Eyedea and Abilities First Born

http://www.prefixmag.com/news/rip-micheal-larsen-aka-eyedea/45008/

The death of Micheal Larsen, aka Minneapolis rapper/singer Eyedea, was announced earlier this morning via a Facebook post by his mother, Kathy Averill. He was 28.

sad. i saw him live a couple times & he did that thing where he would battle himself -- hed be like "who should battle??" & these dorks would should out things like "graf writer!!!" instead of something that would be actually-funny or challenging & he would shrug & go in anyway

never actually heard anticon until that link. thats really young to go though

he was on anticon's label but wasn't actually a member of the rap group 'anticon'
like sage francis :p

he never did anything on anticon, you herbs

this dude was remarkably talented. blows my mind that he was only 28

He was all Rhymesayers

was he?? well he was affiliated w anticon somehow, maybe guest verses or something
idk i havent heard his stuff in awhile

I mean, he might have, but from First Born on he had been associated with Rhymesayers.

this song is so great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtEQbvU-1ns

Eyedea was always a rhymesayers dude, he, slug, and abilities were the initial incarnation of atmosphere.

this is super fucking sad, hung out with the dude off and on back in the day and he was a really nice guy. RIP

The cause of death has yet to be determined, but many heads are expecting it to be a drug overdose of some sorts.

lotta peeps in mpls sad about this he did a lot of projects and really touched a lot of ppl in local music, not just hip hop....
RIP.

was by all accounts a great dude.

i hope pete s. can stop by and say something, he's written so much abt rhymesayers stuff

eyedea & slug on the wake up show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40MA0pl7Oa0&feature=fvw

^^^ love this

I don't know what to say. I was in shock about this when my wife read the news on Twitter. It was all I could do to post something on his Facebook memorial. Maybe it was a comfort to be working constantly round the clock this week (student teaching).

There aren't many people in local music for whom I felt more personal tenderness. I watched him grow up, it felt like, seeing my first Sixth Sense (later Eyedea and Abilities) show in 1998, them opening for Abstract Pack when he was 16. I've seen so many incredible Eyedea/Abilities shows since then. I loved and championed the last album. Our interviews always lasted hours. He was a truly funny, sweet, brilliant, generous person. I'll miss him.

Jason Nagel told me people went down to the Turf Club last night just to kind of be together and say, "I can't believe Mikey's dead."

http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2010/10/eyedea_memories.php

BTW, the Anticon association is understandable 'cause he was on Anticon: Music for the Advancement of Hip Hop.

Wake next Thursday, with a page of quotes from friends:

http://rhymesayers.com/eyedea

been watching some of his rap battles on youtube. he had great skills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_qMbzfF31k

this one is so adorable eyedea vs bro ali, you can tell they are tight bros even when they battle <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obZj6nEWdj8&feature=related

Yeah, that is the sweetest clip.

So did Eyedea's memorial show at First Avenue spawn this collaboration or had it been going on before?

So apparently Kimya Dawson and Aesop Rock became friends not long before Eyedea's mom asked her to play the memorial show, which they traveled to together:

http://www.citypages.com/2011-05-18/music/kimya-dawson-talks-eyedea-juno-and-working-with-aesop-rock/

Will be thinking of Eyedea at Soundset this Sunday.

Sorta disappointed in Aes