Open Mike Eagle’s new album, Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes, came out two weeks ago, an LP that falls in the must-hear – and must-have – category (I want that album cover in vinyl size – or larger).

The album’s first track, The Processional, gives the uninitiated a pretty good idea of what Mike Eagle is about, from an even-keeled flow to his pop-culture references (shout out to ’97 Weezer in the opening line) to a sung hook so catchy it should make hip-hop fans out of people who claim to not like hip-hop. OME’s singing of a Busta Rhymes verse from the 1996 track Abandon Ship is alone worth the cost of admission here.

Watch the Los Angeles-based MC perform the track for Knocksteady below and remember he’ll return to the Valley on July 2 – about five months after our show – for a gig at Chaser’s in Scottsdale.

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