hip hop

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I hate to make other people’s accomplishments about me, but this was too funny. Every year, City Pages runs a “Best of the Twin Cities” feature, honoring different local artists and establishments. I’ve been in it before, as have lots of people. This year, I noticed something cool; not sure if anyone else has made this connection yet:

Best hip hop artist: deM atlaS

Best female vocalist: Claire de Lune

Best producer: Big Cats

Now, aside from these artists being phenomenally talented and wonderful people whom everyone should know about and support, does anyone see the connection between the three of them? I’ll give you a hint:

Me and deM atlaS made an album with Rube under the name Sifu Hotman. Me and Claire made an album called A Loud Heart. And me and Big Cats made two albums together, the most recent being You Better Weaponize. Click the links to listen to and/or buy them.

ALSO, the Re-Verb open mic, organized by TruArtSpeaks (the organization I work with as comm director and as a roster artist), was awarded best open mic!

All of this is less about how much impact and influence I have, and more about how good I am at latching onto talented people before they blow up, haha. Congratulations to everyone!

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I wanted to kick off 2015 with something special. That’s the new video for “You Say Millionaire Like It’s a Good Thing,” one of two new Ganzobean-produced tracks on this new album. Adam J. Dunn made it.

The new album is a mix of some old songs, some new songs, some exclusive remixes and re-recordings, and some live poetry recordings. It also features design work by Rogue Citizen. Since I travel so much to perform but don’t exactly “tour” in the traditional sense, I wanted to be able to sell something that captured the best of what I’ve made, and I think this album does that. If you don’t know much about me or my work, it’s the perfect place to start. If you’ve been following me, there are a few surprises (listen for new verses, lyrical change-ups, and more). Either way, it’s free.

A Love Song, A Death Rattle, A Battle Cry by Guante

Here’s the official press release with a little more info, plus the lyrics to the song in the video:

Since moving to Minneapolis seven years ago, Guante has established himself as one of the sharpest, smartest and most consistently unique voices in the saturated Twin Cities hip hop scene. Now, after six albums, two National Poetry Slam championships, over a million YouTube views, three appearances on Upworthy, and performances at the Soundset Festival, First Ave. Mainroom, Hope Rocks gala, and a hundred other concerts, rallies, benefits, school assemblies and colleges, Guante is looking back in order to look ahead.

 A LOVE SONG, A DEATH RATTLE, A BATTLE CRY is the capstone on the first phase of his career. Featuring brand new songs, exclusive remixes, a handful of spoken-word poems and a curated selection of the best songs Guante has made, this mix is the perfect introduction to his distinct blend of progressive politics, gallows humor, and storytelling prowess. Stirring, focused calls to action flow into achingly bittersweet love songs flow into meditations on working class identity and much more, through metaphorical lenses as diverse as superheroes, motherhood, graffiti, zombies and getting struck by lightning (literally). Guest appearances include Chastity Brown, deM atlas, Kristoff Krane, Claire de Lune, and Lydia Liza (not to mention a brief appearance from Haley Bonar).

 There isn’t a lot of “conscious” rap this honest and down-to-earth, nor a lot of “alternative” rap this well-crafted and creative, nor a lot of “political” rap this focused and specific. That’s what the title of the project is all about—creating work that functions on all three levels: human, creative, meaningful. Connected to real emotions, a little bit weird, always seeking to build something. A love song, a death rattle, a battle cry.

 The mix is available now, for free. It is both the companion piece and opening act for Guante’s book (of the same name), coming soon. For more information, see http://www.guante.info.

