Real name: Christopher Tafoya

Effective period / Period of releases: 2002 - 2009

A master tactician. That is Sleep in a nutshell. Admittedly addicted to writing lyrics by the time he'd reached just the 2nd grade, this founding member of The Northwest's oldominion crew began forging the unique style that has become his calling card in hip hop at a very young age.

Citing such influences as Black Sheep, Cypress Hill, Hieroglyphics and early on, Run DMC, Sleep points out that it's the music of his own family that has driven him most. His father, (a former bass player for blues legend Gatemouth Brown) grew up playing everything from Mariachi to Blues to Rock with his 7 other musical brothers while his Grandfather had already made a name for himself as a multi-instrumentalist, playing Trombone, Sax and Upright Bass.