Homeboy Sandman recorded and released his first EP, Nourishment, in March 2007. His debut album, entitled Nourishment (Second Helpings), was released in August 2007. In early 2008, Homeboy Sandman's work began to be featured on underground radio programs the Squeeze Radio Show on WKCR 89.9 FM and the Halftime Radio Program on WNYU 89.1 FM in New York. In June 2008, he was featured in Source Magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column.
His second album, Actual Factual Pterodactyl was acclaimed upon its release in August 2008. The album received an entry in XXL's Chairman's Choice column, which praised Homeboy Sandman's "sharp lyrics and irresistibly melodic flow, which, together, form an elastic instrument few MCs can match." Actual Factual Pterodactyl received critical acclaim in a multitude of other print and online publications, including Blender Magazine, Beyond Race Magazine, Okayplayer.com and MSN.com. At the end of 2008, Homeboy Sandman was named "Best Hip Hop Act in NYC 2008" by New York Press. Recently his music has received rotation on NYC's Power 105.1 FM and Hot 97.1 FM, the city's #1 Hip Hop and R&B radio station, as well as airplay on Spitkicker Radio (Channel 65 on XM Satellite Radio), DJ Premier's "Live From HeadQCourterz" (Sirius Satellite Radio's #1 ranked Hip Hop show) and BBC 1Xtra's Hip Hop M1X (Hosted by DJ Sarah Love).
In addition to his studio releases, Homeboy Sandman has garnered attention for his live performances. From January 2008 to August 2009, Homeboy Sandman served as the host of “ALL THAT! Hip Hop, Poetry and Jazz” at the Nuyorican Poets Café, New York City's longest running open mic session (originally hosted by Hip Hop icon Bobbito García). He has performed at the biggest hip hop shows around the country, including the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival in Brooklyn, New York, the Rock the Bells hip hop festival in Long Island, New York, the A3C Hip Hop Festival in Atlanta, Georgia and New York City's CMJ Music Marathon. Homeboy Sandman has recorded video interviews with other performers at his live shows, which are captured in his YouTube video series "Homeboy Sandman presents Live From...".
In addition to his own releases, Homeboy Sandman has appeared on records by other artists, frequently with members of the AOK Collective, with whom he is affiliated. He recently appeared on Fresh Daily's 2009 album The Gorgeous Killer: In Crimes of Passion and the 2008 album For Your Consideration released by P.SO (formerly P. Casso). Homeboy Sandman collaborated with both Fresh Daily and P.SO for the song "Get On Down," which is featured on Sonic Smash, the album released in 2009 by music producer DJ Spinna.[8] Homeboy Sandman has also laid down tracks for a series of features with RIDES Magazine. The track that Homeboy Sandman created for the Loud.com challenge, "Gun Control," was cited as one of the Top 25 Songs of 2009 by Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg.
On June 1, 2010, Homeboy Sandman released his third album, The Good Sun, which features production from 2 Hungry Bros, Ski Beats, Thievin' Stephen, DJ Spinna, Psycho Les (The Beatnuts) and Core Rhythm, among others. The first single from The Good Sun was "Angels with Dirty Faces," produced by J57. In September 2010, Homeboy Sandman released his first official video for The Good Sun for the track, "The Essence".
In late 2010, Homeboy Sandman was featured as the coach in an episode of MTV's Made, which premiered in October 2010.
In August 2011, Homeboy Sandman signed with Stones Throw Records and released his debut project, Subject: Matter EP, with the California-based record label on January 24, 2012. Homeboy Sandman released his second EP with Stones Throw Records, titled Chimera in April 2012 and on September 18, 2012, released his debut full-length LP with Stones Throw entitled First of a Living Breed. The album featured production from Oddisee, J57, 6th Sense, RTNC and long-time production partners 2 Hungry Bros., along with label mates Jonwayne and Oh No, amongst others.
In 2014, Homeboy Sandman released the EP, White Sands, which was produced by Paul White. Nate Patrin of Pitchfork commented that the producer and rapper had "a mutually beneficial set of styles" in a positive review. In that year, Homeboy Sandman released the album, Hallways.
In the wake of the Donald Sterling scandal, Homeboy Sandman wrote for Gawker an op-ed called "Black People are Cowards," which attracted more than 1.3 million views in the first seven days of its publication.
