A duo thoroughly steeped in hip-hop accolades, the Minnesota-based duo Eyedea and Abilities have returned with their brand new album “By The Throat”, out on Rhymesayers Entertainment (home to Atmosphere, Brother Ali, P.O.S et al).

Their first album since the breakout 2004 release “E&A”, “By The Throat”’s songs range from intensely personal topics to the more esoteric (quantum mechanics). The end result is leaps and bounds beyond what MC Eyedea is perhaps best known for, his prowess as a battle rapper (winner of HBO’s Blaze Battle, Scribble Jam and several others).

DJ Abilities, also a well-known battle vet and contributor to El-P’s now-classic “Fantastic Damage”, adds heavily to the sonic soundscape of this album, which advances beyond boom-bap hip-hop into rock-fueled guitar riffs, gritty production and melodic songwriting.

Eyedea and Abilities were instrumental in the wave of independent hip-hop that includes Atmosphere, El-P, Aesop Rock, Living Legends and several other seminal acts and “By The Throat” is their most progressive and refined effort to date.