Back in the early 2000s, a producer by the name of Edan from Maryland made a bit of a splash when he contributed a few notable beats for Mr. Lif, especially the song “Live From The Plantation.” Not too long after that, things culminated for Edan with the release of the critically acclaimed and wildly inventive solo album, Beauty and the Beat. However, outside of a 2009 mixtape, Edan was relatively silent since that time, and fans were left to wonder if they’d ever hear from him again. However, in 2016, New York emcee Homeboy Sandman released his album, Kindness For Weakness, which featured a standout single, “Talking (Bleep),” produced by none other than Edan. Was Edan back? Or was this a random one and done? He’s back, and he’s working further with Homeboy Sandman, as they now release their collaborative EP, Humble Pi.

Humble Pi is an EP that looks really good on paper, and because of that there will certain fans that will defend this EP no matter what. However, given the talent on paper that recorded this EP, it’s hard to not feel just a little disappointed. There is some good production, to be sure, and Edan brings in a lot of interesting psychedelic elements to the beats on Humble Pi. We even get some clever backward samples and syncopated rhythms on “Unwavering Mind” that will make you want to listen closer to see if you can figure out just exactly what you are hearing. That said, while all the beats are good and interesting, we never reach the level of greatness that we know he’s capable of. We don’t get anything that approaches the brilliant use of saxophone samples from “Talking (Bleep).” Sandman is talented emcee as well, who has given us a lot of really good songs in the past, but much like Edan’s production here, Sandman’s lyrics feel trapped in limbo. There are moments when he’ll start to get introspective and drop some really personal rhymes, but then he’ll back off and try to add a few more punchlines or whatnot as if to make up for it. Then of course, there is the greatest swing and miss on the EP, “#NeverUseTheInternetAgain,” which while the song could have made the case for a nuanced discussion about how we live our lives in the age of social media, it instead opts for speaking in absolutes and just comes across as the oldest and grumpiest of old man raps.

Humble Pi is an EP that is OK, but you don’t want an EP that is OK from two artists like Edan and Homeboy Sandman, you want something great. For whatever reason, they just don’t push themselves to reach the level that we know they are capable of with Humble Pi, and it’s hard to not feel disappointed by that.