Eyedea

Eyedea (born Mike Averill [cite web |first =Peter S. |last = Scholtes |url = http://citypages.com/databank/22/1084/article9816.asp
title = What's the Big Eyedea? |publisher= City Pages |date =2001-09-12 |accessdate = 2008-07-20] Dead link|date=September 2008 in 1981) is a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground rapper. His notable wins include the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO (2000) and a victory at Scribble Jam (1999). He has appeared as a solo artist, and as the emcee half of the duo Eyedea & Abilities (along with longtime friend and collaborator DJ Abilities). His non-battle rhymes are generally philosophically or thematically based, and often tell a definite narrative.

Youth

For much of his youth, Eyedea lived with his mother in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, where He attended Highland Park Senior High School.

Eyedea became known as a 'battle emcee', touring the circuit between 1997 and 2001. During this time he won top prizes at Scribble Jam ‘99, the Rock Steady Anniversary 2000, and Blaze Battle Chicago 2000. He contributed a track to the anticon. compilation, Music for the Advancement of Hip Hop. Additionally, he toured extensively as second emcee and support DJ for Atmosphere.

First album

In 2001, he released "First Born" with his partner DJ Abilities (collectively, they were initially called the Sixth Sense, but they are now known as Eyedea & 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 album "E&A" (released March 23 2004).

All of Eyedea's releases have been on the Rhymesayers record label, with the exception of Carbon Carousel's "The Some of All Things or: The Healing Power of Scab Picking", which was released on his own independent label, Crushkill Recordings. In addition to touring independently and with Rhymesayers labelmates and members of Face Candy, Eyedea and Abilities participated in the Def Jux-sponsored "Who Killed the Robots?" tour, titled by Eyedea.

He is signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment, and has been known to collaborate with Slug of the legendary underground hip hop group Atmosphere, as well as Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, and Blueprint.

After Eyedea released "This Is Where We Were" with his live freestyle/jazz group Face Candy, he created Carbon Carousel, an alternative rock band. They have released one EP titled "The Some of All Things or: The Healing Power of Scab Picking". This brought on speculation that Eyedea & Abilities was no longer together. However, in August 2007, the duo announced on their Myspace that they would be at the Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop performing old songs, as well as new material.

In December 2007, Eyedea & Abilities embarked upon their Appetite for Distraction Tour with Crushkill labelmate Kristoff Krane and Minnesotan duo Sector7G.

Discography

Albums

* "First Born" (2001) (By Eyedea & Abilities)
* "The Many Faces of Oliver Hart" (2002)
* "E&A" (2004) (By Eyedea & Abilities)
* "This Is Where We Were" (2006) (By Face Candy)
* "The Some of All Things or: The Healing Power of Scab Picking" (2007) (By Carbon Carousel)
* TBA (2008) (By Eyedea & Abilities)

ingles

* "Pushing Buttons 12" (2000) (By Eyedea & Abilities)
* "Blindly Firing 12" (2001) (By Eyedea & Abilities)
* "Now" (2003) (By Eyedea & Abilities)
* "Carbon Carousel Single Series #1" (2007) (By Carbon Carousel)
* "Nervous." (2007) (By Carbon Carousel)

Other

* "E&A Road Mix" (2003)

References

External links

* [http://www.30music.com/int.php?int=83 30Music interview with Eyedea, talking about Carbon Carousel]
* [http://www.myspace.com/carboncarousel Carbon Carousel Myspace Page]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Eyedea Eyedea] at Discogs
* [http://www.rhymesayers.com Rhymesayers Entertainment]
* [http://www.citypages.com/detail.asp?articleID=9816 City Pages interview with Eyedea]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2g792twNKg Eyedea Freestyle]