Antipop Consortium are an alternative hip hop group. The group formed in 1997 when Beans, High Priest, M. Sayyid and producer Earl Blaize met at a poetry slam in New York City. They are often praised for their stream-of consciousness lyrics, often irreverent and featuring associative groups of words, and their ability to give seemingly unrelated word clusters hidden meaning.
They released several tape singles and two albums primarily on Dan the Automator's experimental hip-hop label 75 Ark before being signed by Warp Records in 2000. Their releases were met with mixed reviews from the mainstream music and underground hip-hop press alike, although they are noted for their inventiveness and the experimental electronic productions contributed by all members. They were frequently compared to other rappers with unorthodox lyrics, such as Kool Keith, MF Doom and Aesop Rock. In 2001, they opened for Radiohead during the European leg of their Amnesiac tour and subsequently toured with DJ Shadow.
The group disbanded due to creative differences in August 2002, with Beans pursuing a solo career while High Priest and M. Sayyid formed Airborn Audio, which released a single album, Good Fortune, on Ninja Tune in 2005, and toured with The Faint and Bright Eyes. All three members have pursued solo projects since the group's breakup.
They reunited in 2007. In an interview with Pitchfork Media in August 2007, the four members stated that they reunited with the intention of touring and releasing a new record.
They are playing a reunion show at the Knitting Factory of New York City in March 2008 and formed part of the support for Public Enemy on the "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" Don't Look Back British tour in May 2008.
