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This is how the story of Humble Pi goes. Several years ago, a friend told the Homeboy Sandman to check out Edan’s live show. It blew his mind, and when they shared a bill together, Sandman and the DJ, producer and rapper met for the first time.

Cut to Homeboy Sandman’s turntable, where Edan’s “Promised Land” got thousands of spins in a matter of days. After exchanging texts, they started to work together, writing and recording music at Edan’s Brooklyn studio whenever they had a few open hours. Edan would create loops and rough sketches, and Sandman would provide the spark that made the music spring to life.

Together, they started cooking Humble Pi. “This isn’t something that was methodically planned,” says Edan, “More so a case of kindred spirits eventually finding each other, as life often permits.”

“I love Edan’s style —his production takes me places I’ve never gone before,” Homeboy Sandman adds. “As a rhyme partner, there’s a joy and juxtaposition in our exchange. It feels like he’s got the pieces that I need to complete certain puzzles.”

Edan and Homeboy Sandman share one goal, to reinvent the past so it feels relevant to the present day. Together, they continue a rich lineage: welcome to the 2018 iteration of the hip-hop duo. Think of Mantronix and Just Ice, Showbiz & AG, Organized Konfusion, the RZA and GZA, Madlib and Doom, and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (if Jazz had bars).

They make a lethal combination, Edan’s intricate beats the perfect foil for Sandman’s goofy, self-effacing stream-of-consciousness raps. Although serious about the integrity of their art, they’re determined to have fun. As Sandman puts it, “We allowed ourselves to be open, honest, playful, serious, abstract and conceptual all at the same time.”

And what exactly is Humble Pi? “We’re serving humble pi,” says Sandman. “Humble math. Pi is a magic number.” Magic and humility, he says, can coexist. “From time to time folks need a couple slices of humble pie as a reminder of real magic.”

Queens MC Homeboy Sandman is an ex-law student turned rapper. He signed to Stones Throw in 2012 and since then has released four albums, five solo EPs and two EPs with Aesop Rock, all of which exhibit boundless creativity and Olympian rhyme skill. Fellow New Yorker Edan is best known for his 2005 hip-hop masterpiece Beauty and the Beat. In contrast with Sandman, he he’s been as rare on the rap scene as the MC has been prolific, only releasing the odd psychedelic mix and popping up every so often for a live show. Humble Pi is his first full-length album in thirteen years.

In Edan, Sandman has found a match to his virtuosity. Sandman meanwhile has coaxed the best work from the producer since Beauty and the Beat. “I greatly appreciate and admire
Sandman’s Zen-like ability to simply do,” says Edan. “He’s prolific. He’s not a time-waster. Any endeavor he’s involved in is fundamentally positive, and as a result his energy is
forward-moving. I love the wide range of his writing, and ultimately the humanity in it. It’s often very down-to-earth and honest.”

Sandman’s sorcery stands out on “That Moment When”, a taut song packed with detail. It’s the most real knowledge of self: the epiphany that you still know very little. Edan’s beat chimes in as an unseen third character, a glittering soundtrack to this neurotic hell.

In “Grim Seasons”, each suite of the beat corresponds to a different time of the year as Sandman raps about barren trees and black ice, and bids good riddance to frostbite. In “The
Gut”, his raps leap over rollicking carnival beat before Edan soars in with his own lines about flying saucers and iron horses. “#NeverUseTheInternetAgain” rails against the inane
temptations of the digital world, and on “Rock and Roll Indian Dance” Edan and Sandman channel the playfulness of Biz Markie, De La Soul, and Rammellzee.

This fall, let Homeboy Sandman and Edan take you on their bizarre ride

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