OPEN MIKE EAGLE @ Echoplex

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8pm / $12adv; $15dos; $16 walk up day of show / 18+

Killer Mike ||Watch
Atlanta-born rapper and Grammy®-Award winner Killer Mike will release his self-proclaimed finest work to date with the debut of R.A.P. Music on May 15 from Williams Street Records. The album, which was produced entirely by El-P, Brooklyn’s resident laureate hip hop artist, producer and entrepreneur, features a line-up of tracks that both deliver on rap’s most basic level and simultaneously document the socio-economic discrepancies and racism that still plague America today. With the album’s title acronym representing “Rebellious African People’s Music,” it takes its influences from all genres of music black people have rebelled through, including gospel, jazz, soul, rock and funk. R.A.P. Music’s lead single, “Big Beast,” features hip hop heavyweights Bun B, T.I. and Trouble and is currently available on iTunes.

Nearing his tenth year in hip hop, Killer Mike has found tremendous success as both a group member and solo artist. He has released five critically-acclaimed records and won a Grammy® Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group with Outkast for the song “The Whole World.”

STREAM: “Big Beast” feat. T.I. and Bun B – http://soundcloud.com/wmstrecs/killer-mike-big-beast-feat-bun/

Busdriver || Listen||Watch
Possessing a hyper-literate, intellectual style of rapping augmented with dizzying elocution that would tongue-tie even the fiercest auctioneer, Busdriver is eclectic and eccentric enough to cite vocalese jazz singer Jon Hendricks as a primary influence. Born Regan Farquhar, the Los Angeles MC was introduced to hip-hop culture early — his father wrote the screenplay to one of the earliest films focusing on hip-hop, Krush Groove. He began rapping at age nine, releasing his first record at age 13 with his group, 4/29, named after the 1992 L.A. riots. By the mid-’90s, Busdriver was a regular at the Project Blowed open mic, where he would meet future collaborators and underground luminaries like Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, and Freestyle Fellowship. And shortly after, the vinyl did flow.

Busdriver guested on upward of 20 singles, and by 2001 he could no longer be contained by guest spots, releasing his first full-length, Memoirs of the Elephant Man. There were just as many detractors as supporters for his singular style, which was so densely packed it made his chosen name seem a reference for multiple-personality disorder, and the lo-fi production also left more listeners scratching heads than nodding them. His next album, This Machine Kills Fashion Tips (2002), continued in a similar manner before being trumped by better production and more focused rhymes on Temporary Forever the same year. Joined by another West Coast avant-garde MC, Radioinactive, and the breezy, fractured pop of electronic producer Daedelus, Busdriver released yet another odd puzzle piece in 2003, The Weather. Fear of a Black Tangent followed on Mush in 2005. After moving to Anti-/Epitaph, the rapper issued RoadKillOvercoat, which featured production from Nobody and Boom Bip. His second Anti- release, Jhelli Beam, appeared in 2009. In 2010 he put out a full-length mix tape of unreleased gems and illegal remixes called Computer Cooties. It was released as a free album.

2010 saw Bus toiling over a new album that will shock fans and confuse the unconverted into unwilling servitude. It is called Beaus$Eros and will be released in January 2012 on Fake Four.

Other upcoming projects include a full-length release from Bus’ new experimental punk band, Physical Forms and a hip hop superduo with rapper Nocando called Flash Bang Grenada.

(photo: Shaun Bloodworth)
Nocando
The L.A. underground has many voices, some covered in grit and dirt, some slapping the asphalt, some hitting high and brassy — but none ring truer than that of Nocando. A seasoned member of the hip-hop community who isn’t content to count his battle scars by the dozens, Nocando brings fresh rhymes week after week at the world-renowned club night Low End Theory where he is the resident host, as well as to a variety of steazy joints all around the West Coast.

With a witty style and open voice, Nocando’s raps are unpredictable, funny and lean towards social commentary, although this MC is just as likely to tell you about a wild night on the streets of L.A. as to make a point about the fallacies of the music industry. Brash and confident while also being laid back, Nocando’s lyrical delivery is an apt representative of the California attitude. Winner of the MC Battle at the 2007 Scribble Jam, the largest hip hop festival in the nation, Nocando’s mouth often seems to have a life of its own, throwing an excited energy onto any crowd he meets and providing an important connection between the music and the dance floor.

Nocando’s debut album, Jimmy the Lock, drops on Alpha Pup Records January 26th, 2010; the initial single has garnered fat reviews from widespread locales and boasts beats from the top of the Los Angeles underground: Nosaj Thing, Nobody, Daedelus, Thavius Beck, Free the Robots, Maestroe, Th’ Corn Gang and with scratching by Gaslamp Killer. The MC has also released a myriad of collaborations with artists such as Subtitle, Aceyalone, Murs, Luckyiam, Busdriver, Abstract Rude, 2mex, and many others.

Never afraid to get dirty, Nocando has won (and lost) numerous rap battles. Countless Thursday nights spent spitting freestyle in Leimert Park in the Crenshaw District of South Central L.A. established him as Project Blowed’s new school poster boy and a Customer Service hard hitter. The tireless MC has traveled to New York City, Boston, Canada, France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Japan and many other locations giving international music fans a taste of Los Angeles’ main exports: blue collars, brown skies, bright lights, and bullshit.

With almost a decade of active duty in the L.A. beat scene and plenty of battle trophies under his belt, Nocando has earned the respect of peers, veterans and newcomers alike. Unpredictable and vivacious, Nocando will light any night and every crowd with his clever words and dynamic delivery style. With the continued convergence of the hip hop and electronic music communities in Los Angeles and around the world, Nocando is poised to shout his drops from the peak of the movement all the way to the vibrating dance floor of the underground.

Open Mike Eagle || Listen
With eyes refocusing on the Los Angeles underground hip-hop scene, Open Mike Eagle is poised to become the latest in an illustrious line of MCs to step out of the Los Angeles underground and onto the national stage. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Open Mike cut his teeth rapping with fellow broad shoulder underground MCs before moving to Los Angeles in 2004. He has since settled in with LA’s Project Blowed, co-founding the crews Thirsty Fish and the Swim Team, while earning a rep as both an intelligent rhyme writer and a formidable battle MC. Gifted with a facile style, knack for droll wordplay, and penchant for penning memorable hooks that recalls fellow Blowed alums Mikah-9 and Abstract Rude, Open Mike Eagle presents art rap for the masses.