Eyedea, real name Michael Larsen, died suddenly over the weekend at the age of 28 in his home in St. Paul, Minnesota. The cause of death still remains a mystery.
St. Paul police spokesman Andy Skoogman said Monday that the cause will not be determined until toxicology results are available. Authorities said that could take several weeks. Skoogman said there were no signs of foul play or trauma and that Larsen did not have underlying health issues or a history of substance-abuse problems.
His mother, Kathy Averill, and two friends found him after he failed to show up at an open-mic night he planned to attend Saturday. "We're not going to make any speculations about what happened," she said.
Similarly, the crew at Larsen's record label, Minneapolis-based Rhymesayers Entertainment, is not jumping the gun; they simply posted an R.I.P. message on their site along with tweets from his labelmates. "We lost our dear, beloved, genius brother Eyedea the other night," Brother Ali tweeted from the road. "Tears and tears. I just can't describe it."
The rapper's mother has created a Facebook page to raise funds for a memorial service, which she said she is planning to put together in a couple of weeks.
Eyedea, a former member of Minneapolis' hip-hop act Atmosphere in the late 1990s, recorded three albums for the record label Rhymesayers Entertainment with his childhood friend, Max Keltgen, known as DJ Abilities, the report said.
He also wrote poetry, recorded solo rap albums under the name Oliver Hart and performed with the freestyle rap act Face Candy and experimental rock band Carbon Carousel, the Star Tribune said.
