To know the life story of Michael
Larsen, it seems all you have to do is listen to his music. This has become a
cliché statement when regarding hip-hop artists or even musicians of
any genre, but for the most part, I believe it is only partly true
when applied to the latter. Most only offer the highs and lows of
their lives, the bold specs on their lifelines, and Eyedea separated
himself from this commonplace standard by devoting the entirety of
his art form to sharing the entirety of his life. He offered
listeners the chance to watch life through his eyes, to learn the
knowledge he had gained along the way, study the philosophies he'd
developed, and compare his unique perceptions on all aspects of our
world with what we have have been told or established in our own
minds. The diversity of his music offers the ability to connect with
all of us in some way or another, and seems meant only for our
enjoyment, carrying no intentions or demands.
Eyedea's lyrics read somewhere between
the style of a novel and collection of autobiographical poems, and are delivered as a constant introduction and conversation with his
listeners. This is an era where fans of any genre want to know the
music rather than the artist behind it, and despite the barriers that
all of us, in one way or another, have constructed, Eyedea pushed
forward to sit on our wall, and establish an equilibrium between
these extremities. If you listen with the right kind of ears, you
will see a life rather than a song, and the music behind is merely
the soundtrack of a man's different moments in life rather than a simple musical composition.
His versatility as an artist and the
diversity of his work is something of a Shakespearean
comparison—comedic, even hilarious at times, tragic, philosophical,
satirical, political, and even enlightening at times. The spectrum of
his talent as a lyricist and narrative poet displayed, and will
continue to display, the seemingly unlimited directions that he could
command his music toward, and it seems best to remember him as
Machiavellian in ways when it comes to the written word.
Aside from his work in hip-hop, Eyedea
formed a rock band under the name of Carbon Carousel that further
displayed his ability to fuse genres in a way that is most uncommon
in the attempts of others. 2009's By The Throat displayed
the rock-influenced hip-hop style that Eyedea and Abilities had begun
to develop, and we are now only left with an inkling of where they
were going, and what the product would be. It isn't certain
what stage his upcoming album Waste-age Teenland
was in before his death, and no word has yet emerged of a posthumous
release. His music was his tale, and though the story has been
tragically cut short, the complexity of his rhymes seem to still hold
truths that will only be uncovered in time.
Somewhere out there lies a consensus
that Eyedea has only caught national attention and mass praise due to
the media's highlight of his death, and their ignorance proves
through example of the boundaries we build around respective art
forms that constrict their ability to expand into the mainstream. It
is not a matter of the "fame and fans through death" ideology, but the
acknowledgment of what was left behind. For so many, myself included,
we can only now most appreciate the music Eyedea shared with us
during the duration of his career, and more sadly, understand that
his gift was unconditional, shared without attachments, given for the
betterment of an art form.
Here are 15 tracks, in no particular
order, that I believe display the scope of Eyedea's talent, what he
has done, and where he was going. Feel free to comment with
additional tracks that you believe matter most, and remember that
this isn't a time for quarreling, but paying homage to a fallen
artist.
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