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Beans | |
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 Beans performing atCoachella in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Edward Stewart II |
| Also known as | Mr. Ballbeam |
| Born | (1971-07-03)July 3, 1971 (age 53) |
| Origin | White Plains, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Underground hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper,producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals,Moog synthesizer, programmed percussion |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Anticon,Warp,Thirsty Ear, Adored and Exploited, Tygr Rawwk Rcrds, a night on canopy |
| Website | tygrrawwkrcrds |
Robert Edward Stewart II, also known asBeans (born July 3, 1971), is an Americanrapper. He was a member of theunderground hip hop groupAntipop Consortium. He is a founder of therecord label Tygr Rawwk Rcrds.
With his distinctive, fast-flowing and poetic style, Beans amalgamates witty, thoughtful lyrics with his own productions of "Chunky psychedelic electro-hop." According to thePitchfork Media review for the albumThorns, "The MC is simply good at what he's good at, putting together bushy, crooked beats with rhymes that are both confessional and evasive."[1]
Beans has released two LPs and one EP on AntiPop Consortium's former labelWarp Records since launching his solo career in 2003:Tomorrow Right Now,Now Soon Someday EP andShock City Maverick. The third solo albumOnly was released onThirsty Ear Recordings in 2005, followed by the fourth albumThorns on Adored And Exploited in 2007
In 2011, Beans released the fifth solo album,End It All. onAnticon. It features productions byFour Tet,Sam Fogarino ofInterpol,Clark,Tobacco,Fred Bigot,Nobody,Son Lux, Ade Firth, In Flagranti, and The Bumps.
Beans has collaborated withVernon Reid ofLiving Colour,Kool A.D.,Ghislain Poirier,Arto Lindsay,Alec Empire,Funkstörung,Holy Fuck,Evil Nine,DJ Shadow among others.
In 2013, Beans collaborated withGhostly International recording artist,Mux Mool, under the name, Knifefight. The duo recorded a 6 track, cassette only release forAnticon.
In 2017, after a five-year hiatus and the completion of numerous simultaneous projects on his new imprint, Tygr Rawwk Rcrds, Beans has returned to the public eye with not one, but three new albums, as well as his first novel. Die Tonight, 174 pages of weird fiction, tells the story of Eric Ford, a teenage loner who gets possessed by a record, goes on a killing spree, and finds himself.
The first album of the music trilogy, Wolves of the World, features production from Canadian producer Toboggan. The second album, Love Me Tonight, features various producers such asSam Fogarino fromInterpol, Gobby,Laurel Halo, Container,Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe),Tobacco, andPete Swanson. Love Me Tonight delves into love and all of its manifestations, both rewarding and costly.
Lastly, HAAST, the third album deals with social issues surrounding the increased unaccountability of violence towards Black America painted in a palette of expansive experimentation. The name, HAAST, derives from an extinct species of eagle that once lived on the South Island of New Zealand around 1400. This third album finds Beans working alongsideMiami Schematic Music producerAy Fast, industrial noise duo Snake ZVK, and string composer-arranger, [Christopher Auberbach-Brown. All three albums feature guest dynamic MCs,Elucid fromArmand Hammer.
Beans has been known to perform in a wide variety of venues, from underground clubs in New York'sEast Village to festivals worldwide. In the past has taken to the stage armed with only a microphone and a portable CD player for his backing track, further reflecting the minimalist nature of his style. He has been recently performing and touring with That Kid Prolific.
Beans has performed on the same stage as acts as diverse asRadiohead,Prefuse 73,Public Enemy,Kool Keith,Edan,The Rapture,Missy Elliott,The Locust,Mike Ladd andTortoise.
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