YOU SAY MILLIONAIRE LIKE IT’S A GOOD THING

This place is a prison and these people aren’t your friends
Ain’t no postal service when it’s always Sunday in your head
Letters unsent, burnin’ that blunt at both ends
In the break room ready to break
Halfway to broke, halfway to broken down
This job makes you nauseous; you try to hold it down
And they will take every opportunity to comment on your luck
‘cause in this economy you got to be like bottom’s up
even when you know it’s poison, yo: you feelin’ well?
Like a body that’s so hungry it begins to eat itself?
Bootstraps so tight you can’t admit to needin’ help,
on the real, feel like hell and you want it to all stop
Jackass co-workers makin’ small talk
Try to stay focused, you casually glance at your watch
and see that you are halfway, to being halfway
to being halfway done with half of half of your day

Punch that clock ‘til it bleeds
It feels like they’re tryin’ to break us
They tell you to follow your dreams,
but your alarm is going off, wake up

All of my life I been lied to:
just found out my boss makes 500 times what I do
and still wants to cut my hours back
to 39 and three quarters ‘cause 40 gets you a health plan
And I got a feelin’ I’m a need it
Losin’ feelin’ in my knees and my lower back
and I’m going back, trapped like a lower class clown
Hold a rat down, so we kill each other over cheddar
Keep us hungry so we never organize for nothing better
Just make it through the day, make it through the week,
make it through the month,
make a millionaire another couple bucks
What, and like that, the coffee buzz is gone
It’s only 9:30, step by step with the other pawns
One square at a time,
somewhere between the walking dead and the buried alive
You can’t steal what’s already been stolen
You can’t kill what is already dead
So if we got to be zombies, let’s snatch the CEO
and see if there is a brain in his head, until then…

Punch that clock ‘til it bleeds
It feels like they’re tryin’ to break us
They tell you to follow your dreams,
but your alarm is going off, wake up

So if you got a dollar in your pocket, put your hands in the air
Ten dollars in your pocket, put your hands in the air
If it’s a hundred or a thousand that’s fair
But there’s no such thing as an innocent millionaire

If you got a dollar in your pocket, eat a taco
Ten dollars; buy some peanut butter and some bread
If you got a hundred or a thousand you can stock up
But a million may as well be human flesh

If you got a dollar in your pocket, drink some water
If you got ten, have a beer with your lunch
If you got a hundred or a thousand, you can dig your own well
And for a million, you can drink all the blood you can suck

That dollar in your pocket is an insult
Ten dollars in your pocket ain’t enough
The reason that so many of us are have-nots,
is that the haves have way too much
Let’s get ‘em

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As always, this is kind of a journaling space for me. I’m not here to break down everything that was important in 2014, just sharing some of the stuff that I got a chance to be a part of this past year. It’s a way to both celebrate some victories and be accountable to myself and others.

(photo by Monica Rivera)

1. STANDING UP IN FRONT OF STRANGERS AND TALKING

Most of my time and energy this year was spent performing at colleges, conferences and other spaces in every corner of the country. I feel honored to have been able to connect with so many people in so many different places this year. And that’s all on top of local shows like the “Shut it Down” night of speaking out against street harassment, the “Let the Bars Breathe” poetry-of-rap show, the “Page, Stage, Engage” show which sold out the Whole at the U of MN, and other shows I organized or helped organize. Booking for 2015 now.

2. SIFU HOTMAN (Guante, deM atlaS & Rube): EMBRACE THE SUN
My last year-in-review also kicks off with Sifu Hotman. But where last year’s three-song suite was a fun little side project, this extended version is one of the best full albums I’ve ever helped create. With support from BBC Radio, Ego Trip, Amazing Radio, Bandcamp’s “New and Notable” feature, and more blog write-ups than I usually get, it also became one of my more successful projects. And with Josh’s new success as part of the Rhymesayers family, I’m hoping even more people discover it; get it here.

3. DUNGEONS
I released this way back in February with no media campaign, no physical copies, no release party– just a mixtape for me to get some stuff off my chest. Over 9 Dungeon Family instrumentals, it’s a concept album about bullying, identity, activism and more. The second verse on “Chain Lightning” is one of the best things I’ve written, as is the song “Greater Shout,” though I think the whole project has its moments. Oh and all of the song titles are level 1-9 D&D spells. And it’s all one 30-min track. And it’s free.

