Newswire R.I.P. Twin Cities rapper Eyedea

Around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, “RIP Eyedea” tweets began popping up online. Not long after, the Twin Cities rapper’s mother, Kathy Averill, confirmed the news: Micheal “Eyedea” Larsen died unexpectedly over the weekend. He was 28. Averill set up a Facebook memorial page, but asked that her son’s fans respect the family’s privacy. According to the Star Tribune, Averill found Larsen unresponsive on Saturday and believes he died in his sleep. No other details about Larsen’s death are available at this time.

In addition to being one half of Rhymesayers act Eyedea & Abilities, Larsen was a champion battle rapper, winning Scribble Jam in 1999 and HBO’s Blaze Battle in 2000. He and turntablist Gregory “Abilities” Keltgen backed up Atmosphere in the late ’90s before releasing their own debut, First Born, in 2002. Though the duo took a four-year break in the middle of the decade, they returned last year to release By The Throat. During Eyedea & Abilities’ hiatus, Larsen stayed busy with hip-hop group Face Candy, rock band Carbon Carousel, and his own solo rap material, released under the name Oliver Hart. Just a few weeks ago, he released Am I Wonderful, the second in a series of poetry books he put together with his grandmother.