Eyedea and Abilities Have You By The Throat

A duo thoroughly steeped in hip-hop accolades, the Minnesota-based duo Eyedea and Abilities have returned with their brand new album By The Throat, out July 21st on Rhymesayers Entertainment. Their first album since the breakout 2004 release E&A, By The Throat’s songs range from intensely personal topics to the more esoteric (quantum mechanics). The end result is leaps and bounds beyond what MC Eyedea is perhaps best known for, his prowess as a battle rapper (winner of HBO’s Blaze Battle, Scribble Jam and several others). DJ Abilities, also a well-known battle vet and contributor to El-P’s now-classic Fantastic Damage, adds heavily to the sonic soundscape of this album, which advances beyond boom-bap hip-hop into rock-fueled guitar riffs, gritty production and melodic songwriting.

Eyedea and Abilities were instrumental in the wave of independent hip-hop that includes Atmosphere, El-P, Aesop Rock, Living Legends and several other seminal acts. By The Throat is their most progressive and refined effort to date.

E & A will be performing at Rhymesayers’ Soundset ’09 on May 24th and will be headlining a tour in the fall of 2009. They have also been confirmed for the following Rock the Bells dates this summer where they'll play alongside Nas, The Roots, Ice Cube, Reflection Eternal, Common, Busta Rhymes, RZA, GZA, Sage Francis and more.

Rock The Bells Tour Dates:
06.27 - Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
06.28 - Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
07.05 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheater
07.12 - Washington DC @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
07.18 - Boston, MA @ Comcast Center
07.19 - New York, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheater
08.01 - Vancouver, BC @ Deer Lake Park
08.06 - Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater
08.08 - Los Angeles, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater
08.09 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater

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