EDAN - Beauty And The Beat

Edan doesn't just rap and scratch, he also listens to Hendrix and Page, plays guitar and dabbles on piano. All of this surely feeds into the musical collage that is his second album: a mix of rap, soul, funk and psychedelic rock 'n' roll, built from hallucinated samples and free-roaming sounds. On this record unpredictability is always lurking around the corner, walking hand in hand, almost playfully, with lyrics that are deliberately fun and never boring.

The single "I See Colours" is not only a tribute to the great producer Prince Paul, from whom Edan admits to have lifted the loop, but is also a great visionary journey through music, built from vocal samples that only he could have made fit the beat so well, including a guitar accompaniment in the background. The following song, "Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme", also the second single, surprises again, this time with a declaration of love for the old school: the beat has an entirely old-school pulse, but the sounds are surprisingly funky and up to date; the lyrics pay homage to historic rappers like LL Cool J, Run DMC and Big Daddy Kane, and the hypnotic chorus is the precious cherry on top.

"Making Planets", featuring underground mc Mr Lif, opens quietly with a wash of cymbals and a driving bassline before degenerating and shifting entirely into a whirlwind of sounds, halfway between experimental and psychedelic, until it reopens in the background with one of the most classic rap motifs, which then flows into the next track, "Time Out", which acts as a skit and sounds just as prog-rock as the piece that follows. On "Rock & Roll" (feat. Dagha), in fact, Edan lets loose over a powerful beat, showing off his love for Hendrix and for the rock music of that era, even name-checking King Crimson. With "Beauty", instead, he goes back to hip-hop's earliest days, while on "Murder Mystery" he makes clear he's studied Pete Rock closely, delivering a track steeped in soul-jazz.

In short, on his second album Edan proves that it's still possible to make hip-hop in an original way while staying true to the old guard, and he does it by singing, producing, scratching and playing, leaving the listener bewildered and surprised — and sure to come away satisfied with this little 35-minute gem, basking in its many faces, which are also playfully referenced on the cover.

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30/04/2026