Deacon the Villain | |
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Birth name | Willis Garnett Polk II [1] |
Also known as | Deacon Da Villain |
Born | May 21, 1979 |
Origin | Versailles, Kentucky |
Genres | |
Occupations | |
Years active | 2000-present |
Labels |
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Willis Garnett Polk II, better known by his stage name Deacon the Villain, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer from Versailles, Kentucky. [2] [3] He is a founding member of the hip hop group CunninLynguists. [4] Deacon has produced for the likes of KRS-One, [5] King Tee, and J-Ro from Tha Liks, among others. Deacon the Villain has been featured in notable journalism sources such as XXL, [6] Pop Matters, [7] HipHopDX, [8] and Exclaim!, [9] among others.
Deacon is a lifelong friend of the activist Shaun King; they both attended Woodford County High School in Versailles, Kentucky, and were roommates at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. [10] [11] [12]
In 1999, Deacon the Villain and Kno met at Club Kaya in Atlanta, Georgia at an event for the now defunct Blaze Magazine that included various members of Atlanta's own Dungeon Family. [13] They had talked online previously through an emcee named Jugga the Bully, who appeared at an open mic called Underground Live at Morehouse college campus, which was held by Deacon. [14] At the time, Kno was in the group The Continuum, and Deacon was in the group ILLSTAR. [15] Afterwards, the two disbanded from their former groups and created CunninLynguists. The two also founded a production duo named A Piece Of Strange.
Around 2004, Deacon formed the group Kynfolk with Natti. The two got along so well that Deacon and Kno invited Natti to join CunninLynguists. [16]
Deacon released his first full-length project not in CunninLynguists with JustMe, named Tragedy & Dope. [17] The same year, he released Niggaz With Latitude(N.W.L.) with Sheisty Khrist, another Kentucky emcee. [18]
In 2015, he released his first solo album Peace or Power. [19] The album is self-produced and guest appearances include Tonedeff, Kno and Homeboy Sandman, among others. [20]
Willis Polk II's hip hop alias comes from the fact that his father is a Christian Pastor. Growing up, he was raised in a baptist family and has stayed Christian. Members of his family have featured on multiple albums of his, such as his mother singing on A Piece of Strange or various family members providing vocals for his first solo album in 2015, Peace or Power. [21] [22]
Studio albums
Collaborative albums
Guest appearances
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