Beauty And The Beat (one of the few truly great rap albums of recent years) blew me away then and continues age well. Like me, you’re probably waiting for another Edan release, another glimpse of his advancement as an emcee/DJ/producer. He could drop a purley instrumental project right now and I’d be more than interested. Yet he’s only done a few things sparingly since Beauty And The Beat, no full album, not even an EP, just random cameos via singles, remixes, and guest spots.

I interviewed him a couple years ago for Slap Magazine where we spoke about his career up to that point. This is a side talk from that conversation, us nerding out to old rap records and their respective eras. Here, Edan explores “Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme”, a track from Beauty where he identifies his influences by name. He shows a lot of respect—and knowledge—for hip-hop’s foundational sound, which is perhaps why his work is so textured. This interview really gives a glimpse of where his influences and tastes come from. Plus, I really dig how he answers the last question. Here’s to your next album, Mr. Donavexxxxxx.

So why’d you write “Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme’’?
In my mind, just being a fan, I realize that I had assembled some sort of chronology. I felt like, in some ways it’s a good way to show respect and just it makes for a nice constructive song. I also had the sample for the main chorus loop and that basically posed the question of what would be a good embellishment for that hook? In other words, what would the verses have to be for that chorus to be the cherry on top? And that led me to do some emceeing, rather than kick some battle bullshit.

Describe the lyrics. Was it hard to pick and choose who to overlook and who to keep?
I basically took the opportunity to cite cats in order. And a lot of people are gonna say Biggie was the best, Ice Cube was the best, Jay Z is the best, but those aren’t the types of emcees that make me want to rhyme. They’re great, don’t get me wrong. But for whatever reason, the cats that made me want to rhyme had minds that were more like jazz musicians or like a sax soloists.

Explain that a bit more.
Their control of rhythm reminds me of Jazz. So cats like Rakim, or how [Big Daddy] Kane finesses it, they all are very conscious of what is going on. Emcees that I have an affinity for have dope voices or flavor that aren’t usually not mentioned. I also upped T La Rock because he was a pioneer that used big words and tried to sound futuristic. That became very popular during the ‘84-‘85 era, so he’s kind of a pioneer in that thing. Continue reading “Tapedeck Sprained: Interview With Edan” →