Pedestrian (rapper)

James Brandon Best, better known by his stage name Pedestrian, is a rapper and writer from Los Angeles. He is a co-founder of Anticon.^[1] He is also known as a preacher under the moniker Evangelist J.B. Best.^[2]

History

In 1998, Pedestian co-founded Anticon with other indie hip hop artists. He came up with the name; it means "anti conformity" originally, but also means "ant icon."^[3]

He has written several articles about hip hop for East Bay Express from 2003 to 2004.^[4][5][6]

After being featured on other Anticon co-founders' albums such as Them and Bottle of Humans, Pedestrian released his debut solo album Volume One: UnIndian Songs on the label in 2005.^[7] It was produced by Matt Chang, Jel, Why? and Alias.^[8] "The Toss & Turn" b/w "Arrest the President," a single from the album, includes the track "Resurrection Morning Sermon" performed by Evangelist J.B. Best.^[9]

Pedestrian toured across the United States^[10][11] and Europe^[12][13] with Sole, Dosh and Telephone Jim Jesus in promotion of the album.

He wrote an article about N.W.A for Xlr8r in 2008.^[14]

Style

In a 2003 interview, Pedestrian talked about his influence and rapping style:

"I was mostly into fast rapping and freestyling, and I was really inspired too by a lot of vocalese-Annie Ross, Jon Hendricks, and Eddie Jefferson especially. Which is probably the apotheosis of voice-as-instrument. But the whole appeal of rap for me has always been its hyper-wordiness, and more than anything I want to communicate ideas."^[15]

Discography

Studio albums

Pedestrian

• Volume One: UnIndian Songs (Anticon, 2005)

Object Beings (Pedestrian with Doseone & Why?)

• Object Beings (2001)

EPs, mixtapes, compilations

EPs

• We Ain't Fessin' (Anticon, 2002) (with Deep Puddle Dynamics)

Mixtapes

• Red Dawn: A Baybridge Epic (2001) (with Sole, as Da Babylonianz)

Compilations

• Songs of the Light Workers' Local #168 (2005)

Singles

• "The Toss & Turn" b/w "Arrest the President" (Anticon, 2004)

Guest appearances

• Sole – "Becoming Became Undone" from "Bottle of Humans" (1999)
• Sole – "Our Dirty Big Secret" from Bottle of Humans (2000)
• Themselves – "Lyrical Cougel" from Them (2000)
• Shape Shifters – "The Intellectual Holly Chessmen" "Joy 2 Da World" from Know Future (2000)
• DJ Krush – "Song for John Walker" from The Message at the Depth (2002)
• Alias – "The Physical Voice" from Muted (2003)
• Telephone Jim Jesus – "N=1 Trial" "Untitled Private Landscape" "A Blindness Falls" from A Point Too Far to Astronaut (2004)
• Telephone Jim Jesus – "A Mouth of Fingers" & "Dice Raw" from Anywhere Out of the Everything (2007)
• Themselves – "Back 2 Burn" from The Free Houdini (2009)
• Sole – "White Rage/Arizona Goddamn" from Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel (2011)
• Sole & DJ Pain 1 - "The Janitor's Son" from Death Drive (2014)

Tracks appear on

• "Holy Shit!" & "Bright Moments" on Music for the Advancement of Hip Hop (1999)
• "Dead Beats, Generation of" on Ropeladder 12 (2000)
• "Props 2000" on Strictly Indee (2l000)
• "Pedestrian for Vessel" on Giga Single (2001)
• "Primes" on Mush Filmstrip (2001)
• "The Toss & Turn" & "Jane 2: Electric Boogaloo" on Anticon Label Sampler: 1999-2004 (2004)

Writing credits

• Sole - "Slow, Cold Drops" from Selling Live Water (2003)
• Sole - "Banks of Marble" from Live from Rome (2005)
• Jel - "Soft Money, Dry Bones" from Soft Money (2006)
• Sole and the Skyrider Band - "Home Ain't Shit" from Hello Cruel World (2011)
• Sole - "Assad Is Dead" from A Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing (2012)

References

External links

• James Best on University of Southern California