Eyedea
Eyedea (born Micheal Larsen on November 9, 1981 – October 16, 2010) was a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground hip-hop emcee. His notable wins include the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO (2000) and a victory at Scribble Jam (1999).
He had appeared as a solo artist and as the emcee half of the duo Eyedea & Abilities (along with long-time friend and collaborator DJ Abilities). His non-battle rhymes were generally very philosophically or thematically based, and often tell a definite narrative. Read Full BioEyedea (born Micheal Larsen on November 9, 1981 – October 16, 2010) was a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground hip-hop emcee. His notable wins include the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO (2000) and a victory at Scribble Jam (1999).
He had appeared as a solo artist and as the emcee half of the duo Eyedea & Abilities (along with long-time friend and collaborator DJ Abilities). His non-battle rhymes were generally very philosophically or thematically based, and often tell a definite narrative. His song "Bottle Dreams" is a well known piece about a young sexually abused violin prodigy who commits suicide.
For much of his youth, Eyedea lived with his mother in downtown St. Paul, MN. He attended Highland Park High School, with interests including psychology, physics, and yoga. Favorite authors include James Joyce, and Finnegan's Wake is a favourite text of his.
First establishing himself as battle emcee, Eyedea toured the circuit between 1997 and 2001, notably winning top prizes at Scribble Jam ‘99, the Rock Steady Anniversary 2000, and Blaze Battle Chicago 2000. He also toured extensively as second emcee for Atmosphere, with DJ Abilities sometimes filling in for Mr. Dibbs as tour DJ.
In 2001, he released "First Born" with his partner DJ Abilities (collectively, they were initially called the Sixth Sense, but more recently were known as Eyedea and Abilities). In 2002, under his pen name "Oliver Hart," he released the self-produced The Many Faces of Oliver Hart. In 2004, he and Abilities reunited to release the self-titled E&A (released March 23, 2004). All of Eyedea's releases have been on the Rhymesayers record label.
In addition to touring independently and with Rhymesayers labelmates, Eyedea and Abilities participated in the Def Jux-sponsored Who Killed the Robots? tour.
In 2006, Eyedea temporarily abandoned hip-hop writing and battle rapping for a new rock music project entitled Carbon Carousel.
As well as performing with Carbon Carousel, Eyedea and others had started a group called Face Candy. They released an album full of freestyles over free jazz percussion entitled This Is Where We Were.
He was signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment, and frequently collaborated with Slug, Blueprint and Sage Francis.
Eyedea died in his sleep on October 16, 2010 in his St. Paul apartment.[17] He was found dead by his mother, according to a friend.[18] Cause of death was released November 18, 2010 and ruled an accident, from respiratory depression, caused by opiate derivatives, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office. The specific drugs found in Larsen's system have not been revealed to the public.[19]
Various hip-hop artists went on their Twitter accounts to pay their tribute to him, such as Immortal Technique, Mac Lethal, El-P and P.O.S, among others.[20][21][22][23][24]
On December 25, 2013, it was announced on Eyedea & Abilities' Facebook page[25] that a star was registered under the name Eyedea to commemorate Larsen on the web site Online Star Register.[26]
Fellow hip-hop artist and friend Murs paid homage to Eyedea on his track "I Miss Mikey" on his album Have a Nice Life. Also, the song "Flicker" from the album Southsiders by Atmosphere where Slug describes different sides of Eyedea and their relationship can be called a eulogy.[27][28] In 2013, The Uncluded, a collaboration between folk punk singer Kimya Dawson and hip hop artist Aesop Rock paid tribute to Eyedea in the song "Bats" from their album Hokey Fright.[29] Additionally, the songs "Michael" from the album Flowers for My Father, by Sadistik, "Toast to the dead" from the album The Martyr by Immortal Technique, and "Great Eyedeas Never Die", from the album King No Crown by Blueprint, are also tributes to Eyedea. [30]
He had appeared as a solo artist and as the emcee half of the duo Eyedea & Abilities (along with long-time friend and collaborator DJ Abilities). His non-battle rhymes were generally very philosophically or thematically based, and often tell a definite narrative. Read Full BioEyedea (born Micheal Larsen on November 9, 1981 – October 16, 2010) was a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground hip-hop emcee. His notable wins include the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO (2000) and a victory at Scribble Jam (1999).
