Homeboy Sandman recorded and released his first EP, Nourishment, in March 2007. His debut album, entitled Nourishment (Second Helpings), was released in August 2007. In early 2008, Homeboy Sandman's work began to be featured on underground radio programs the Squeeze Radio Show on WKCR 89.9 FM and the Halftime Radio Program on WNYU 89.1 FM in New York. In June 2008, he was featured in Source Magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column.
His second album, Actual Factual Pterodactyl was acclaimed upon its release in August 2008. The album received an entry in XXL's Chairman's Choice column, which praised Homeboy Sandman's "sharp lyrics and irresistibly melodic flow, which, together, form an elastic instrument few MCs can match." Actual Factual Pterodactyl received critical acclaim in a multitude of other print and online publications, including Blender Magazine, Beyond Race Magazine, Okayplayer.com and MSN.com. At the end of 2008, Homeboy Sandman was named "Best Hip Hop Act in NYC 2008" by New York Press. Recently his music has received rotation on NYC's Power 105.1 FM and Hot 97.1 FM, the city's #1 Hip Hop and R&B radio station, as well as airplay on Spitkicker Radio (Channel 65 on XM Satellite Radio), DJ Premier's "Live From HeadQCourterz" (Sirius Satellite Radio's #1 ranked Hip Hop show) and BBC 1Xtra's Hip Hop M1X (Hosted by DJ Sarah Love).
In addition to his studio releases, Homeboy Sandman has garnered attention for his live performances. From January 2008 to August 2009, Homeboy Sandman served as the host of “ALL THAT! Hip Hop, Poetry and Jazz” at the Nuyorican Poets Café, New York City's longest running open mic session (originally hosted by Hip Hop icon Bobbito García). He has performed at the biggest hip hop shows around the country, including the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival in Brooklyn, New York, the Rock the Bells hip hop festival in Long Island, New York, the A3C Hip Hop Festival in Atlanta, Georgia and New York City's CMJ Music Marathon. Homeboy Sandman has recorded video interviews with other performers at his live shows, which are captured in his YouTube video series "Homeboy Sandman presents Live From...".
In addition to his own releases, Homeboy Sandman has appeared on records by other artists, frequently with members of the AOK Collective, with whom he is affiliated. He recently appeared on Fresh Daily's 2009 album The Gorgeous Killer: In Crimes of Passion and the 2008 album For Your Consideration released by P.SO (formerly P. Casso). Homeboy Sandman collaborated with both Fresh Daily and P.SO for the song "Get On Down," which is featured on Sonic Smash, the album released in 2009 by music producer DJ Spinna.[8] Homeboy Sandman has also laid down tracks for a series of features with RIDES Magazine. The track that Homeboy Sandman created for the Loud.com challenge, "Gun Control," was cited as one of the Top 25 Songs of 2009 by Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg.
On June 1, 2010, Homeboy Sandman released his third album, The Good Sun, which features production from 2 Hungry Bros, Ski Beats, Thievin' Stephen, DJ Spinna, Psycho Les (The Beatnuts) and Core Rhythm, among others. The first single from The Good Sun was "Angels with Dirty Faces," produced by J57. In September 2010, Homeboy Sandman released his first official video for The Good Sun for the track, "The Essence".
In late 2010, Homeboy Sandman was featured as the coach in an episode of MTV's Made, which premiered in October 2010.
In August 2011, Homeboy Sandman signed with Stones Throw Records and released his debut project, Subject: Matter EP, with the California-based record label on January 24, 2012. Homeboy Sandman released his second EP with Stones Throw Records, titled Chimera in April 2012 and on September 18, 2012, released his debut full-length LP with Stones Throw entitled First of a Living Breed. The album featured production from Oddisee, J57, 6th Sense, RTNC and long-time production partners 2 Hungry Bros., along with label mates Jonwayne and Oh No, amongst others.
In 2014, Homeboy Sandman released the EP, White Sands, which was produced by Paul White. Nate Patrin of Pitchfork commented that the producer and rapper had "a mutually beneficial set of styles" in a positive review. In that year, Homeboy Sandman released the album, Hallways.
In the wake of the Donald Sterling scandal, Homeboy Sandman wrote for Gawker an op-ed called "Black People are Cowards," which attracted more than 1.3 million views in the first seven days of its publication.
In 2015, Homeboy Sandman released a collaborative EP with Aesop Rock, titled Lice. In 2016, he released the album, Kindness for Weakness, which included Edan-produced "Talking (Bleep)". In that year, he released a collaborative EP with Aesop Rock, titled Lice Two: Still Buggin'.
