Edmund Oribhabor’s music isn’t quite like anything you’ve ever heard before—though his association with far-leftfield hip-hop and experimental label Deathbomb Arc may have tipped you off to that. As Ed Balloon, Oribhabor has infiltrated the Boston scene with his unconventional hip-hop-inspired minimalist pop, as heard on his EPs Flourish and No Smoking. Having cited Janis Joplin and of Montreal as influences, and having shared a stage with Deerhoof, the songwriter is certainly mutable.
Next week Balloon will be releasing his first full-length through Deathbomb, featuring guest spots from Open Mike Eagle and labelmates They Hate Change. Second single “M’aider (May Day)” hints at the release being an upbeat affair, boasting an earworm chorus, simple trap beat, and surprisingly fitting acoustic guitar—even if the lyrics don’t quite match this sunny disposition. “The song talks about going through hard times, and how sometimes when we’re going through those hard times we become angry,” Balloon explains. “We take our anger and frustrations out on those who actually support us. This song is an apology to the homies for going crazy on them.”
Along with the track, we’re getting a video straight out of the artist’s unconscious, featuring a desert-set picnic with a roaming beauty pageant contestant. “It’s about a dude who leaves society because he is finding it hard to be accepted,” Balloon shares of the clip. “He finds this girl who also has left society because she never was accepted and has created her own world. He enters her world and later realizes that he wants to go back to society. Because even though he is finding it difficult to be understood or accepted, he knows that in the society he is from, it is still possible to be accepted. And that possibility means everything.”
The Dubs is out July 10 on Deathbomb Arc. You can pre-order it here.