4. MORE SEMI-VIRALITY
I was on Upworthy twice this year, back in January for The Family Business, and again in October for Action (which was also featured on Everyday Feminism and the NoMore Project). Between my own YouTube account and my videos on Button Poetry, I reached well over a million views this year. Obviously, the numbers aren’t everything, but when you write sometimes-challenging poems about social justice issues and people actually pay attention to them, you have to celebrate those little victories.

5. NEW SPOKEN-WORD VIDEOS

Via Button Poetry, a poem about the iconography of the Twin Cities, and the importance of digging deeper:

Via Button Poetry, a poem about the “continuum of action” involved whenever we witness injustice; this was written after Ferguson, but relates to a lot of different issues:

A poem about the weight of history, and how that weight can be a burden, but it can also be a source of tremendous strength:

This poem was actually an assignment for class; it documents my experiences with education and systems of education:

6. OTHER NEW MUSIC AND MUSIC VIDEOS

Here’s the video for “First Ave. Funeral” from the Sifu Hotman album. This is one of four videos I’ve been involved with shot by Adam J. Dunn:

We shot a video for everyone’s favorite song from “You Better Weaponize,” the one that talks about whiteness in hip hop. Directed by Patrick “PCP” Pegg:

Here’s a random song about nihilism, aliens and Burger King, produced by the great Katrah-Quey. It’s a free download:

Producer Blamsiss remixed one of the standout songs from the Dungeons mixtape; it’s also a free download:

I’ve worked with Ganzo on a handful of songs now; here’s his remix of “Limb from Limb” from the Sifu Hotman album:

7. Writing (Online and In Real Paper Books)
I wrote a ton of essays and op-eds in 2013; some of them got a lot of attention. But I made a point this year to write less and signal boost more, whenever possible. I tried to only go into “thinkpiece mode” when I felt like I had something unique to contribute. A few things I wrote this year:

8. TEACHING AND FACILITATING + TRUARTSPEAKS
As much as I was on the road this year, it’s also important to me to be building something here at home. 
  • It was incredible to work with TruArtSpeaks again this year on the Be Heard youth poetry slam series plus all of our ongoing programs, both in-school and out. Next year is going to be even bigger. Lots of news coming soon.
  • I’m also thankful to COMPAS for hooking up a number of in-school residencies this year. Working with them has taken me out of my urban comfort zone into the suburbs, into rural areas and beyond, and it’s always been a great experience.
  • I finally started my video series sharing tips, tools and tactics for aspiring spoken-word artists. We are three videos in, and more are on the way!
  • Also facilitated classes or workshops at what feels like a million different conferences, summits, activist events, etc.: Department of Justice conference on preventing gender violence, ACPA national conference, Overcoming Racism conference, the Safe Schools youth summit, TC Daily Planet media trainings, and much more.
9. GRAD SCHOOL

Yeah, I also finished my first semester of grad school at the U of MN. It was a busy year. I’m studying intersections of critical pedagogy, social justice education, and social media, all through the lens of hip hop and spoken-word.

10. NEW BOOK AND NEW ALBUM
Both of these projects will see a 2015 official release, but they’re both done. The album is a sampler mix of all of my best songs (plus some brand new tracks and remixes), and the book contains the lyrics booklet to that album, plus all of my poems, plus a bunch of my essays and other writings. They’re both called “A Love Song, A Death Rattle, A Battle Cry,” and will be available soon. I’ll end this with the video to one of the new songs on the album; thanks for listening. Let’s keep building.

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We’re honored to be part of Adam J. Dunn’s #LAAB (Lights and a Backdrop) video series. This is the series’ 8th (!) season. I also had a song way back in season 2, and I might have a surprise coming later.

This batch also features new music from Toki Wright & Big Cats, Chantz Erolin, Longshot and more. Check out all eight seasons HERE, and get a great look at what makes the Twin Cities music scene so special.

I love this song. Hope you enjoy it. Get the whole album here.

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The Sifu Hotman album is officially out tomorrow, but I realized that we’re not on a label and don’t have to conform to any Tuesday release dates so here it is now:

Embrace the Sun by SIFU HOTMAN (Guante x deM atlaS x Rube)

That’s the new project, including brand new songs, remastered versions of our old songs (which you can still get on vinyl here), and more. If you like it, it’s only $5 so please consider buying it.

