New York City
Elmhurst-raised rapper who built a career from underground radio to Stones Throw and Mello Music Group.
Angel Del Villar (born September 24, 1980), known as Homeboy Sandman, is an American rapper from Elmhurst, Queens in New York. His career began with the release of his first EP, Nourishment, in March 2007, followed by his debut album Nourishment in 2007. By early 2008, his work was featured on underground radio programs including the Squeeze Radio Show on WKCR 89.9 FM and the Halftime Radio Program on WNYU 89.1 FM in Midtown Manhattan.
- Realm
- Mortal World (Earth)
- Region
- North America
- Status
- Active
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Homeboy Sandman's second album, Actual Factual Pterodactyl, released in 2010, was commended in XXL's Chairman's Choice column, which said his 'sharp lyrics and irresistibly melodic flow... form an elastic instrument few MCs can match.' The album received critical acclaim in Blender magazine, Beyond Race magazine, Okayplayer.com and MSN.com. His music received rotation on Power 105.1 FM and Hot 97.1 FM, as well as airplay on Spitkicker Radio (Channel 65 on XM Satellite Radio), DJ Premier's 'Live From HeadQCourterz' on Sirius Satellite Radio, and BBC 1Xtra's Hip Hop M1X hosted by DJ Sarah Love.
In Their Own Story
From January 2008 to August 2009, Homeboy Sandman hosted 'All That! Hip Hop, Poetry and Jazz' at the Nuyorican Poets Café in Manhattan, New York City's longest-running open mic session originally hosted by hip-hop icon Bobbito García. He performed at major festivals including South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, Rock the Bells in Queens, the A3C Hip Hop Festival in Atlanta, and New York City's CMJ Music Marathon. He created the YouTube video series 'Homeboy Sandman presents Live From...' featuring interviews with performers at his shows.
Reader's Guide
In August 2011, Homeboy Sandman signed with Stones Throw Records of Los Angeles, releasing Subject: Matter EP on January 24, 2012, followed by Chimera in April 2012, and his debut full-length LP with Stones Throw, First of a Living Breed, on September 18, 2012. In 2019, he signed with Mello Music Group and released 'Dusty' on October 18, 2019, produced by Mono En Stereo. Paul Simpson of AllMusic wrote that Mono En Stereo's soundscape of 'laid-back, ambling jazz and funk grooves' complimented Sandman's 'conversational, matter-of-fact rhymes.' His 2020 album 'Don't Feed The Monster,' produced by Quelle Chris, was listed in NPR's top 50 albums of 2020.
Did You Know?
- Homeboy Sandman's track 'Gun Control,' created for the Loud.com challenge, was cited as one of the Top 25 Songs of 2009 by Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg.
- In the wake of the Donald Sterling scandal, Homeboy Sandman wrote an op-ed for Gawker called 'Black People are Cowards' that attracted more than 1.3 million views in its first seven days.
- At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Homeboy Sandman's song 'The Carpenter' was used during the women's breaking finals in the Japan vs. Netherlands battle.
- Homeboy Sandman received a UK Music Video award for 'Monument' (directed by Pavel Buryak) in 2021 and won Best Foreign Documentary at the Rome Film Awards 2022 for 'Don't Look Down Video' (directed by Robert Mayer).
- Doja Cat said that Homeboy Sandman is 'one of my favorite rappers' on an Instagram live at the end of 2021.
More in The Dreaming & Realms
Elsewhere in the The Sandman universe
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