Thom Yorke is a creative machine. As the multifaceted wizard behind the curtain that is Radiohead, Yorke’s musical and lyrical ingenuity never seems to dry out. In 2006, he released his first solo record, The Eraser—as electrically soulful and dreamily introspective as one might expect. In the following year, Radiohead heralded the next wave of music consumerism by offering their album, for a limited time, at the price fans chose to pay online. The double disc, In Rainbows, is the band’s seventh studio LP—combining delicate melancholy with fuzzy noise, the album further cements Radiohead’s legacy. To get the scoop on Eraser, In Rainbows, and Yorke’s political involvements, we could only go to the man himself, and thus peek our heads inside the curtain.

To read the article in its entirety, pick up the Summer 2008 issue of Beyond Race Magazine.