A triple bill of crafty, progressive Indie Hip Hop artists have joined forces for the national “The Dear Hunter Tour” this summer and it’s coming to Cincinnati to give local Hip Hop fans not only something great to do on a Tuesday night, but also an excellent, diverse and unpredictable concert that will cost them well below what it’s worth (it’s a free show).
Headlining the tour is Homeboy Sandman, a dynamic Queens, N.Y.-born MC whose new release,
All That I Hold Dear, comes out exactly one week before his Cincinnati tour stop. Sandman records for Stones Throw, the esteemed indie label that has put out some of the most creative Hip Hop of the past couple of decades including Madvillainy, from the duo of Madlib and MF Doom (aka Madvillain), and projects by late modern production legend J Dilla (including his classic instrumental album, Donuts, just before he passed away in ’06).
Artistically verbose, Homeboy Sandman would have been a poet if he were born 100 years ago. Sandman twists words like Silly Putty, his lyrics filled with rhymes within rhymes (within rhymes) and delivered in a variety of unanticipated, mind-bending flows. His tracks range from minimal and ambient to soulful and jazzy to quirky and trippy, as he raps about everything from social issues to interpersonal ones, dropping off-the-wall humor and intelligent insight with equal flair.
Sandman is touring with a pair of equally compelling and likeminded (yet still quite unique) MCs. “Unapologetic Art Rap” king and acrobatic lyricist Open Mike Eagle (born in Chicago, based in L.A.) has collaborated with artists like Busdriver, Sole and P.O.S., while his razor-sharp wit (present in his lyrics and actually-funny skits, a lost artform in Hip Hop) has put him in cahoots with comedians like
Hannibal Buress, Paul F. Tompkins and Marc Maron (Mike recently appeared on Maron’s incredibly popular WTF podcast). Random (or Mega Ran — either seems cool with him) is a former English teacher who has found a fervent audience in the worlds of Chiptune and Nerdcore; thanks to his smart use of vintage electronic sounds and rampant videogame references, he is by far the artist on this tour with the most coverage from videogame magazines.
HOMEBODY SANDMAN plays Tuesday, Aug. 12 in a free show Northside Tavern in Northside with Open Mike Eagle and Random aka Mega Ran as part of "The Dear Hunter Tour." Check out performance times and get venue details here .
