Open Mike Eagle and frequent collaborators Video Dave and Still Rift now have a new rap group called Previous Industries, and they make their debut with a two-song single on Merge Records, “Showbiz” and “Braids.” The former was produced by Child Actor and the latter was produced by Quelle Chris, and both are appealingly eccentric indie-rap songs that could only have come from the minds of OME and his friends. You can stream both tracks below and pre-order the limited-edition light gray marble 7″, which comes out this Friday (1/26).

For more background on how this group came together, a press release reads:

Video Dave first met Mike on the campus grounds of Southern Illinois University where an innate creative bond was formed on campus while honing their skills alongside other notable figures Hannibal Buress and Serengeti. For the uninitiated, Video Dave is a Chicago-bred rapper, TV producer, beatmaker, and writer who notably worked with Open Mike Eagle on The New Negroes where Dave was a musical guest with both Mike and Method Man as well as working on the production of the show. In 2023, he released ArticulatedTexTiles which includes features from OME and STILL RIFT. That album earned a slew of critical praise including being named one of July’s best hip-hop albums by Bandcamp. A true multi-hyphenate artist, he has had a creative hand in seemingly disparate corners of modern-day culture—from sewing to reality TV shows to Prince performing at the Super Bowl, somehow Dave has a connection.

Enter STILL RIFT, a high school friend of Mike’s whom he has lovingly described as “a mystery wrapped in an enigma.” While he has not released his own music, he has made numerous appearances turning out memorable features on others’ projects. He was most recently featured on OME’s 2023 album Another Triumph of Ghetto Engineering, as was Video Dave.