A resonator and a toy piano don’t sound like instruments that would be used in making rap music, but then again, the Minneapolis rapper and producer Ecid isn’t your garden-variety musician. For the video to the acoustic version of “Number One on a Hit List”, Ecid and his guitarist Phingaz pick up the aforementioned instruments and craft a whimsical landscape that’s punctuated by the rapper’s fast delivery.
“Number One on a Hit List” comes from Ecid’s recently released Pheromone Heavy LP.
Ecid tells PopMatters, “This is the last song recorded for the album. The one that sealed deal. The bond between a man/woman and his or her dog is amazing. I am very cliché in saying my dog is my best friend. One day in the summer, my dog ran away from me and I chased him around my neighborhood for over an hour. After I wasn’t mad anymore, the light bulb went off. I thought it would be funny to write a song to my dog where we are in a situation where he has run away and I am pleading with him to come to me so we can go home. Anyone that has been in this situation knows what I’m talking about. You try everything. You say ‘wanna treat?’ You swear at him. You throw sticks at him. You lose it.
“During the hook, I am patronizing him a little bit by saying, ‘We all secretly wish we were number one on a hit list so we can disappear from existence’, like I know you wish you had a great reason to run away forever but you don’t. If only you were wanted dead or alive. When I first played the track for my guitarist, Phingaz, he instantly pushed me to work on an acoustic version of it. The rest is history.”
Pheromone Heavy is out now via Fill in the Breaks. You can stream and purchase the LP via Bandcamp below:
Upcoming Ecid shows:
4/6 — San Francisco, CA @ Honey Hive Gallery (6PM, AA, $10 Advance/$15 at Door)
4/8 — Eugene, OR @ Luckeys (9PM/$5 at Door)
4/10 — Portland, OR @ Kellys Olympian (8:30PM/$7 Advance)
4/11 — Seattle, WA @ Vera Project (7:30PM/AA/$10 Advance/$12 at Door)
4/12 — Bellingham, WA @ Shakedown (8PM/21+/$5 Advance/$7 at Door)
4/14 — Whitefish MT @ The Crush (9PM)
4/15 — Missoula MT @ Real Lounge (9PM/18+/$5 Advance/$7 at Door)
4/16 — Boise, ID @ Reef (9:30PM/$7 at Door)
4/17 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Uprok
4/18 — Denver, CO @ Ophelia (8PM/21+/$10 Advance)
4/19 — CO Springs, CO @ Flux Capacitor (7PM/AA/$5 at Door)
4/21 — Grand Island NE @ AJ’s Roaring Donkey (8:30PM/21+/Free)
4/22 — Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room (8PM/$5 Advance/$8 at Door)
4/23 — Evansville IN @ PG (8:30PM/AA/$6 at Door)
4/24 — Iowa City, IA @ Yacht Club (9PM)
4/25 — Rock Island, IL @ Rozz Tox (6PM/AA/$7 at Door)
4/26 — Ann Arbor, MI @ Ashley’s (8PM/21+/$10 Advance)