He had appeared as a solo artist and as the emcee half of the duo Eyedea & Abilities (along with long-time friend and collaborator DJ Abilities). His non-battle rhymes were generally very philosophically or thematically based, and often tell a definite narrative. His song "Bottle Dreams" is a well known piece about a young sexually abused violin prodigy who commits suicide.
For much of his youth, Eyedea lived with his mother in downtown St. Paul, MN. He attended Highland Park High School, with interests including psychology, physics, and yoga. Favorite authors include James Joyce, and Finnegan's Wake is a favourite text of his.
First establishing himself as battle emcee, Eyedea toured the circuit between 1997 and 2001, notably winning top prizes at Scribble Jam ‘99, the Rock Steady Anniversary 2000, and Blaze Battle Chicago 2000. He also toured extensively as second emcee for Atmosphere, with DJ Abilities sometimes filling in for Mr. Dibbs as tour DJ.
In 2001, he released "First Born" with his partner DJ Abilities (collectively, they were initially called the Sixth Sense, but more recently were known as Eyedea and Abilities). In 2002, under his pen name "Oliver Hart," he released the self-produced The Many Faces of Oliver Hart. In 2004, he and Abilities reunited to release the self-titled E&A (released March 23, 2004). All of Eyedea's releases have been on the Rhymesayers record label.
In addition to touring independently and with Rhymesayers labelmates, Eyedea and Abilities participated in the Def Jux-sponsored Who Killed the Robots? tour.
In 2006, Eyedea temporarily abandoned hip-hop writing and battle rapping for a new rock music project entitled Carbon Carousel.
As well as performing with Carbon Carousel, Eyedea and others had started a group called Face Candy. They released an album full of freestyles over free jazz percussion entitled This Is Where We Were.
He was signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment, and frequently collaborated with Slug, Blueprint and Sage Francis.
Eyedea died in his sleep on October 16, 2010 in his St. Paul apartment.[17] He was found dead by his mother, according to a friend.[18] Cause of death was released November 18, 2010 and ruled an accident, from respiratory depression, caused by opiate derivatives, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office. The specific drugs found in Larsen's system have not been revealed to the public.[19]
Various hip-hop artists went on their Twitter accounts to pay their tribute to him, such as Immortal Technique, Mac Lethal, El-P and P.O.S, among others.[20][21][22][23][24]
On December 25, 2013, it was announced on Eyedea & Abilities' Facebook page[25] that a star was registered under the name Eyedea to commemorate Larsen on the web site Online Star Register.[26]
Fellow hip-hop artist and friend Murs paid homage to Eyedea on his track "I Miss Mikey" on his album Have a Nice Life. Also, the song "Flicker" from the album Southsiders by Atmosphere where Slug describes different sides of Eyedea and their relationship can be called a eulogy.[27][28] In 2013, The Uncluded, a collaboration between folk punk singer Kimya Dawson and hip hop artist Aesop Rock paid tribute to Eyedea in the song "Bats" from their album Hokey Fright.[29] Additionally, the songs "Michael" from the album Flowers for My Father, by Sadistik, "Toast to the dead" from the album The Martyr by Immortal Technique, and "Great Eyedeas Never Die", from the album King No Crown by Blueprint, are also tributes to Eyedea. [30]
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Eyedea Lyrics
(Eyedea)
I got a little story to tell
See it was September 1st, 1999, the day of my death
My back was on the cold concrete as I take my last breath
Saw my body laying on the ground as my soul hovered above me
Damn Eyedea you was a good lookin' cat
But anyway another day at 18 years of age
Step in heaven's gate anxious to see what God got to say
Maybe he'll give me a gift for always saying my prayers
But he might send me downstairs for last year's love affair
Well who cares
You know right now it's all a mystery
I mean I'll find out when I get there
Until then I can't let it get to me
I'm keepin' my cool
Besides everybody dies
I'll just follow the white light like the do in the movies
It seems like I was went by and I'm still travelin
Right towards the brightness
Now this ain't heaven of hell
This realm is lifeless
And I hate to say it
But this wild goose chase had me bored
No directions, no clues, no idea what I was in for
But forward I kept floating
And then a quick flash the lights split directly in half
And created a forked path
Representing each side is an angel
Now whats the task I have to untangle to meet the big man in charge I ask
And one on the right of me says one of us always lies and one that always tells the truth
Ask the right one the right question he'll direct you to heaven
If ask the wrong one son, farwell you going straight to well....
