Open Mike Eagle

Open Mike Eagle coined the term "art rap" for his own brand of hip-hop - literate, deadpan, and more interested in the textures of everyday anxiety than in standard rap bravado. A Chicago native who grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes and later migrated to Los Angeles to join the Project Blowed collective, he debuted solo in 2010 and has spent the years since building one of underground rap's most singular catalogs. His 2017 album Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, a tribute to his since-demolished childhood housing project, remains his most widely praised work. He also established himself as a comedian and podcast host, co-hosting The New Negroes on Comedy Central and founding his own imprint, Auto Reverse Records, in 2018.