Antipop Consortium

Antipop Consortium

Antipop Consortium is a New York hip hop group formed in 1997. The line-up consists of Beans, Earl Blaize, High Priest and M. Sayyid. The group develops out of the New York street poetry scene, with three vocalists fronting the project and Earl Blaize handling production in the background.

Career

After a run of cassette-only releases on their own label, Antipop Recordings, and a number of underground singles, the group releases its debut album, Tragic Epilogue, on Ark 75 in 2000. Its music blends hip hop with electronic elements and is associated with abstract hip hop, alternative hip hop, experimental hip hop and underground hip hop.

Warp Records signs the group in 2001 and issues the EP The Ends Against The Middle and the album Arrythmia in 2002. The band’s work receives wide acclaim and reaches listeners beyond hip hop, including electronic audiences. Antipop Consortium also builds a reputation through collaborations and side projects with other artists.

Activity and side projects

The group splits in 2002, while Beans continues as a solo artist and Priest and Sayyid form Airborn Audio. Antipop Consortium later reforms in 2007 and performs together again in Amsterdam in 2008. In 2009, they release Fluorescent Black.