Y'all get the picture
The one on my left told me not to listen to his fibs
He said it ain't that complicated to find out where god lives
He told me to follow his path
and tell god that he said hi
Then the one on my right jumped in and told me not to believe his lies
and I'm like Jesus Fucking Christ
I didn't care much for life
But I've tried to stay alive forever if I knew this is what death was like
I was never good at problem solving especially in emergencies
I get a tad bit nervous when concerned with burning for eternity
but anyway I asked them which one lied and they pointed at each other
Thinking I'd had it I asked the name of my mother
One said he don't know the other said he know but he can't tell me
God damn this is going to be hard
So I asked 30 questions and I still wasn't sure
but being me I gave those pricks a few good words
Frustrated with it all
I turned my back to the angels and when I walked away to my surprise
I found myself in heaven
(Ya know I'm saying
Kinda just turned around from the whole situation
Rejecting everything that was going on
Thats how I walked into heaven)
I Walked away, walked away, walked straight into heaven...
I Walked away, walked away, walked straight into heaven...
Contributed by Keira G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
SizzleSkeet 14
[Eyedea]
I got a little story to tell
See it was September 1st, 1999, the day of my death
My back was on the cold concrete as I take my last breath
Saw my body laying on the ground as my soul hovered above me
Damn Eyedea you was a good lookin' cat
But anyway another day at 18 years of age
Step in heaven's gate anxious to see what God got to say
Maybe he'll give me a gift for always saying my prayers
But he might send me downstairs for last year's love affair
Well who cares
You know right now it's all a mystery
I mean I'll find out when I get there
Until then I can't let it get to me
I'm keepin' my cool
Besides everybody dies
I'll just follow the white light like the do in the movies
It seems like I was went by and I'm still travelin
Right towards the brightness
Now this ain't heaven of hell
This realm is lifeless
And I hate to say it
But this wild goose chase had me bored
No directions, no clues, no idea what I was in for
But forward I kept floating
And then a quick flash the lights split directly in half
And created a forked path
Representing each side is an angel
Now whats the task I have to untangle to meet the big man in charge I ask
And one on the right of me says one of us always lies and one that always tells the truth
Ask the right one the right question he'll direct you to heaven
If ask the wrong one son, farwell you going straight to well....
Y'all get the picture
The one on my left told me not to listen to his fibs
He said it ain't that complicated to find out where god lives
He told me to follow his path
and tell god that he said hi
Then the one on my right jumped in and told me not to believe his lies
and I'm like Jesus Fucking Christ
I didn't care much for life
But I've tried to stay alive forever if I knew this is what death was like
I was never good at problem solving especially in emergencies
I get a tad bit nervous when concerned with burning for eternity
but anyway I asked them which one lied and they pointed at each other
Thinking I'd had it I asked the name of my mother
One said he don't know the other said he know but he can't tell me
God damn this is going to be hard
So I asked like 30 questions and I still wasn't sure
but being me I gave those pricks a few good words
Frustrated with it all
I turned my back to the angels and when I walked away to my surprise
I found myself in heaven
(Ya know I'm saying
Kinda just turned around from the whole situation
Rejecting everything that was going on
Thats how I walked into heaven)
I Walked away, walked away, walked straight into heaven...
I Walked away, walked away, walked straight into heaven...
HeresyandHennessy
This song nothing short of a religious experience, as with many of eyedea's stories. I think he tapped into a common thread within many of us, the hopes, the fears, the smiles and cries..
I'm like Jesus fucking Christ..
I didn't care much for life
but I'd have tried to stay alive forever
if I knew this is what death is like
I was never good at problem solving
Especially in emergencies
I get a tad bit nervous when concerned with burning for eternity..
Hermunkle
R.I.P. Return If Possible
Tyler Bailey
Hermunkle word
Eziokilla9595
One of the greatest and most intellectual MC's ever. I have no qualms calling Eyedea a genius.
Peanutbutter
R.I.P. Eyedea
Karlus Jackson
run the jewels....nice.. nice
Jerry Brownell
Alek S ------------ "this is a great song." Fixed it. Cheers.
ProtMythic
As my professor/Aristotle said - you can be the smartest person in the world but if you don't go outside, no one will ever know. Actions > words. This guy wasn't smart enough to live and squandered his gift. He's far from a genius. But this is a great song.
psy clopse
I was never good at problem solving especially in emergencies I get a tad bit nervous when concerned with burning for eternity
Gabriel César
LYRICISM
Michael
But being "thrown into a lake of fire" is just symbolic like lyricism...