It’s almost been two weeks since the world of underground and freestyle rap lost one of its greatest. Michael “eyedea” Larsen died in his sleep October 16, at the age of 28. I have been going back and forth for the past two weeks trying to decide if making a commemorative blog post was a good idea, but I have decided he deserved the honor.
Michael, known for his work in groups Eyedea & Abilities, Face Candy, Oliver Hart, and Carbon Carousel, was deeply admired and loved by friends and family. Gaining attention on the freestyle rap circuit during his teenage years, Michael was a self-taught musician and extremely gifted artist. Certainly I cannot even begin to do his life justice. His family at Rhymesayers Entertainment has put together this commemorative page for all things Eyedea, which everyone should check out. Rhymesayers artists, including Slug, Brother Ali, Siddiq, and friends of Michael, such as Sage Francis and the Grouch, all got together to record a radio tribute last weekend too, which everyone should give a listen to here.
If you aren’t familiar with Eyedea’s music, check him out. His message was so meaningful, it is difficult to fathom. I was personally fortunate enough to see E&A live a few months ago, brush shoulders and share a few words with Eyedea, and while his presence was huge, he was one of the goofiest and nicest people I’ve been around. Although his death is a tragic loss, there’s still a lot that can be learned from him. In his words, the only thing he ever wanted to advertise to fans was to “love people”.
The world will miss his talent, his depth, and his love. But it’s never too late to listen to what he had to say. As Eyedea’s friend, Slug of Atmosphere, said in a song more than a decade ago: writers never die.