In 2019, Homeboy Sandman announced he had signed a new deal with Mello Music Group and released the new single "West Coast" produced by Aesop Rock to celebrate the new label signing.
Homeboy Sandman's first album on Mello Music Group, “Dusty,” was released on October 18, 2019. Production was handled entirely by Mono En Stereo. Dusty garnered positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic writer Paul Simpson praised Mono En Stereo's soundscape of "laid-back, ambling jazz and funk grooves" for complimenting Sandman's "conversational, matter-of-fact rhymes" throughout the album, concluding that "Dusty is another winning set of pointed observations from Sandman, who effortlessly unloads his thoughts without seeming like a burden on the listener."
Homeboy Sandman followed up “Dusty” with his 2020 album “Don’t Feed The Monster” produced by Quelle Chris. “Don’t Feed The Monster” was listed in NPR's top 50 albums of 2020. Homeboy Sandman would later receive a pair of awards for music videos that accompanied the album. He received a UK Music Video award for “Monument” (directed by Pavel Buryak) in 2021 and later won Best Foreign Documentary at Rome Film Awards 2022 for Don’t Look Down Video (directed by Robert Mayer aka Photo Rob).
At the beginning of 2021, Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman released their single “Ask Anyone,” which was featured on FIFA 21 soundtrack. Following the release Homeboy Sandman announced his EP Anjelitu which was produced entirely by Aesop Rock. Released in August 2021, Anjelitu marked Homeboy Sandman's third studio project on Mello Music Group. Okayplayer highlighted Anjelitu as one of the best Hip-Hop projects of 2021. Pete Rock would later give praise to “Go Hard” from Anjelitu. At the end of 2021, Homeboy Sandman garnered unexpected attention after Doja Cat saluted the emcee as “One of my favorite rappers” on Instagram live.
Homeboy Sandman's tenth studio album, There in Spirit, was released on February 25, 2022. That same year, he released the mixtape I Can't Sell These for free on Bandcamp, due in part to an inability to clear the various samples used in the music. Music critic Robert Christgau soon hailed it as "the finest album of one of hip-hop's most prolific careers", giving it an "A" grade.
Homeboy Sandman revitalized his acclaimed Anjelitu EP, by releasing the Anjelitu Deluxe which included two new tracks as well as Aesop Rock's instrumentals from the project. In 2022, Rhymesayers released all three of Homeboy Sandman and Aesop Rock's Lice albums on digital streaming platforms. Homeboy Sandman's Deca-produced eleventh studio album “Still Champion” was released on November 11, 2022, following the pair's 19-stop co-headlining tour. “Still Champion” reached #24 on the iTunes Hip-Hop charts and Riff Magazine included the project in their top 20 Hip-Hop albums of 2022.
Homeboy Sandman collaborated with Oakland-based nonprofit organization Oakstop Alliance on the album “Royalty Summit,” released on December 23, 2022. Royalty Summit is the debut release from Oakstop Alliance’s Oakland Resident music initiative. Homeboy Sandman was planning the west coast run for his There In Spirit Tour when longtime friend and Oakstop Alliance Executive Director Damon Johnson pitched him with the concept. The 12-track album was recorded over 3 days in Oakland as a residency collaboration between Homeboy Sandman, and over 20 Oakland musical artists and professionals. On Christmas Day in 2022, Homeboy Sandman announced the debut full-length release for his label Dirty Looks, titled “12 Days of Christmas & Dia De Los Reyes.” Homeboy Sandman rolled out one song from the project each day until the full album’s release on January 6, 2023.
In August 2023, Homeboy Sandman connected with New York beatmaker Mono En Stereo–whom the emcee collaborated with on past albums Kool Herc: Fertile Crescent and Dusty–for his studio album “Rich” released via Dirty Looks. The album garnered critical attention from Pitchfork, Vibe Magazine, HipHopDX, and more. Homeboy Sandman later released "I Can't Sell These Either" in November 2023, continuing the "I Can't Sell These" mixtape series started in 2022.
