New York-based spoken-word artist and hip-hop producer Mike Ladd, the brain behind the fictitious collectives Majesticons and Infesticons, focused more on sculpting a musical background to his poetry than on beats and rhymes. He debuted with Easy Listening 4 Armageddon (1997), and his art matured on Welcome to the Afterfuture (1999). Ladd is certainly not a skilled MC, and wouldn't rank in the top-1000 poets of his time. The beats are primitive and amateurish. However, the production is spartan but attractive in its own weird way. The spoken-word 5000 Miles West Of The Future embraces noir jazz, which sets the mood for most of the album. The bluesy, somnolent and warped Planet 10, a hypnotic dialogue, employs discreet synth noise and cosmic strings. The six-minute Bladerunners pits Company Flow's rapping against distorted orchestral samples, suspenseful strings, and childish voices. A peak of arrangement madness is reached in the chaotically psychedelic and funky I Feel Like $100 with wordless vocals that float disembodied. The ten-minute instrumental To The Moon's Contractor boasts a dancing synth emerging from a psychedelic fog, a flute-like melody and a new-age coda. If the conventional rapping in Airwave Hysteria and the languid singing in Takes More Than 41 are tedious, Red Eye To Jupiter displays the right combination of creative instrumental background, propulsive beats and roaring vocals. Album closer Wipe Out On The Wave Of Armageddon is another inspired funky instrumental.

After EP Vernacular Homicide (Ozone, 2001), Nostalgialator (K7, 2004), the first album credited simply to his name, was a humbler effort that seemed to pay tribute to the sounds of his childhood.

Negrophilia: The Album (Thirsty Ear, 2005) is a collaboration with pianist Vijay Iyer and drummer Guillermo Brown (plus horns and electronics).

Father Divine (ROIR, 2005) was a repetition of his themes.

Collaborations with Iyer yielded Still Life With Commentator (Savoy Jazz, 2007), Holding It Down (2013) and InWhatStrumentals (2020).

Maison Hantee (Rogueart, 2008) was a collaboration with French poet Alexandre Pierrepont. Vox XL (2014) was a collaboration with rapper Hubert Dupont and Senegalese singer Ibrahima Diasse. Visions Of Selam (2018) was a collaboration with an Ethiopian jazz collective.

The Kort'dakian Crisis (2022) was Ladd's spoken-word album, flanked by Emilie Škrijelj on accordion, turntable and electronics, and by Tom Malmendier on percussion.

Ladd also worked on the soundtrack of the television series Transatlantic (2023).

Saisir le Feu (2025) was a collaboration with Philadelphia rap duo ShrapKnel.