Like with any new release, the status right about now is a mixture of intense pride, pre-emptive disappointment, fear, guilt from putting so much emotional weight on something so unimportant (in the grand scheme of what’s going on in the world right now), and flat-out relief.

We made something really special. I’m trying to be as objective as possible, and not let the whole delusional artist ego thing mess me up, but I think it’s okay for me to say: this album is good. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever helped create. It does something different, in a powerful way. It says something honest and meaningful even when it’s not an explicitly political or serious album. And it bangs. That’s where that aforementioned “intense pride” comes in.

And since we’ve all found a lot of success over the past year (I mean, Josh especially, but me and Rube too, haha), the logical assumption would be that this really good thing that three successful people have made will take off.

And it almost certainly won’t.

I don’t say that out of humility, or pessimism, or sour grapes. I say it because music like this, no matter how well-liked we are in other spheres, or how hard we work to get it heard, is hard to market. Hell, music in general is hard to market these days, if you’re talking about getting people to spend money on something. But some bass-heavy, throwback punchline rap made by people who are known for doing… not that… it’s off-message. It doesn’t push the brand. It’s bad marketing.

Just to reiterate: this isn’t sour grapes. I’m not saying that something is wrong with the universe because I’m not making lots of money off selling CDs. It’s actually the opposite—this is about gratitude.

I love that we can go off-brand and still knock it out of the park like this, and I’m incredibly grateful to the people who do “get” it. Anyone who came to our release show, or buys this online, or follows any of us on social media—it really does mean a lot. In some ways, it means more than it did ten years ago, or five years ago.

Like I said in this interview, this album was made for the love. We hope you’ll play it loud in your cars. We hope you’ll share it with your friends and post it on your Tumblrs. But mostly, we just hope you’ll like it, that you’ll find something in it the same way we found something while creating it.

Music video for “First Ave Funeral” coming soon.

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I know new songs have a certain shininess to them, but this is still maybe my favorite song I’ve ever made. Shout to Rube for providing this beat and deM atlaS for providing his spirit and energy.

And there’s more where this came from. Be the first to hear everything at our release show, Friday, July 25 at Intermedia Arts in MPLS. 7pm. All ages. $5. House of Dance Twin Cities will also be performing.

If you’re not in the Twin Cities, you can get the whole project, “Embrace the Sun,” on July 29. We’re all really proud of it. Thanks for listening.

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This is the second song I’ve made with Katrah-Quey, a producer whom I’ve been following for a long time. It was great to finally get to work with him. Here’s the other one we made together, also a free download.

Thought about calling this “A Pragmatist’s Guide to Nihilism,” but this title was too perfect. Please share if you like it.

Lyrics after the jump:

Letter of Resignation

I’m not naturally a nihilist
but I can hear it, I just can’t explain what the science is
I can hear it humming in the depths, the drone
The melody of emptiness, the music of black holes

You want me to wear a name tag
when someday I’ll no longer be moving?
You want me to punch in on time
when the heat death of the universe is looming?
You want me to do the dishes
when ancient gods consider us less than slime?
You want me to smile at the customers?
Sorry boss I got bigger things on my mind

A million years in the future,
alien archaeologists are digging up the mall of america
My skeleton is laughing hysterically,
poetry carved into my bones very carefully
Apparently the instruments tickle;
takin’ flight like a paper kite on sonic vibrations and laser light
They will scan every inch of my remains
and take mental notes with their big computer brains
They might find that I stood about five-nine
and weighed about 90 kilograms while alive
They might find that my skull cavity
was just big enough to fit a bunch of fantasies
and a capacity for imagining something better
than the circumstances that my senses could register
And if they look into my skull’s steady gaze
they might find the pocketful of fucks I never gave