In 2015, Homeboy Sandman released a collaborative EP with Aesop Rock, titled Lice. In 2016, he released the album, Kindness for Weakness, which included Edan-produced "Talking (Bleep)". In that year, he released a collaborative EP with Aesop Rock, titled Lice Two: Still Buggin'.
In 2019, Homeboy Sandman announced he had signed a new deal with Mello Music Group and released the new single "West Coast" produced by Aesop Rock to celebrate the new label signing.
Homeboy Sandman's first album on Mello Music Group, “Dusty,” was released on October 18, 2019. Production was handled entirely by Mono En Stereo. Dusty garnered positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic writer Paul Simpson praised Mono En Stereo's soundscape of "laid-back, ambling jazz and funk grooves" for complimenting Sandman's "conversational, matter-of-fact rhymes" throughout the album, concluding that "Dusty is another winning set of pointed observations from Sandman, who effortlessly unloads his thoughts without seeming like a burden on the listener."
Homeboy Sandman followed up “Dusty” with his 2020 album “Don’t Feed The Monster” produced by Quelle Chris. “Don’t Feed The Monster” was listed in NPR's top 50 albums of 2020. Homeboy Sandman would later receive a pair of awards for music videos that accompanied the album. He received a UK Music Video award for “Monument” (directed by Pavel Buryak) in 2021 and later won Best Foreign Documentary at Rome Film Awards 2022 for Don’t Look Down Video (directed by Robert Mayer aka Photo Rob).
At the beginning of 2021, Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman released their single “Ask Anyone,” which was featured on FIFA 21 soundtrack. Following the release Homeboy Sandman announced his EP Anjelitu which was produced entirely by Aesop Rock. Released in August 2021, Anjelitu marked Homeboy Sandman's third studio project on Mello Music Group. Okayplayer highlighted Anjelitu as one of the best Hip-Hop projects of 2021. Pete Rock would later give praise to “Go Hard” from Anjelitu. At the end of 2021, Homeboy Sandman garnered unexpected attention after Doja Cat saluted the emcee as “One of my favorite rappers” on Instagram live.
Homeboy Sandman's tenth studio album, There in Spirit, was released on February 25, 2022. That same year, he released the mixtape I Can't Sell These for free on Bandcamp, due in part to an inability to clear the various samples used in the music. Music critic Robert Christgau soon hailed it as "the finest album of one of hip-hop's most prolific careers", giving it an "A" grade.
Homeboy Sandman revitalized his acclaimed Anjelitu EP, by releasing the Anjelitu Deluxe which included two new tracks as well as Aesop Rock's instrumentals from the project. In 2022, Rhymesayers released all three of Homeboy Sandman and Aesop Rock's Lice albums on digital streaming platforms. Homeboy Sandman's Deca-produced eleventh studio album “Still Champion” was released on November 11, 2022, following the pair's 19-stop co-headlining tour. “Still Champion” reached #24 on the iTunes Hip-Hop charts and Riff Magazine included the project in their top 20 Hip-Hop albums of 2022.
Homeboy Sandman collaborated with Oakland-based nonprofit organization Oakstop Alliance on the album “Royalty Summit,” released on December 23, 2022. Royalty Summit is the debut release from Oakstop Alliance’s Oakland Resident music initiative. Homeboy Sandman was planning the west coast run for his There In Spirit Tour when longtime friend and Oakstop Alliance Executive Director Damon Johnson pitched him with the concept. The 12-track album was recorded over 3 days in Oakland as a residency collaboration between Homeboy Sandman, and over 20 Oakland musical artists and professionals. On Christmas Day in 2022, Homeboy Sandman announced the debut full-length release for his label Dirty Looks, titled “12 Days of Christmas & Dia De Los Reyes.” Homeboy Sandman rolled out one song from the project each day until the full album’s release on January 6, 2023.
In August 2023, Homeboy Sandman connected with New York beatmaker Mono En Stereo–whom the emcee collaborated with on past albums Kool Herc: Fertile Crescent and Dusty–for his studio album “Rich” released via Dirty Looks. The album garnered critical attention from Pitchfork, Vibe Magazine, HipHopDX, and more. Homeboy Sandman later released "I Can't Sell These Either" in November 2023, continuing the "I Can't Sell These" mixtape series started in 2022.
