Open Mike Eagle - The Finger Booger EP (2003)

While he certainly has yet to reach his peak fame-wise, Open Mike Eagle is already a Top 10 Rapper of All Time in my opinion. The man has a large catalog full of styles, content, and quality, and shows no signs of slowing down. Today's post is the project that introduced Open Mike Eagle to the world (or maybe just a few random people in L.A.) - "The Finger Booger EP." 

"The Finger Booger EP" is a collection of 7 tracks + 2 bonus tracks that Mike burned on cdr (less than 100 copies) back in the day to hand out to various people around Los Angeles. The EP is notable for being a major influence on milo's decision to pursue rap.

When you consider some Project Blowedian cdrs, this one has pretty good sound quality. Technically, Mike shows a lot of early promise with his cadences, multis, and flows. You can, however, definitely tell via his voice that this is a younger Mike Eagle. The biggest thing to note is the content. The EP has a lot of straightforward braggadocio and battle raps - unsurprising considering that the Swim Team was essentially a battle crew back then. While Mike is known today for more social and political commentary, I think he still sounds good on here just talking about how dope he is! There is an awkward slut-shaming track, "Bust Down," that doesn't come across too well and is one that I'm guessing Mike wishes he could erase (the song does attack male sluts as well as female sluts...but that doesn't really help things.) The production on here isn't anything special (save for the "Dear Wack" beat) but that doesn't stop Mike from shining on the lyrical side of things. 

I'm not fully sure when exactly this dropped. I've seen 2003 and 2005. It's possible that there were several versions of the project released during this time period. Anyhow, if you haven't already, peep the EP. The files were uploaded by Mike Eagle himself a while back (the original link is now dead.) Also be sure to check out Mike Eagle's new tv show with Baron Vaughn, "The New Negroes," on Comedy Central every Friday at 11:00 PM. [And as a bonus, peep my Open Mike Eagle CD + Cassette collection after the DL!]

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