Michael Larson a.k.a Eyedea (November 9, 1981 – October 16, 2010). Was a popular underground recording artist from St. Paul, Minnesota and signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment. Originally known primarily for his battle raps. For which he won national prominence by winning the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO. And from which the rumour appeared that he had been approached by Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs and offered a recording contract with Bad Boy Records. Which he was also rumoured to have turned down. If this deal had happened, then who knows just where Eyedea’s career would have ended up?

Eyedea was renowned for his freestyle ability and this was one of the cornerstones of his career. His creativity being the other notable cornerstone one which all of his releases were built. This was also the great downfall in a lot of his earlier releases. Notably ‘First Born’, this was a case of the ideas in an artists head being far higher than their obvious ability at the time. This was not helped by a set of lacklustre beats by DJ Abilities. But every great artist needs a base point to work from, and First Born was just the base. The ideas and beliefs expressed within First Born were built upon in each subsequent release, be it with DJ Abilities or with one of the many avant garde collectives that he associated himself with.

Michael Larson’s life ended on October 16th 2010 unexpectedly for just about everyone. On November 18th 2010 it was officially announced that the cause of death was accidental overdose from opiate toxicity. The drugs that were found in his system are not public information.

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