Edan freestyles and DJ’s at the same damn time in this promo for Daptone’s upcoming Poets Of Rhythm anthology due Oct. 1st.

Don’t know how we missed this, but it comes from DJ Format’s new LP, Statement of Intent. Considering raps by Edan are so rare these days, we’re happy to have this. Video production by Tim Crawley.

In other Edan news, he is working on a “psych/soul/break mix”, a rock EP, and a “rapp” EP.

This kind of thing usually doesn’t excite us, but it’s rare we get new material from Edan. Here he drops an exclusive verse at the Jazz Cafe in London, earlier this month. Don’t front, he kills ‘em with the super-scientifical madness.

That was just something I did for the fuck of it and became one of those bonus things you get when you order shit from [HipHopSite.Com]. That’s all it was. I cannot remember if I did it specifically for promotional shit or if it was just something laying around that I gave them. That was like 2002, a while ago.

Quick Mix Parrty was given away with orders for Edan’s Sprain Your Tapedeck EP in 2002. If memory serves correctly, it was something “just laying around” that Edan sent us to use as an incentive item.

Edan – “Quick-Mix Parrty”

Edan just held a screening for the film tonight in Boston, which drops November 9th.

Produced/directed by Tom Fitzgerald, Cut Chemist’s go-to video man who works also for Cinefamily in L.A., Edan’s Echo Party Movie is a fast-paced, retro onglomeration of unrelated and interesting video clips from the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s that prove to be like a Sour Patch Kid for the eye. Cut in perfect harmony with Edan’s music, the movie is an ideal synch for Echo Party’s multi-elemental vibe where, using Traffic’s extensive back catalogue of old school hip-hop, Edan mixes, reworks, and adds layers of his own instrumentation to create an eclectic blend of psychedlia and beats. The movie cuts in and out of old Indian/Bollywood films, spray painting graffiti artists, children operating computers, vintage ads, risque cartoons, and everything in between. Like the LP, each DVD cover is hand-stamped by the artist himself in one of five unique designs adding further to the artistic flair that could only be Edan’s.

Available via Access Hip-Hop.

Edan may have only released three full-length albums, but he’s managed to reach legendary status amongst hip-hop heads and old school purists. An acquired taste, Edan has nailed what made hip-hop great in the 1980’s and regurgitated it into his own modern sound, best exemplified on his Primitive Plus and Beauty and The Beat LP’s. Two years ago, Edan’s distributor, Traffic Entertainment Group began fielding calls about when Edan would release his next rap record. But with no release date in sight, they came up with an idea to tide the fans over – that being, giving Edan full access to their catalog to make a funky mixtape. And that means stuff from guys like Spyder-D, not Spider Loc.

The end result is a labor of love that takes form in a just-under-30 minute megamix called Echo Party. Edan The DJ rapes the crates of vintage record labels like Magic Records, Chocolate Star, P&P and others, and creates an almost indistinguishable mix of breaks, beats, and vocals. More than just mixing his favorite records together, Edan lends his skill as a producer, deconstructing and reconstructing these classic tracks, adding his own effects, instrumentation, and kazoos to the mix. It all comes together in a non-stop work of art that not only shows off Edan’s knowledge of prehistoric hip-hop, but also his vision as a producer.

While the mix can be overly experimental from time-to-time, it merely teases the palette, leaving listeners looking for another vocal LP from Edan. His one of a kind style makes him something special in this overcrowded market of “artists” that have nothing original to bring to the table, so in one sense, the release of a mixtape after a five year dry spell is a little disheartening – but it’s better than nothing! However, Echo Party does bring one interesting thought to the table…. Perhaps Traffic will allow Edan access to their catalog to produce his next vocal album…. – DJ Pizzo

Edan: I ain’t trying shit.  My hair growing is a result of NOT trying.  Haircuts are a result of motherfuckers exerting effort, taking scissors to their shit.

HHS: Most fans probably don’t know this, but your father was involved with booking artists back in the days when the MCI Center in D.C was known as the Capital Center, did this in anyway spurn your future choice of profession?

Edan: Your facts are distorted, bro.  My pops never booked anybody.  He more or less worked security.  Because of his connects though, I once helped build one of those blimps that flew around the arena during Wrestlemania or some shit.  Seeing dudes like Ultimate Warrior, or somebody behind-the-scenes all done up with the tassels, but then talking about some regular-ass shit like hamburgers or highway traffic is a surreal experience…

HHS: There are so many styles and different musical elements purveying throughout Beauty And The Beat and it’s not an easy task to cohesively commingle such a wide array of musical elements and samples, how long did it take you to complete this LP?

