Also known as Mr. Ballbeam Genres Underground hip hop Role Rapper Name Robert Stewart, II | Years active 1996-present Occupation(s) Rapper, producer | |
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Birth name Robert Edward Stewart, II Born July 3, 1971 (age 52) ( 1971-07-03 ) Origin White Plains, New York, United States Instruments Vocals, Moog synthesizer, programmed percussion Music groups Antipop Consortium, Knifefight (Since 2013) Albums End It All, Tomorrow Right Now, Now Soon Someday, Knives From Heaven, Fluorescent Black Profiles | ||
Beans (born Robert Edward Stewart, II) is a rapper from White Plains, New York. He was a member of the underground hip hop group Antipop Consortium. He is a founder of the record label Tygr Rawwk Rcrds.
Contents
Style
With his distinctive, fast-flowing and poetic style, Beans amalgamates witty, thoughtful lyrics with his own productions of "Chunky psychedelic electro-hop." According to the Pitchfork Media review for the album Thorns, "The MC is simply good at what he's good at, putting together bushy, crooked beats with rhymes that are both confessional and evasive."
History
Beans has released two LPs and one EP on AntiPop Consortium's former label Warp Records since launching his solo career in 2003: Tomorrow Right Now, Now Soon Someday EP and Shock City Maverick. The third solo album Only was released on Thirsty Ear Recordings in 2005, followed by the fourth album Thorns on Adored And Exploited in 2007.
In 2011, Beans released the fifth solo album, End It All. on Anticon. It features productions by Four Tet, Sam Fogarino of Interpol, Clark, Tobacco, Fred Bigot, Nobody, Son Lux, Ade Firth, In Flagranti, and The Bumps.
Beans has collaborated with Vernon Reid of Living Colour, Kool A.D., Ghislain Poirier, Arto Lindsay, Alec Empire, Funkstörung, Holy Fuck, Evil Nine, DJ Shadow among others.
In 2013, Beans collaborated with Ghostly International recording artist, Mux Mool, under the name, Knifefight. The duo recorded a 6 track, cassette only release for Anticon.
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 as Sam Fogarino from Interpol, Gobby, Laurel Halo, Container, Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe),Tobacco, and Pete 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 alongside Miami Schematic Music producer Ay Fast, industrial noise duo Snake ZVK, and string composer-arranger, Christopher Auberbach- Brown. All three albums feature guest dynamic MC, Elucid from Cult Favorite
Live performance
Beans has been known to perform in a wide variety of venues, from underground clubs in New York's East 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 as Radiohead, Prefuse 73, Public Enemy, Kool Keith, Edan, The Rapture, Missy Elliott, The Locust, Mike Ladd and Tortoise.
Discography
"Knifefight Ep" Produced by Mux Mool