Beans

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the wonderful world of BEANS, aka Mr. Ballbeam. Hip-hop rebel. Wordsmith extraordinaire. Sonic architect. Fashion renegade. Published poet. Culture star.

BEANS is one of the founding members of the legendary NYC progressive rap crew Anti-Pop Consortium who emerged among the musical and stylistic pioneers in defining underground hip-hop.

With lyrical virtuosity and vanguard production with straight bangers, BEANS harkens back to the glory days when all it seemed to take was real talent, real passion and the desire to actually be real and simply shine to succeed. Don’t be fooled – the success is real and BEANS has toured with incredibly diverse and talented artists such as Radiohead, DJ Shadow, Arto Lindsay, Prefuse 73, Ratatat, The Rapture, Tortoise, Kool Keith, Public Enemy and Battles among many others.

BEANS has displayed his multitudinous skills and the response has been deafening. The latest arsenal in his assault on the senses is his fourth album entitled, THORNS, which is more straightforward and emotional in content yet more textured and dense in production. Special guest appearances include Dabrye and Holy Fuck on several collaborations.

Kick back and throw on your favorite headphones - THORNS is an album you don't have to cut yourself to enjoy…

Press

"This is Beans universe now - we just live in it." XLR8R

"Mostly self-produced, with key assists from Holy Fuck and Dabrye (who contributes the percussive boom of "Thundermouth"), his fourth album pushes those musical and lyrical concepts to thrilling extremes. On "Fingers," he boasts not of his rap-star omnipotence, but of his brash outsider status: "I stand out like a three-piece suit during an orgy," SPIN

"Fiercely talented and out-there…Thorns proves that Beans can smoothly career between maximalism and minimalism when he’s in his element, building on the sci-fi slam poetry heritage he created with High Priest, M. Sayyid and Earl Blaize," Pitchfork

"Bean's follow up abum Shock City Maverick finds him pushing complex  rhyme schemes ever further into the future. This effort easily lives up to its predecessors' standard of excellence,and with it, Beans points the way for hip-hop to fully embrace the digital world while retaining the energy of its origins," Time Out New York

"One of the funkiest, weirdest, most creative hiphop records of the year." CMJ

"Beans continues to push things forward with a thrilling jigsaw puzzle of hip-hop electro, funk, IDM and drop-dead coolness. If anything could sum up the sound of New York City right now, it's this." Village Voice

"Whether it's the slow sputter of "Light of the Damned", the cardboard box beating "Papercut" or "You're Dead, Let's Disco", you're bound by  Beans' jutting, commanding voice and its messianic messages," Chord

"I realize that Beans comes from another planet: Planet Dope!" Ghettoblaster

"Beans' latest finds him continuing to hone his form, delivering a knotty, dark and stiletto-sharp work, which encompasses all of the odd rhymes, contorted flow and clamorous, yet bumpin' production, without giving way to outright lunacy," ROCKPILE

His impressionistic approach is without a doubt refreshing and welcome, but it's in those instances when he strokes his imagery in razor sharp detail and communicates directly that he rightfully claims his maverick status," San Francisco Bay Guardian

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