Edan: In a general sense, this LP is a composite of my experiences starting from day one, some twenty-odd years ago.  More specifically though, it took about two and a half years on and off.; definitely a slow-cooked meal.  I do this shit when I feel some inspiration…I can no longer squeeze out a bunch of songs, or whatever, just to meet some quota.  On the real, I might take a 17- year hiatus between albums, go off to the mountains and study chess if my heart beckons, come back in the year 2022 and drop a new project like nothing happened.  I might decide to build mobiles, or some shit like Alexander Calder…

HHS: You and Insight seemed to have formed a very obvious chemistry, which you again display on “Funky Voltron” & “The Science Of The Two.”  Can u pinpoint the science of that chemistry?  What makes it click?

Edan: We both view hip-hop as a limitless art form.  That’s the glue, son.  Plus we’re both triple threats.  We both build entire albums from the ground up.  We’ll come at you on the rhymes, beats and the cuts too!  We’ll do all that and collect a check three times the size of the emcee in your crew.  Comparisons don’t really apply to those who just do one or the other.  Some cats might not like my beats but they like the rhymes, or they like the mixtapes or all three.  Its all good…come to the live show.   You’ll have to respect at least one aspect of how we get down, unless you’re a bitter,
cynical asshole.

HHS: On “Smile” you chronicle the story of an artist who on the surface appears to have it all, but behind the stage persona, their lies a completely different facade, one that is mired in depression and angst.  Was this track written about someone you have come into contact with or prior knowledge of?

Edan: Well, throughout life, I’ve come across some people that have some genius to them. And it often seems like a blessing and a curse at the same time.  Their imaginations are just as likely to tread those dark places as they are the fertile, self-empowering regions of the mind…I, personally, am no genius, but I have been in situations where I’m expected to perform, or to love music and be in top form, even while suffering through a depression, for instance.  The “Smile” track sort of acknowledges the dual-mind of the artist, or the clown-entertainer crying on the inside– if you will.

HHS: On “Rock And Roll” you throw a jab at Lenny Kravitz.  Besides, making a career out of borrowing other peoples styles to sell millions of records, boning an endless array of models and actresses and making Gap Commercials, what’s Lenny done to you?

Edan: Actually, I don’t really mind Lenny Kravitz personally; that was more of a symbolic lyric on the record.  You know what?  Actually, It’d be interesting to see what would happen to Lenny Kravitz’s career if he were to get like a really fucked-up case of acne for like three years or so…

HHS: Not too get overly abstract here, but you say the underlying message of Beauty And The Beat is to paraphrase “imagination and its power can overcome all that is perilous with positivity and love.”  In these days and times when war is so prevalent and so highly debated, that’s a heavy statement you’re making there, can you get any deeper and really clarify what you mean with that?

Edan: It’s simply time to use our potential and overpower all this negative shit.  Love can be the source of all things for you.  Enough with the greed, enough racism.  Stop being a little bitch that needs a force field of machismo, starting fights at dingy-ass clubs.   Be kind to people.  Respect the earth and the universe and all of its principles.  Realize that we are all kin.  The same energy that birthed the plants, animals and elements, gave you YOUR existence.  Check it, your mind is fertile soil, your thoughts are seeds and your actions are the sunlight and water that can bring all things into fruition.  Plant that positive seed; think the most glorious thoughts that you can possibly imagine.  Your next instinct will be to see if you can make those thoughts reality.  For example, if dudes keep saying that the world is going to end, then people start to believe it and then it slowly becomes reality.  But if we all start saying that the human race will thrive and harmonize, then that’ll soon become the consensus and the next step will be to act on it and make it happen.  I’m just saying, your thoughts are powerful seeds, so try to plant some good ones in there before you go and do some bullshit.

HHS: The music you create is widely respected by peers and critics alike and it seems as if you would be a perfect fit on a more branded label (a few come immediately to mind), have you gotten overtures from more established labels?  Word is that a few of the major Indy labels have made overtures to express there interest in working with you, why you have relented so far?

