Busdriver

Regan Farquhar operates under the stage name Busdriver as a Los Angeles-based rapper and producer. His hyper-literate and intellectual rap technique incorporates such rapid elocution that it could outpace even the quickest auctioneer, reflecting an eclectic and eccentric sensibility that names vocalese jazz singer Jon Hendricks as a core influence. Although the breakneck flows occasionally register as Dadaist, the lyrics deliver incisive commentary on society together with candid self-examination. An initial participant in the foundational Project Blowed open-mike workshop, he drew underground hip-hop notice through the well-received 2002 album Temporary Forever. Later projects paired him with producers such as Daedelus, Danger Mouse, and Boom Bip, yielding releases on Mush—The Weather in 2003 and Fear of a Black Tangent in 2005—and on Epitaph with RoadKillOvercoat in 2007. The early 2010s included the collaborative single Hoofdriver with avant-rock group Deerhoof in 2010 and an unexpected turn toward electro pop on Beaus$Eros in 2012. He resumed his characteristic avant-rap direction with Perfect Hair in 2014.

Farquhar encountered hip-hop culture in childhood because his father penned the screenplay for one of its earliest cinematic depictions, Krush Groove. He started rapping at age nine and issued his first recording at age thirteen alongside the group 4/29, titled after the 1992 L.A. riots. By the mid-1990s he had become a fixture at the Project Blowed open mike, where he connected with future associates and underground figures including Aceyalone and Abstract Rude. The self-released debut Memoirs of the Elephant Man arrived in 1999, and he contributed guest verses to projects by the likes of 2Mex and Daddy Kev. His singular style attracted equal measures of praise and criticism for its density, which sometimes prompted the impression that the chosen name alluded to multiple-personality disorder, while the lo-fi production puzzled more listeners than it engaged. A 2002 mixtape of early recordings titled This Machine Kills Fashion Tips surfaced, yet Temporary Forever that same year secured broader recognition. Teaming with fellow West Coast avant-garde MC Radioinactive and the airy, fractured pop of electronic producer Daedelus, Busdriver delivered another unconventional statement in 2003 with Weather.

Cosmic Cleavage appeared on Big Dada in 2004, and Fear of a Black Tangent—featuring production by Danger Mouse, Daedelus, and Omid—followed on Mush in 2005. After signing with Anti/Epitaph, the rapper issued RoadKillOvercoat, produced in part by Nobody and Boom Bip, in 2007. His second Anti release, Jhelli Beam, arrived in 2009. Ties to the indie-rock sphere deepened when Polyvinyl issued Hoofdriver, the 2010 collaborative single with Deerhoof. A solo single for the label, ATM, followed the next year, accompanied by a cover of Animal Collective’s “Leaf House.” 10 Haters, the debut from the Flash Bang Grenada project uniting Busdriver with Nocando, came out on Hellfyre Club in 2011. Beaus$Eros, an unexpected electro-pop turn produced by Loden, appeared on Fake Four in 2012. Perfect Hair, a return to earlier form that included guest spots from Danny Brown and Aesop Rock, was released by Big Dada in 2014. After the 2015 mixtape Thumbs, Busdriver delivered his tenth studio album, Electricity Is on Our Side, in 2018.