Picture on the Wall
Homeboy Sandman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
She don't love me 'cause I drive in a drop top mercedes
Any time I feel like taking a break, ain't nothing to her
Each and every time she step in the place, I wanna do her
When I go outta my way, she's always worth it
Ain't a single thing about her I'd change
She's simply perfect
Any time I go without her I last for just a while
Don't sweat us 'bout pda, that's just the way we act
See my babygirl is a genuine nymphomaniac
And prettier than girls that I grew up watching on mtv
And hungry for my nut and won't finish until she empty me
Ain't no arguments or debating
Later to the haters my baby is just the greatest
The greatest at making playlists
Or taking it in the anus
And never be actin heinous
Or going on no hiatus nope
She's the baddest girl ever
Baby feet are the prettiest feet
Tastiest treat
I got your picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
I love my cutie and oh my the bootie
Way more juicier than juicy fruit, making porno movies
Is what we mostly be doing for exercise and enjoyment
Since neither of us don't have no sort of regular employment
She the coolest and never cause me stress
When I'm rocking she's the loudest member of the audience
She'll be my baby until I am a cadaver
The first time that I saw her I knew that I had to have her
She loves me even tho I'm bald
Us two are the truest love that you ever saw
Ain't no fronting or facades
Together there ain't a problem we couldn't solve
And so I always keep her close
In the throws of passion I co be catching the holy ghost
I be out crusading but can't be waiting for getting home
I be farting she don't be departing even tho it's gross
She the best babygirl
She the best in the borough
She the best in the world
I got your picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
We sleep naked we sleep close
We have nothing in common wit none of these folks
Always fighting and always trying to cut each other down
And dissing, in fact I miss her whenever she's not around
Which isn't much
She make me breakfast and dinner she make me lunch
Sometimes she be a klutz
But it don't make no difference 'cause I'm addicted to her touch
My baby be the softest sweetest
I can't wait to squeeze it and eat it believe it
All she gets is special treatment
I make records but she's my greatest achievement
She got a zillion different pet names
She stimulate both my right and left brain
She see inside me like a x-ray
Way more magic than I could ever explain
Baby
You drive me crazy
You saved me
I got your picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
Picture hanging on the wall
In "Picture on the Wall," Homeboy Sandman expresses his deep love and admiration for his partner, emphasizing that their connection surpasses superficial materialistic standards. He begins by stating that he loves his partner unconditionally, without any doubts or hesitations. He acknowledges that she does not love him because of his car or status, which shows that their relationship is built on genuine affection rather than external factors.
The lyrics also highlight his dedication to their relationship. Sandman mentions that he is willing to go to great lengths to make his partner happy, emphasizing that there is nothing he would change about her because she is perfect in his eyes. He also expresses how he feels incomplete without her, emphasizing the limitless efforts he would go through just to see her smile.
Sandman then delves into their intimate connection, stating that they have no qualms about public displays of affection. He describes his partner as a "genuine nymphomaniac" who is both attractive and sexually adventurous. He dismisses any negative opinions from others, emphasizing that his partner is the greatest in his eyes and defies societal norms. He expresses his admiration for her ability to curate playlists while also being open-minded and adventurous in their intimacy.
Moving forward, Sandman highlights the stability and comfort they find in each other. He mentions that they do not have conventional jobs, and instead spend their time together making adult films. Despite this unconventional lifestyle, their relationship remains steady and stress-free. Sandman describes his partner as someone who supports and encourages him, making her the ideal companion for life, even until death.
He further reflects on the deep bond they share, acknowledging that they have their fair share of arguments and disagreements. However, these conflicts do not diminish their love for each other, as he mentions that he misses her whenever she is absent. He values her loyalty and willingness to stick by his side, even during times of discomfort, like when he passes gas.
Sandman concludes the song by expressing his unwavering devotion and gratitude for his partner. He calls her the best in the world, highlighting her uniqueness and the deep connection they share. He emphasizes their intimacy and vulnerability, describing how they sleep naked and close as a symbol of their profound closeness. Despite their differences from others, he appreciates their unique love and the special treatment they give each other.
Overall, "Picture on the Wall" portrays a relationship that is rooted in love, intimacy, and acceptance. It celebrates the unique bond between two individuals who defy societal norms and find solace and happiness in each other's presence.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Angel Del Villar
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind