BACKGROUND

Growing up in the Englewood neighborhod on the southside of Chicago Joseph "Drunken Monkeee" Bard at times felt he was different from the other kids. "But I wasn't. I came from a musical family and music was a big part of our daily lives." This dominant musical influence set him apart. One of his Aunts sang backup for the Emotions, Roy Ayers, and other popular artists of the time. Joseph felt like the music kept his otherwise dyfunctional family functioning. Joseph played sports like any other kid, but he had decided early that he wanted to be a rapper. As a child he could always be found performing and acting for others, imitating all of the popular comedians of that time. By the time he made it to his senior year in high school Joseph had joined an African dance class through which he was able to travel to different schools all over Illinois and he became hooked to the stage. "I knew I was destined to be something, I just didn't know what that was yet."  

EARLY CAREER

Graduating high school in 1998, Joseph went on to discover the hip hop scene at Triton College. This was a musical and cultural haven and he was introduced to sounds he hadn't heard while in Englewood. The freestyle ciphers in the lunchroom were mesmerizing. It was around this time that Joseph took on the stage name Drunken Monkeee and formed Underground Noise Intelligence (UNI) with his friends Three-Sixty, Pyro, Isis, Fatal Verses, Paradox, Whatnot, and Queen Theory. UNI created and hosted The Underground, known to some as the Lyricist Lounge of Chicago. Together they hosted celebrities such as a young upcoming Erykah Badu, Malcolm Jamal Warner and Fred Hampton Jr. The crew really built a name for themselves over the next three years. Around 2003, after the birth of his pride and joy, Joseph's daughter Harmoni, he left UNI and went solo. A nomad travelling to open mics, hip hop poetry sets and the like. This is when he met Ill Legit and started working with him on The High Channel while finishing up his first solo project Pickles Rolled in Blunts. 

AFFILATIONS/PERFORMANCES

Drunken Monkeee has opened up for Erykah Badu, Slum Village, Redman & Method Man, Dwele, Fabolous, Kidz in the Hall, The Cool Kids, and even hosted a venue with Mike Jones. People have likened Drunken Monkeee's sound to that of Gnarls Barkley, Busta Rhymes, Redman, and Ol' Dirty Bastard.

CURRENT PROJECTS

The Banana Pudding Treat is Drunken Monkeee's most recently released work, one which has garnered much praise from critics everywhere. He is working on numerous current projects including the creation of the live fusion band Peach Cobbler, the Live from Tweak Central, Global Warning, and Zoobully Zoo mixtapes, the Tweak Central Clothing line, and his next album entitled Stir Fried Potato Chips. Drunk also may have created a few personalities along the way, all with their own musical style and substance. Some of these alter egos include Professor Gorilla Dickens, Johnny Appleseed, Clint Englewood, and NoSense Peterson, just to name a few. With all the energies created, there is definitely something for everyone, a notion that Tweak Central Artists stand behind proudly.