Edan: I’ve had offers from two of the biggest Indy labels in the U.S.  I just know that right now, I’m trying to establish my own niche before getting swept up under somebody else’s umbrella.  The heads of any of these respected Indy labels all exerted crazy time and effort to cultivate their brand into something respectable and unique.  I’m just trying to do the same shit for myself.  After Lewis Recordings, I’ll probably start selling shit MORE independently.  Who knows?  I might even cut out distro and retailers fuck it; I’ve got the live show hustle.  We’ve got internet and shit like Paypal now.   It’s time to cut out the middle men.  That way, even if I only sell 10,000 units, I’m still getting over.  Having said all that, I’m always down to experiment with like-minded individuals whether it be on the art side or the business end.

HHS: You’re very multi-dimensional, a DJ, producer and an emcee.  Is there any one facet that you get more personal satisfaction from at this juncture?  One that is more rewarding to you, or one that you feel you’re more advanced in right now?

Edan: It’s all one continuous uphill climb.  One aspect influences the other.  I might pull out a record like G Rap “Road To The Riches” and the rhymes’ll be crazy enough to make a dude want to write his own shit, then you’ll have the beat Marley cooked up behind that shit, with ‘Stiletto’ in there, next thing you know, I’ll be cutting up copies of ‘Stiletto’ or ‘Assembly Line’ or some shit…whatever…it all comes around 360 degrees.

HHS: Being an artist as well as a fan, from your perspective, aside from being more accessible and a part of our everyday culture now, what’s the biggest difference between the Hiphop that was released a decade ago and what is prevalently heard today?

Edan: I know you’ve heard it before, but the magnitude of the pay-off is the biggest difference today and it affects this shit sonically.  Cats today see this as a business hustle FIRST.  They used to idealize the artistic aspects a bit more and THEN try to ensure that their business was correct to top it off.  The idea of “art” is a well-publicized joke now.  Cats today are all about rhyming lazy while playing “the game” attentively and they’re playin’ that shit, but they’re doing it atop crumbling foundations.  They don’t really give a shit if their aura or artistic approach is sharp/innovative.  A lot of these cats just wanna hit lotto.  There’s a bunch of starving motherfuckers who are waiting in line to show their asses any way that the company man wants them to.  And even the so-called rebellious youth, who usually don’t go for that shit, are emulating and embracing the sleaze shit that’s beingperpetuated, because that’s all they have to choose from.  If we continue to place more value on the dollar then on our own legacy, our own spiritual and imaginative power, then you’re just gonna end up seeing a bunch of shiny cars and shit next to a bunch of ugly, cold-hearted motherfuckers, not smiling.  Our potential is much, much greater than that.  Capitalism, in theory, is supposed to bring out the best in society through competitive survival, but right now, we’re seeing some lame-ass side effects of this capitalism shit.

HHS: After you drop Beauty And The Beat on us, what’s next for Edan?  What’s the next step in your evolution as an artist?

Edan: At this point, artistically, my mind is an open book with no specific literature within its pages.  I’m open to anything that this life wishes to show me.  I know for certain that I will never rush something that I’m involved in.  If a project takes three years, then it takes three years.  Right now, I need to travel, do the shows, meet the people, etc.  When all of that starts to die down, then I’ll have to live a little, collect my thoughts, get upset, get inspired, splash some paint around and prepare to climb Mount Everest all over again…

     Beauty and The Beat picks up where his debut left off, but takes the artist in a new direction. This time influenced by 60′s psychedelic rock, Beauty and The Beat borrows plenty of samples from the Woodstock era, yet fuses them with Edan’s signature lo-fi boom bap and fresh-for-88 lyrical delivery. But while Edan’s style has always been rooted in the sounds of the past, through his lyrical content, he still keeps things interesting without pigeonholing himself as a “retro” emcee. 

     The album is jumped off with “Funky Voltron”, finding Edan trading mics with frequent fellow Boston partner in rhyme, Insight, as the two allow a moment to introduce themselves over a dirty funk loop, complete with positive affirmations from sampled singing soul sisters. While this track is rooted in the usual dirty funk that Edan is usually associated with, he shifts courses on following tracks “I See Colours”, an ode to pink elephants “without the LSD”. And again on, “Fumbling Over Words Over That Rhyme”, which acts as a quick rundown of the evolution of 15 years of classic hip-hop artists, giving even the most educated head a piece of unknown knowledge (check yourselves, Pitchfork). 

