Fresh off a tour supporting Future Islands, beloved rapper, screenwriter, comedian, and polymath Open Mike Eagle, returns with news of a new album and has shared its lead single “contraband (the plug has bags of me).” Neighborhood Gods Unlimited is due out July 11 via his own label, Auto Reverse Records, and coincides with Mike’s headline tour launching just days before the album release. “contraband (the plug has bags of me)” is produced by Kenny Segal (Billy Woods, Benjamin Booker) and reflects on coming of age experiences in Mike’s native Chicago.

 

 

Beyond his career as a musician, Mike has developed a number of television projects including his Comedy Central show The New Negroes. Speaking about that process, Mike reflects “One project I always come back to is a concept called Dark Comedy Television. It’s a show

about a cable network that can only afford to be on the air for an hour a week so it has to fit its entire slate of programs in that hour.” Inspired by dramas like Get Out or Sorry to Bother You, which are stories that engage in big conversations around the trauma of marginalized peoples, and later by the surrealism of Boots Riley’s I’m A Virgo, Mike began to develop Neighborhood Gods Unlimited.

Mike continues, “The trauma at the center of Neighborhood Gods Unlimited is mine. I was shattered as a young person and I spent the majority of my life not knowing it. In my ignorance I would go on to shatter myself even further because it was all I knew. This is a story about how people who are trying to find themselves get confused when they encounter things that remind them of themselves.”

In light of the harsh realities that new series often face in the television industry, Mike decided to transform his concept into music, partly as a cathartic process. As Mike says, “It felt good to make and sometimes TV forces you to abandon things you’ve put your heart into. If that had happened with a project around this particular subject matter, it would have been bad for my mental health.” The ensuing album contains an opening theme, flashbacks, a climax and even some commercials.

Touring will see Mike begin in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, CA on July 9 before traversing the country and culminating in an August 16th show in Washington, DC. Full routing is available below and tickets can be purchased here. Following that run, OME picks up additional dates in support of Phantogram from August 31st to September 15th.

 

Upcoming Live Dates

^ = Cavalier (special guest)
+ = Rhys Langston (special guest)
7/9 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo ^ +
7/10 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill ^ +
7/11 – Portland, OR @ Mission Theater ^ +
7/13 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza ^ +
7/14 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux ^ +
7/15 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge ^ +
7/17 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake ^ +
7/19 – Las Vegas, NV @ Swan Dive ^ +
7/23 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon ^ +
7/24 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern ^ +
7/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry ^ +
8/13 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
8/14 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase

Opening for Clipping

8/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Ukie Club
8/16 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club

Opening for Phantogram

8/31 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
9/3 – Rochester, NY @ Anthology
9/4 – Albany, NY @ Empire Live
9/5 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Beanfield
9/8 Portland, ME @ State Theater
9/10 Norwalk, CT @ District Music Hall
9/11 Allentown, PA @ Archer Music Hall
9/12 Huntington, NY @ The Paramount
9/15 Richmond, VA @ The National