Put a little birdhouse in your rhymes: How They Might Be Giants influenced Open Mike Eagle

They Might Be Giants fans are a small, weird, devoted group in 2016. While many people haven’t thought about the late ’80s and early ’90s college rock stalwarts since the first Bush administration, there remains a small, dedicated fan base who just can’t get enough of them. One of those people is Chicago rapper Open Mike Eagle.

It turns out that TMBG is one of Eagle’s biggest influences. Eagle’s tendency to combine upbeat instrumentals with dark, unsettling lyrics is taken directly from the They Might Be Giants’ playbook. Combine that with the punchline-heavy style of late ’90s Chicago hip-hop, and you have the basic formula for an Open Mic Eagle record.

Watch him talk all about it in this video from Vox:

[Via Laughing Squid]