a career as a rapper, giving himself the stagename "Alex", after the protagonist of Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange. 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. Known as "Keige" and part of a group named Bloody Ruffnecks and later Mudbones, his first demo mixtape was released in 1994; in the liner notes, he named his influences as Kool Keith, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Juice Crew, Marley Marl and KRS-One. Pete Nice also introduced Palko to radio personality Bobbito García, who featured Palko on his program several times, increasing his reputation among 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. He spent the last night with MF Doom's brother and KMD member Subroc in 1993 before he was killed in a road accident. Palko signed a recording contract with Columbia Records, but frequently recorded while intoxicated, and the label found his efforts to be unsatisfactory. Palko briefly put his career on hold and his drug use increased. He became a father to a daughter in 1994. 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. Following the release of Slim Shady EP in December 1997, Palko accused Detroit-based rapper Eminem of imitating his style. 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 in 2001. 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. In 2001 and 2002 respectively, Palko's music was featured on the soundtrack to the psychological crime film Bully and season 1 of the crime drama television show The Wire. 2002–2009: Eastern Conference and Definitive Jux era Palko signed with The High & Mighty's Eastern Conference Records, releasing his debut album, Movies for the Blind, on August 6, 2002. It peaked at #12 on the