    After these opening cuts set the stage for the album, things really start to get interesting. “Murder Mystery” is a completely stoned narrative where Edan paints a beautiful one-verse portrait, which leads right into the ridiculous “Torture Chamber”, the first in a series of three raw, mic-ripping collaborations. Here, we find Edan teaming up with the legendary Percee-P, for a take-no-prisoners lesson in Ultra-esque battle rhyming. Followed with “Making Planets”, we find Edan opening the cut over a mellow bassline “laying the foundation for future foundations”, with a surprise appearance from Mr. Lif, who comes out of nowhere spitting lyrical witchcraft (which sounds a lot doper on wax than it does on paper). Finally, “Rock and Roll” completes the trilogy, as Edan crafts one of his illest beats yet, on the backbone of chopped guitars and dirty drums, as virtual unknown, Dagha, makes a name for himself ripping mics with classic 80′s delivery and attitude. 

     Towards the end of the album, things get even iller; such is the case of “Beauty”, a three and half-minute excursion that somewhat picks up where “Murder Mystery” left off. Here Edan “uses pens like hallucinogens”, splashing the canvas with another poetically dope and equally strange narrative, that recalls trips to Twin Peaks’ Black Lodge, if not acting as the rap equivalent to a Salvador Dali painting. He winds things down with “Smile”, a somewhat depressing narrative about the run-off-the-mill sad clown emcee, built brilliantly off of the sampled hook which tells the same story. The album ends with “Promised Land”, the ultimate in rap braggadocio, as Edan casually recounts times that he “did a show on a fireball” and “punched the sphinx in the nose ’til the nose decomposed”, among other great feats. 

    Beauty and The Beat presents a more focused, more mature, but equally weird Edan, and presents equal satisfaction, if not more, than his debut did. Once again showcasing equal talent both behind the board and on the mic, Edan is a representative of an artist with longevity in hip-hop - one who will forever be able to make a record, without having to rely on someone else to produce or rap it for him. At only 35 minutes in length, there is little room for error, instead just a tightly knit package. As one long, continuous, evolving piece of music, Beauty and The Beat plays like this year’s answer to Madvillainy - an experimental, intelligent hip-hop album, in it’s essence. While this type of thing might not be for everyone, longtime fans and hopefully many new ones will appreciate the trip.

Those who were listening to hip-hop in the 1980′s will undoubtedly appreciate this album, but so will those listeners who jumped on within the last five to ten years, as Edan’s music flawlessly seams the raw production of the early days, with the experimental, off-the-wall flows of today. Not only that, this young prodigy is also a “One Man Arsenal”, showing his skills at hip-hop’s triathlon, excelling as an emcee, deejay, and producer.

The 808 beats on this album may throw younger listeners for a curveball, as they are incredibly gritty, paying homage to a number of early hip-hop all-stars, such as “Humble Magnificent”, which would make Showbiz proud, or “Migrane”, which sounds like it could have ended up somewhere on Eric B. & Rakim’s Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em. Edan even goes as far as to do an impersonation of one of his forefathers, a pre-Octagon era Kool Keith, as he flawlessly spits Rhythm X’s style on “Ultra ’88 (Tribute)”, fooling the audience into believing this was a leftover from Critical Beatdown.

It may take the more straightforward emcee smashing and vocabulary acrobatics on tracks like “You Suck”, “Mic Manipulator”, “Syllable Practice (Original)”, or “Rapperfection” (feat. Mr. Lif ) to reel in the average listener, but a few listens to the album and you’ll be cracking a smile at his funnier selections like “Emcees Smoke Crack” or “Run That Shit!”. Even stranger yet are tracks like “Number One Hit Record” and “Primitive Plus”, as Edan serves up hilarious and equally poetic emceeing on each, with plenty of rewind value here, and not much fast-forwarding necessary at all.

Like Jurassic 5 are today’s preservationists of the Cold Crush era, Edan holds that same title for the Cold Chillin’ era. We’ve seen emcees try to take it back with measly remakes and cover-songs for the sake of nostalgia, but no one can do it better than Edan, who’s recorded an original album in 2001, which could easily be mistaken for something that was over ten-years old. Not since J-Zone has an artist emerged with such raw-talent, originality, plus the strength of an emcee and a producer, excelling equally in both areas. And where else in 2002 are you going to find a rapper who ends his verse with “My occupation’s rockin’ nations and I treasure the job. It’s like that!”. Fresh.

Edan is definitely backpack rap’s next star child. If he didn’t sell you with “You Suck”, check both sides of his new 12″. He demonstrates ridiculous vocabulary gymnatstics on “Drop Some Smooth Lyrics”, while doing a flawless (and dare I say, almost flipping it even better than the man himself), impression of Kool Keith, circa 1988. It’s amazing that this kid is still unsigned. – Pizzo