So I was checkin out my feeds and I run into my boy Fresh’s site¹ and he has in my opinion some of the best artist that you’d probably have no heard from. He was the one that put me on to Mickey Factz² and I still listen to that album on the daily. So when he has another artist featured on his site I clearly had to go check it out. Here’s what Fresh says about Ill Eagle:

“On the surface, Eagle would seem to be far removed from most definitions of what constitutes “hip hop.” He dresses more hipster than hip hop, a style he describes as “emo/punk/gangsta.” Among his musical influences, he lists Bjork, Nirvana and Mitch Hedberg. And Eagle’s music itself ventures deep into other genres, with several songs built around beats that would sound more at home at a rave or as the background music to a mosh pit.

Yet having said that, at its core The Wilhelm Scream is most definitely a hip hop album, and a very good one at that. Eagle handles himself quite well on the mic, flipping spaced-out, often comical, metaphors into lyrics that touch on some fairly deep issues - the current state of hip hop, mental illness and racial identity are just a few of the topics covered in his rhymes. It takes a lot of risks and though its not without its flaws, there is a whole lot done right on the album.“

Obviously thats right up my alley…make sure to check Ill Eagle out on MySpace³ and Imeem.

[Notes | Sources | Links]

1. Fresh’s Site - 33jones.com
2. Mickey Factz’s MySpace Page - MySpace/itzmickey
3. Ill Eagle’s MySpace Page - MySpace/illeaglethemc

Post Script
Mickey Factz has some new stuff on his myspace page where he uses old school beats and raps over them, much like with the In Search Of The Nerd stuff…