EYECONIC

Image by @bladesproductions

KRISTOPHER COOK TALKS TO THE MIDDLESBROUGH RAPPER ABOUT THE RELEASE OF HIS AMBITIOUS AND ENTICING NEW PROJECT

Look to the fringes of any major city and you’ll find a roster of talented MCs, many operating in their own lane cutting straight to the front of the peripherals; case in point: Teesside’s Eyeconic. The Polish-born rapper has hit home in a big way following a constant stream of quality genre-peddling releases, becoming a heat-seeking magnet to the likes of RIDE Music and BBC Tees Introducing. Eyeconic’s underrated status is about to be tested, as he gears up for his most ambitious and entic-ing project to date.

“I had created this folder of tracks called ‘release this if I die’ which I showed to a friend who told me it would be a shame if no one heard it. That’s when I knew I wanted to make a posthumous album that’s released while I’m still alive.” Yes, you read that right, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR for short) is a posthumous album released while Eyeconic is still knocking about, a concept that is somewhat left-field compared to the string of legitimate posthumous rap releases we’ve seen in recent times.

Try not to write Eyeconic off as some edgy spitter looking to generate a quick reaction, that’s selling him short; the reflection of the man behind the moniker isn’t so cut and dried. “There’s a lot of songs that just didn’t make it on because I don’t want to put that energy out there, you know when you’re sad and you listen to sad music to fetishise your own sadness? I didn’t want people to do that.” He later goes on to cite Mac Miller as an influence, someone who found critical acclaim for his posthu-mous album Circles in January following his untimely death in September of 2018.

WE’RE SO CAUGHT UP IN THE FUTURE AND WE LET LIFE PASS US BY, AND THINGS END – I’M TRYING TO FIND BEAUTY IN THINGS ENDING

With that in mind, listen to album singles Die Alone and Sober Up, songs that deal with self-destruction and isolated oblivion at their core, but are executed in a cheerfully optimistic vibrato, set about on beats that only build on these breezy textures – something that Mac Miller dabbled in on tracks like Hurt Feelings and Small Worlds. It’s a contrasting dichotomy that is uplifting in a way, no doubt a snippet of what’s to come when DNR finally drops.

“I strongly believe that death gives life value. We’re so caught up in the future and we let life pass us by, and things end – I’m trying to find beauty in things ending. This is just my way of dealing with it and accepting death the best way I can but also showing the end in a different light.”

Eyeconic could be North East label Park Avenue Record’s biggest signee since opening shop at the top of 2020. Spearheaded by Charlie Soulsby (NE Rising) and artist Too Common (aka Tom Col-lins), the indie label looks to raise the profile of the bustling underground scene, having already moved the needle via countless open mic nights across the North East – events that would have Eyeconic frequent the bill. “To this day, they were some the most packed out open mics I’ve ever attended. So it doesn’t even feel like you’re performing at an open mic, it really just feels like those people are really there for you, it’s a great energy.”

Eyeconic releases Do Not Resuscitate via Park Avenue Records on 12th June www.facebook.com/iameyeconic