It’s been about 7 months since the late and great rapper and artist, Micheal Larsen, also known as Eyedea, passed away. While the hip-hop community continues to mourn the loss of this gifted prodigy, his career starts to pick up. Larsen was in multiple hip-hop groups besides his solo career, about seven, not to mention the uncountable songs and albums he has been featured on. He was part of an independent hip-hop label known as Rhymesayers Entertainment which features artists such as Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Grieves and MF Doom. Larsen is best known for his work in Eyedea in Abilities where he is a vocalist and DJ Abilities, Gregory Keltgen, but the new album comes from a different group. The group known as Face Candy was comprised of Larsen, Kristoff Krane, Casey O’Brien and JT Bates, 4 close friends from the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The new album, Waste Age Teen Land is the band’s second album, and was finished before Larsen died this last October. The album was recorded in studio for 2 days and one night in front of a café. Micheal Larsen’s website states, “the album showcases the band’s full spectrum of talents—from contemplative instrumentals to auto-tuned joke rapping, and every shade in between.” Waste Age Teen Land goes in stores on May 24; pre-orders are available on fifthelementonline.com
However, this isn’t the only feat that Larsen has accomplished since he passed; Larsen also has 2 poetry books that his grandmother compiled, some from his songs and some from poetry he has written for her. The books are crude, simple and at the same time, beautiful. I’ve been privileged to read his first release, Am I Wonderful? The book was full of the twisted, sad and brilliant poetry that anyone could identify as Larsen’s. The poetry by his grandma however were mournful and repetitive. Both books were homemade books; typed, printed, colored with crayons, folded, and stapled together. The books acted as a fundraiser for Larsen’s funeral.
However one question still arises, how did Larsen really die? When his mother announced that he had died on October 16, 2010, his fans were shocked and demanded answers, but neither family nor Rhymesayers would release the autopsy reports to the press. Larsen had a fairly well known drug addiction, which would tend to present itself in his songs and poetry. However, the fans seem to concede in not knowing the cause of death; sometimes it’s okay to not know for sure, out of respect for his family and for him,
His rhymes were sad, his depression was obvious, but the beauty and emotion within his lyrics could inspire anyone. You’ll just have to listen.
"Winter takes the warm away
Spring takes the cold away
Summer takes the rain away
And Fall took away my friend"
Hay Fever - Eyedea & Abilties. Album: By The Throat
To see Micheal's story, visit Micheal Larsen's Website - http://micheallarsen.com
To check out who else is on Larsen's label, visit Rhymesayers Entertainment http://rhymesayers.com
To buy merch, visit Fifth Element - http://fifthelementonline.com
Photos courtesy of AOL.com and Rhymesayers Entertainment
Robyn: As a generic blog post, this is fine but I'd like you to check the instructions again for the assignment. You need to make this a "beat," which includes references to what's going on in music culture overall. What are others saying about important events, trends and people? Be sure to embed your links into the text--don't run them at the end of the post. Also, find a way to include your name somewhere at the top of the blog. Readers should be able to know who's writing this. Score = 7.
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