Friday, January 2, 2015

Eyedeas Never Die

This post is a little different from what I typically post, but it's something (someone) who's been on my mind lately. Micheal "Eyedea" Larsen was an incredibly talented underground hip-hop artist from Minnesota who left this world at a young age but with an incredible legacy. He was a little under a year and a half younger than me, and ever since the first time I heard him on the track "Savior?" with Slug and Sole, I felt an instant connection with him. In 2000, while I was living in Haiti, I was delighted to see him get a national platform to display his talent by winning the HBO Blaze freestyle rap battle. His body perished in October 2010 at age 28 of an accidental drug overdose. As a person who writes rap lyrics and poetry myself, the content and cadence of his lyrics were exactly how I write. I've always felt out of place on this earth. Some of his lyrics on that particular track were:

"I've sipped the cup of reality, now my brain is dying
I try and explain I'm not human, now my room is an insane asylum
.......
Hey, I knew my origin was beyond this galaxy, even as a baby
I asked the ones who told to call parents and they said I was crazy
......
I'm like a polar bear living in the equator
Or an ice cube in the refrigerator
I'm outta place and outer space is where I need to get ya'll
So when you come down, just remember I'm leaving with ya'll"

As the years passed I got a bit disconnected from following the hip-hop scene. It wasn't until after learning of his death that I sought out more of his music. To this day, there are two particular songs that he made that are so enlightened and profound, I listen to them while I jog and meditate and get my perspective aligned and feel my connection as part of the whole. I wanted to share them, because they are two of the songs that hold the most meaning and inspiration to me. I am inspired to know that he left this art behind for generations to come, and Eyedeas never die. He truly was ahead of his time.




His mother still uses his website as a personal blog to help with her healing from the pain of his passing. http://www.micheallarsen.com/ I wanted to use my blog as a platform to send some love and light in her direction, and let her know that her son's legacy will live on forever through the many lives that he has touched and will continue to touch. He is one of my single biggest inspirations and reasons why I have this blog and am writing my book. Thank you, Mikey. Thank you for contributing your part to this universe.

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