"Style is looking at fashion and ignoring it" -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.

Raised in White Plains, NY and first picked up on in the mid-90's as part of the mythic Brooklyn Boom Poetic collective and the word began to spread. Having achieved his widest acclaim as one-third of the legendary NYC progressive rap crew, Anti Pop Consortium, BEANS continues his grand experiments in music and life with the release of his debut solo album, Tomorrow Right Now, out on Warp Records in March of 2003.

With lyrical virtuosity, vanguard production that straight bangs, and one of the most unique and remarkable live performances around, 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.

Having shared stages and toured with everyone from Radiohead to Vernon Reid, Pharoahe Monch to Aesop Rock, DJ Shadow to Cannibal Ox, Attica Blues to Terranova, plus a summer on Lollapalooza and DJ gigs with Missy Elliott and Gwyneth Paltrow, BEANS has displayed his multitudinous skills and the response has been astounding. Having first made a solo imprint with "Nude Paper", his 12-inch release on Mo'Wax in 2000, BEANS gave us a taste of things to come.

With his new record, he makes good on all the promises, delivering songs that stay in the brain and lock you into humming til the day runs out. With the infectious steel drums of "Phreek the Beet", the lo-fi electro-dub of "Hot Venom", or the winding loop-to-loop flutes of "Mutescreamer". All this seems destined to redefine the word "fresh".

Collaborations include Bill Laswell, Pharoahe Monch, Prefuse 73, Vernon Reid, Funkstorung, Mike Ladd, Arto Lindsay, New Flesh for Old, Techno Animal, Matthew Shipp, DJ Spooky, Terranova, Aceyalone, and DJ Shadow.