Barboza Presents
OPEN MIKE EAGLE
with Special Guests
SUN, 13 JUL 2025 at 07:00PM PDT
Ages: 21 & Over
Doors Open: 07:00PM
OnSale: Fri, 9 May 2025 at 09:00AM PDT
Announcement: Fri, 9 May 2025 at 09:00AM PDT
Open Mike Eagle found comedy in contemporary American horrors on albums like 2014’s Dark
Comedy and catharsis in exposing his past on 2020’s Anime, Trauma, and Divorce. Now, the
incisive, hilarious, and idiosyncratic purveyor of art rap praised by The New York Times, Pitchfork,
and The New Yorker manipulates time like Dr. Strange on his new album, Component System with
the Auto Reverse.
Eagle’s eighth solo LP, CSWTAR is grounded in our dystopian present but structured with the
magical randomness of cassette mixtapes he made recording college rap radio shows in the late
’90s. It was an era of supreme braggadocio and countless lyrical styles, the lines between boasts
offering insight into Black American neighborhoods. Eagle made CSWTAR in this spirit. Unstuck in
time, he spits his sharpest stream-of-consciousness darts while watching his younger self bop to the
music that informed them. No two songs traverse the same ground, but Eagle splices in actual
commercials and radio interviews from his old mixtapes to connect the dots, his keen sociopolitical
analysis and obscure pop culture allusions serving as temporal poles. In the same breath, he airs
grievances about current police corruption and alludes to long-retired Chicago Bulls players. Every
anachronism provides a new perspective on today.
Keeping with the purposeful surprise and structure, CSWTAR is scored by crashing doom-filled hard
rock flips from Madlib, Diamond D’s thumping jazz-inflected boom-bap, twisted cartoon-sampled
suites via Quelle Chris, and more progressive production. Eagle turns these disparate sounds into a
cohesive whole, equally at home rhyming on minimalist electronic soundscapes and parodying an
animated stereo store proprietor over thundering drums and grinding guitar. A master of his vocal
range, he effortlessly moves in and out of conversational and intricate technical delivery, inflecting
with abandon and assurance before pivoting to half-sung hooks. There are more time-bending spells
in Eagle’s grimoire, but he’s never shown listeners so many so effectively.
Though Eagle has worked in podcasts, comedy, and TV, he is first a member of the loosely-affiliated
independent rap scene that includes the rappers featured on CSWTAR: Armand Hammer, R.A.P
Ferreira, Aesop Rock, Serengeti, Diamond D, Video Dave, and Still Rift. Part solo album and
spiritual mixtape, part green room cipher, and part showcase for Eagle’s Auto Reverse Records,
CSWTAR recontextualizes his place among his peers. With every original metaphor and stylistic
flourish, he asserts his place in the pantheon of great rappers from his hometown of Chicago (“79th
and Stony Island”) and among the avant-garde heavyweights in his adopted home of Los Angeles
(“Crenshaw and Homeland”).
CSWTAR is also a response to the rest of Eagle’s catalog. He forsakes much of the whimsy and
comedy of many previous albums for unflinching and unironic directness. A testament to the
determination necessary to thrive in indie rap (“I’ll Fight You”) plays before his touching tribute to the
late MF DOOM (“For DOOM”). He articulates the stir-crazed mania and malaise of the pandemic in
“Peak Lockdown Raps,” while “I Retired Then I Changed My Mind” is a calculated analysis of career
missteps and a lament for his canceled Comedy Central show, The New Negroes. As that wound
closes, Eagle is recording albums like CSWTAR, producing acclaimed podcasts, and focusing on his
next trick: survival.
Accessibility Disclaimer: Barboza is not wheelchair accessible.
Important Information:
* This event is 21 & over. Valid ID is required. Minors will not be permitted entry.
* Doors open at the listed event time.
* Event start time is generally one hour after doors open but is subject to change without notice.
* All tickets are nonrefundable with the exception of event cancellation.
* Support acts are subject to change.
* Orders in violation of the published ticket limit are subject to cancellation without notice.
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