Busdriver
(born Regan John Farquhar
February 12, 1978) [1] [2] is a rapper from Los Angeles currently signed to Epitaph Records.
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History
Born in Los Angeles, he was introduced to hip hop at an early age, his father Ralph Farquhar being the screenwriter for the film
Krush Groove
,
[3] one of the earliest films focusing on
hip hop culture. Farquhar began rapping at age 9, and by 13 he had released his first album, as part of the group 4/29.
[4] At the age of 15, he attended open-mic nights at the
Good Life Cafe in 1993. A regular at the
Project Blowed open mic during the mid-1990s, he would be introduced to fellow underground artists, leading him to being a guest on at least 20 singles. He first recorded in 1995 with Chillin Villain Empire, and was featured on Fat Jack's
Cater to the DJ
in 1999.
Busdriver released his first album,
Memoirs of the Elephant Man
, in 2001, followed by
This Machine Kills Fashion Tips
and
Temporary Forever
in 2002. 2003 brought a collaboration with fellow underground artists
Radioinactive and
Daedelus for the experimental LP
The Weather
. His most recent releases are 2004's
Cosmic Cleavage
(produced by longtime collaborator
Daddy Kev) and
Fear of a Black Tangent
in 2005, which included a sample of the song "Turtles Have Short Legs" by
Can
on the track "Avantcore". Jhelli Beam came out - in June of 2009. . In 2005 he was also enlisted (along with Vic Booz and
Subtitle (now Giovanni Marks)) as a "Corn Ganggster", rapping with
The Unicorns' offshoot project,
Th' Corn Gangg. He later appeared on the
Islands' album
Return to the Sea
, on the song "
Where There's A Will There's A Whalebone
."
Nicholas Thorburn once again worked with Busdriver featuring him on the track, "Crony Island," from Reefer's self-titled debut released in November of 2008.
He gained a small amount of mainstream recognition when "
Imaginary Places", from
Temporary Forever
, appeared in the
video game Tony Hawk's Underground
in 2003.
[5] RoadKillOvercoat, was released on
Epitaph Records in January, 2007 followed by his most recent release
Jhelli Beam on June 9, 2009.
Busdriver has worked with MCs such as
Aceyalone,
Myka 9,
Abstract Rude,
2Mex, Rifleman Ellay Khule, and the band Toca, among others. His primary producers have been Paris Zax,
Daedelus,
Daddy Kev, Omid, Nobody, Fat Jack, and
Boom Bip. He was also featured on
Z-Trip's album
Shifting Gears. He's also worked on two albums with DJ D-Styles.
Discography
Studio Albums
- Busdriver
(1999)
- Memoirs of the Elephant Man
(2001)
- This Machine Kills Fashion Tips
(2002)
- Temporary Forever
(2002)
- Heavy Items Such As Books, Record Albums, Tools
(2003)
- Cosmic Cleavage
(2004)
- Fear of a Black Tangent
(2005)
- RoadKillOvercoat
(2007)
- Jhelli Beam
(2009) [6]
Singles
- Imaginary Places
(2002)
- Avantcore
(2005)
- Take Two Copies
with Z-Trip on Shifting Gears Hollywood Records (2005)
- Kill Your Employer
(2006)
- Sun Shower
(2007)
- Ellen Disingenuous
(2008)
Collaborations
- Busdriver Meets Daedelus - Live Airplane Food
with Daedelus (2003)
- The Weather
with Radioinactive and Daedelus (2003)
- Live Radio Show
with 2Mex (2004)
- Taxed Jumper
(2006)