

First time on the station.

PLAYED ON WOKE1

• The World Is Coming To My Party1 PLAY