Wednesday 22 May 2019

Oi Drizzle

Fuck being snarky, Messy Mart is complicated. As, indeed, is Edan's music.


1. Can't front, back in 2001 I dismissed Edan as a period-piece pastiche artist with an amusing Ultramagnetic MC's homage and was only interested in him as a DJ. It wasn't until a year later I became a fan of his music after catching a live show where he flipped my script with Run That Shit! and the Emcees Smoke Crack remix.

2. What I dig about Edan's best shit is that it has a similar strain of smart-arse bratty humour to Paul's Boutique-era Beastie Boys but from the perspective of a super-scientifikal Rap savant who uses Percee P's Lung Collapsing Lyrics as a Rosetta Stone. Also, his beats knock.

3. I only ride for Edan as a singles artist - as in, you don't really need to bother with any of his 3 albums because you can find all his best songs on his various 12"s, EP's, and 7"s (Primitive Plus does have a few jams, though tbf.)

4. I've never undertood the luv for Beauty And The Beat. Nowt to do with the switch in production sound, and everything to do with his smart-arse bratty humour being replaced with those painfully earnest Hip Hop Historian 101 rhymes.

5. Were there many other Rappers "feasibly in the same ballpark" as Edan? Aside from maybe J-Zone, I can't think of a single other Rapper from the late 90s/early '00s indie-Rap scene who was making music as simultaneously funny & funky as Edan's best shit (no A.C The P.D @ funny & funky.)

6. Edan is responsible for me enjoying Mr. Lif - a feat no other producer has managed thus far. Ditto Homeboy Sandman.

7. Anbody else ever get weirded out by Edan's scatalogical obsession? No shotz/shitz, but he definitely comes across as the sort of bloke who might have rubbed one out to 2 Girls, 1 Cup.

**EDIT** Per request, strictly from singles top 10 Edan joints:

Edan ft. Skillz Ferguson - The E's Have It (1999)
Edan - Migraine (1999)
Edan - Ultra '88 (2001)
Edan ft. Mr. Lif - Rapperfection (2001)
Edan ft. Skillz Ferguson - Adrenaline Rush (2001)
Edan - Run That Shit! (2002)
Edan ft. Skillz Ferguson - Clinical Rhymes (2002)
Edan - Emcees Smoke Crack (Remix) (2002)
Edan - I'll Come Running Back To You (2002)
Edan - Funky Rhyming (2005)

8 comments:

Employee's wheelchair said...

I nominated Jay Seagraves for president.

L.A said...

Edan live >>>>> most rappers

Benjamin Carlson said...

Edan on record = Generic Four Elements TalibKweliban, beloved by "Real Hip Hop" bores.

Edan on stage = epic.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

The Edan songs I like certainly aren't "Generic Four Elements TalibKweliban"

Kweli would never make a song about a kleptomaniac stick-up kid who ends up jacking people for their pet dogs and little brothers.

Vinegar Tits said...

At least that Mr. Lif hippy finally got a haircut you can set your watch by:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCtqURU5IYc

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Smooooooth operator, kiiiiid.

Anonymous said...

So where's that best of Edan playlist?

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Lemme edit the post with a quick list.