Although Pedestrian's first album (Volume One: unIndian Songs) was just recently released, the Anticon cofounder's been wowing hip-hop fans with his unique brand of high-concept rap for nearly 10 years. So what took him so long to issue a full-length?
"I make music slowly," the Oakland-based MC explains. "I enjoy the process of writing lyrics more than anything, so I tend to take my time with it and let the space between completing one song and starting the next one drag out for long stretches."
But it's not just Pedestrian's attention to detail that's held things up; if the rapper's recording pace has been less than frenetic, blame his laundry list of outside commitments. Between finishing a degree at UC Berkeley, manning the retails racks at Amoeba and publishing record reviews and essays (his analysis of "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh should be required reading in racial studies classes), Pedestrian is a seriously busy guy.
Unsurprisingly, unIndian Songs is uber-eclectic - influences range from jazz singer Annie Ross to Czech novelist Milan Kundera to mid-'90's Project Blowed freestyle battles. The end product is a smart and studied stylistic mash-up that's well worth the wait.
[SM]