Eyes
Homeboy Sandman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
It gets deeper than my face wrinkles
So many time zones, time slows 'til I'm a dinosaur
With my name all around the connoisseur tonsils
I've taken everything this city has to give at last
All that's left to do is hibernate and build muscle mass
This shit's like living in a fuckin cave
This shit's like living in a fuckin cage
Black, brown, poor, I'm not trying to be part of your group
Save the lecture and the swearing
Cause I don't care about how you feel about me not caring
The magic of my maturation
All the ign'ance just figments of my imagination
I represent the ascent from suspended animation
Sun
You seen 'em on they way up
And start believing they hot
But that don't mean that they us
I seen it all in they eyes
You seen 'em on they way up
And start believing they hot
But that don't mean that they us
I seen it all in they eyes
I seen it all in they eyes
Instead of being in witness protection
I'm in abundance or my budding skully collection
In pajamas at jobs that I don't juggle
When there's trouble I go to the no huddle
You wouldn't be the first to try and burst my bubble
But I'm still in the clouds just like the bear that sells snuggle
Except the bear is in a bear bubble
Peep the bear
Pair of supple breasts on his beard stubble
I stay in the zone
I don't swim with sharks
I float and they're just smart enough to leave me alone
I used to be the one that wanted people's hands to clap
People all up on me like I sat in front the transit map
Now I keep it low key like a baritone
Remind me of the time I got some pussy while my parents home
Just trying to get a nut and go unnoticed
Anything beyond that is a bonus
You seen 'em on they way up
And start believing they hot
But that don't mean that they us
I seen it all in they eyes
You seen 'em on they way up
And start believing they hot
But that don't mean that they us
I seen it all in they eyes
I seen it all in they eyes
Do what I gots ta
Like to send a shout out to my instagram imposter
Being a faker is nothing to get props for
At least you're not a fake ass mobster
At least you're not a fake ass poser
Fake ass posture
"Buffalo soldier, dreadlock rasta
Heart of america"
Set up on the ventricles
Laid up on the atrium
Hop up off the testicles
I give thanks
The glass isn't half empty or half full
It's all drink
A lesson to the fast women
Sosa's waiting in the lab
Don't be waiting 'til the last minute
Pocket mad mints at the bistro
The sargeant ran prints right after the freak show
After we ran sprints, I always hit the free throw
I'm boy sand, sweetie
You seen 'em on they way up
And start believing they hot
But that don't mean that they us
I seen it all in they eyes
You seen 'em on they way up
And start believing they hot
But that don't mean that they us
I seen it all in they eyes
I seen it all in they eyes
The lyrics of Homeboy Sandman's song "Eyes" reflect his introspective and observant nature as he navigates through life experiences and interactions with others. In the first verse, he contemplates the passage of time and the depth of his own experiences. He muses about the various time zones and the feeling of being outdated like a dinosaur in a world that seems suffocating and restrictive. He distances himself from societal groups and norms, emphasizing his independence and detachment from others' opinions.
The chorus highlights Sandman's keen insight into people's behaviors as they rise to fame or success. He acknowledges the egos and illusions that can cloud individuals' perceptions of themselves. Despite witnessing others' transformations, he remains grounded and true to himself, seeing through the facades and recognizing the essence within people's eyes.
The second verse delves into Sandman's resilience and authenticity in the face of challenges. He humorously mentions his eclectic collection of hats ("budding skully collection") and his ability to navigate through difficulties without faltering. Referring to himself as being in the clouds like the bear on a snuggle fabric, he hints at his peaceful detachment from external pressures and dramas.
Throughout the song, Sandman maintains a sense of humor and self-awareness, poking fun at imposters and posers while also expressing gratitude for the simple joys in life. He acknowledges the fleeting nature of time and the necessity of seizing opportunities before it's too late. The lyrics convey a mix of wisdom, sarcasm, and resilience, reflecting Sandman's unique perspective on personal growth and authenticity in a world filled with illusions and pretenses.
In essence, "Eyes" showcases Homeboy Sandman's ability to blend introspection with social commentary, offering a glimpse into his philosophical musings and keen observations of human behavior and societal norms. The song serves as a reminder to stay true to oneself, see beyond superficial appearances, and appreciate the richness of life's experiences, both big and small.
Lyrics © Missing Link Music
Written by: Angel Del Villar, Georgia Anne Muldrow
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Guapiitooo 7991
His music is boom bap, but not Golden Era. Creative and abstract, but not weird. Different, but cool. We need more artists like him fr
Егор Тюрин
t' man stands by himself, I believe )
though, 4 sure, u might be interested in Mello Music stuf' )
Sandman's current label ) Cheers
nanoloopbandit
No man
superdeluxesmell
Preach, my friend, preach.
Ralf Nuggs
This dude gets better and better. He's a beast I hope he doesn't sell out
Internet God
i hope he sells 10 million records forreal his word is bond regardless. sell out? yes i hope so
Eric
This is sick af. Homeboy Sandman is underrated.
KinGAdil019
This is my first hearing this guy. Really good rapper. Imma check out his records
tokenblackaspie
Check all his Stones Throw albums and check Chimera, too.
Rajid Hussain
check out his album "The Good Sun" thats one of my favourites from him