Pedestrian

Having spent his formative years across southern Virginia and southern California, James Brandon Best, known professionally as Pedestrian, took up writing raps at fifteen. Live performances did not follow until several years afterward, once he had already left high school. In 1998 he relocated to San Francisco, where he joined his friend Sole in establishing the Anticon label and collective. Music remained his central focus, yet obligations tied to employment and coursework at UC Berkeley delayed any recordings until the 2004 appearance of his twelve-inch The Toss & Turn. His first full-length project, Unindian Songs, Vol. 1, arrived the subsequent year.