Originally known as Mike Larsen and Gregory "Max" Keltgen, the two Minneapolis friends who later performed as the MC/DJ duo Eyedea & Abilities first linked up during their teenage years. Competitive battling drew them in starting in 1997, while they were still enrolled in high school, and they quickly earned notice through victories at events such as Scribble Jam in 1999 and the 2000 HBO-televised Blaze-Battle World Championships. Speculation about possible recording contracts with Puff Daddy or Eminem circulated at the time, yet Eyedea & Abilities elected to join the Minnesota-based Rhymesayers roster instead, issuing their first album, First Born, in 2001. That project moved away from the battle raps of their earlier work to become an introspective concept album examining the condition of hip-hop and everyday existence. Separate commitments—Eyedea to Oliver Hart and Abilities to the Micranots—delayed the arrival of their second album, E&A, until 2004. By the Throat appeared in 2009. Eyedea died in his sleep on October 17 of the next year from an apparent drug overdose.
