Grand Agent comes from a specific pocket of early 2000s underground hip-hop that tends to be either well-remembered or completely unknown depending on how deep your crates go. His debut "By Design" on Groove Attack in 2001 established him in the Philly underground with a voice that was gritty, soulful, and more engaged with the lived texture of street life than with mythology. "By Design 2," with this Prickly Pear-produced EP serving as a three-track preview, revisits that foundation from the vantage of two decades of additional experience. Prickly Pear is a longtime collaborator whose presence here signals continuity rather than revision. The larger "By Design 2" album involves LE Square – a Philly production legend whose connections run to Gillie da Kid and who is identified as Pharrell's cousin – alongside producers Tribeca and Bjorn Von Kalt. Grand Agent now runs Philly Truce, a community conflict-resolution organization, and that work runs parallel to his music without overwhelming it. Three tracks here, the weight of a full discography behind them.
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