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Cage Kennylz
Cage Kennylz as Sam Hill
Background information
Birth name	Chris Palko
Also known as	Cage Kennylz, Alex, Sam Hill, Alex The Worm King
Born	1973 (age 39–40) Würzburg, Germany
Origin	Middletown, Orange County, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Definitive Jux, Eastern Conference, Fondle 'Em, Columbia
Associated acts	The Weathermen, Smut Peddlers, Leak Bros., Nighthawks, Two of Every Animal, Kid Cudi, El-P, Aesop Rock, Necro, Hatebreed, The High & Mighty
Website	www.chrispalko.com

Chris Palko (born 1973), better known by his stage name Cage, is an American rapper. He has released three studio albums and two extended plays. Cage is also the founder of the underground hip-hop supergroup called the Weathermen.

Early life [edit]

Palko was born in Würzburg, Germany to American parents. His father was stationed on a West German military base as a member of the military police.^[1] Palko lived there until the age of four when his father was dishonorably discharged for selling and using heroin, and the family was sent back to the United States where they lived in Middletown, New York. His father would often force Palko to pull homemade tourniquets around his arm as he injected heroin. At the age of eight, Palko's father was arrested during a standoff with state troopers after threatening his family with a shotgun.^[2][3] By the time Palko was expelled from high school, his mother had remarried twice, and he was beaten by his stepfather Frank. Palko began using PCP, cocaine, LSD, cannabis and alcohol, and was sent to live with his uncle on a German military base, where he was beaten and sent home after a year.^[3]

Palko was arrested several times for drug possession and fighting in the streets. When he faced jail time for violating probation, his mother convinced the judge that he was mentally unstable, and he was sent to the Stony Lodge psychiatric hospital for a two week evaluation. He stayed in the hospital for eighteen months, where he was a part of a small group used to test fluoxetine.^[3][4] After being misdiagnosed and placed on the drug, he became suicidal and made several attempts to kill himself, including hanging himself with his shoelaces and saving his lithium dose for a month before ingesting all of them at once.^[2][3]

Career [edit]

Early career [edit]

When Palko was released at the age of eighteen, he pursued a career as a rapper, naming himself "Alex", after the protagonist of Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange.^[1] After hiring a manager and recording a demo, he was introduced to rapper Pete Nice, and Cage was featured on the 1993 album Dust to Dust. Pete Nice also introduced Palko to radio personality Bobbito García, who featured Palko on his program several times, increasing his reputation amongst New York's underground hip hop scene, where he became associated with KMD, Kurious Jorge, K-Solo, Godfather Don, Necro, Artifacts, Pharoahe Monch and El-P. Palko signed with Columbia Records, but frequently recorded while intoxicated, and the label found his efforts to be unsatisfactory.^[2] Palko briefly put his career on hold and his drug use increased.^[3]

When García founded the label Fondle 'Em Records, he offered Palko a record deal, and Cage released a single featuring the songs "Radiohead" and "Agent Orange" in 1997 to success and acclaim.^[1] Following the release of The Slim Shady EP, Palko accused Eminem of imitating his style, however in the single Role Model Eminem ironically jests that he rapped over a Cage mixtape.^[5][6] After several more singles with Fondle 'Em, Palko met Mr. Eon and DJ Mighty Mi of The High & Mighty, and the trio formed the group Smut Peddlers, releasing the album Porn Again on Rawkus Records. The album peaked at #10 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, #43 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and #184 on the Billboard 200, while its single "That Smut" peaked at #9 on the Hot Rap Singles chart and #96 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.^[7]

Eastern Conference, Definitive Jux [edit]

Palko signed with Eastern Conference Records, releasing his debut album, Movies for the Blind, on August 6, 2002. It peaked at #12 on the Heatseekers chart, #14 on the Top Independent Albums chart, #58 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and #193 on the Billboard 200.^[8] Palko later stated that the album "sort of glorified drugs" and that he felt the album was "crazy for the sake of being crazy [...] .^[9] During this period, Palko formed the group The Weathermen, named after the left-wing political organization.^[4] The group released their debut album, "The Conspiracy" on June 3, 2003 before Palko left Eastern Conference over alleged non-payment.^[3] An extended play, Weatherproof, was released on July 29, 2003.

Because Palko felt that he should no longer play a character, he began to take on a more open writing style,^[3] and signed with Definitive Jux, where he released his second studio album, Hell's Winter on September 20, 2005. Palko is quoted as saying "I make progressive rap, it's as simple as that. [...] I don't live for drugs anymore, I don't support them, and I'm not about to make a million songs about them anymore."^[9] Hell's Winter peaked at #26 on the Top Heatseekers chart and at #36 on the Top Independent Albums chart.^[10] In July 2009, Palko released his third studio solo album, Depart from Me, which was characterized as having a rap rock sound by Cage.^[11]

In an interview with actor Shia LaBeouf for Vanity Fair, LaBeouf expressed interest in starring as Palko in a possible film biography.^[12] On November 30, 2007, Spin reported that the film would go into production.^[13] LaBeouf directed the music video for the track "I Never Knew You" from Palko's Depart from Me album. He also directed Palko, along with Kid Cudi, in a short horror film entitled "Maniac", inspired by the Cudi-Cage collaboration track of the same name on Cudi's sophomore album Man On The Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager.

Despite previously falling out with The High & Mighty, Palko announced in 2012 he would reunite with producer DJ Mighty Mi to release a single called "The Void",^[14][15] which was released on April 3, 2012 on Tribute Records.^[16] Palko has also recently started a new project with Sean Martin that is called We Sold our Souls. They released their first song Super Baked in March 2012.^[17] Cage also goes by the name Sam Hill, according to his Bandcamp page, and Facebook page.^[18][19]

Discography [edit]

• For Your Box (1999)
• Movies for the Blind (2002)
• Hell's Winter (2005)
• Depart from Me (2009)
• Kill The Architect (2013)^[20]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official website
• Cage (Sam Hill) on Twitter
• Cage's channel on YouTube