You want me to wipe the countertop?
Have you even thought about the vast emptiness we’re immersed in?
You want me to tuck my shirt in
when our victories are hollow and our doom is certain?
Where is the god who created burger king
and if he’s so powerful why can’t i get a raise?
You want me to come in on saturday?
sorry boss i got bigger things on my plate

So when you ask me about my plan B
I just hope you can see why I’m laughing
Y’all are scared of the bill collector
I’m scared of the immensity of space/time
I’m scared of my propensity to waste time
on stuff like bein’ scared, I’d run but there’s nowhere to escape time
and that’s why I took a lotta break time
‘Cause who cares if customers are impatient:
our whole existence is a millisecond in infinity
so they can hurry up and get to waitin’ I’m sayin’ you want
me for your workforce or whatever?
Picture me givin’ a damn; I said pass what you owe me
for this whole week and i’m gone
on some homie, see you when we reach the beyond
if there is one… daydreams are insidious
when the architexture of your heart is non-euclidian

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Here’s my new project. It’s one 30-minute track. Download it for FREE here:

Experimental mixtape. Nine brand new songs mixed into one track. All beats jacked from Dungeon Family (Goodie Mob, Outkast, Cool Breeze, etc.) songs. Mixed by Big Cats.

1. Chill Touch
2. Knock
3. Fireball
4. Crushing Despair
5. Raise Dead
6. Chain Lightning
7. Prismatic Spray w/ Homeless, Heidi Barton Stink, Tony the Scribe, Kaoz, Just Wulf & See More Perspective
8. Greater Shout
9. Mage’s Disjunction

All I ask in return is, if you like it, to sign up for my email list. And to go along with all this new music, here are pretty much all my thoughts on it:

My plane touches down in Atlanta as I’m listening to the final mix of DUNGEONS for the first time. It’s just a stop on my way to New Orleans, where I’ll be performing at a conference on sexual assault prevention on college campuses, but it’s a nice moment. Hip hop is always about the conversation between past and present; these beats have roots in this city. I wonder how many people will hear that call and response, how much it matters.

Goodie Mob and Outkast were my entry points into hip hop. Before Wu-Tang, before Nas, before Pharcyde, before all of the other artists I’d name as influences, it was those two groups (and their extended crew, the Dungeon Family). Part of this project is paying homage; part of it is really highlighting how ahead of their time that crew was.

I’ve been extremely intentional about everything in my career so far. DUNGEONS is really the first project I’ve done just because I want to, just to clear my head. Some songs are leftovers from the You Better Weaponize sessions. Some are kind of random freewrites. I wrote “Crushing Despair” when I was like 19. Some are brand new songs written to bridge these other songs together into a cohesive whole that can almost be called a concept album. Some of them are really good, some of my best writing. Some are okay.

That’s part of the theme here, at least for me. Letting go. Moving on. The mixtape isn’t perfect, but I need to put it out, to get it out. I’m always haunted by old songs. But what could have been a random collection of cannibalized rejects (like a lot of mixtapes) has kind of turned into something I can be proud of. Again, it’s not perfect. The posse cut is kind of… messy. None of the songs are catchy pop hits. It gets a little unwieldy at points. But it’s very much an authentic documentation of where my head has been at this past year.

So what’s the concept? It probably makes sense to start with what isn’t the concept first. It’s called DUNGEONS because all the beats are jacked from Dungeon Family songs and all the song titles are Dungeons & Dragons sorcerer spells, level one through level nine. But those are both just organizing principles, arbitrary rules I set for myself to help focus my writing. The actual concept is something more than a gimmick.

The album talks about bullying, about economic and social violence, about resistance and activism, and more. A running motif is the power/magic inherent in language, how words shape reality. That’s getting close to the concept, I guess. I don’t want to over-explain this one (ha). It is what you take from it.

I probably tend to over-explain my work because it’s always going to be under-explained elsewhere. We’re all underrated. Every MC I know doesn’t get the attention they deserve. A masterpiece LP, a new single, a mixtape, a promo video, a show announcement– they all get the same amount of ink, the same cursory glance, the same obligatory surface-level props. We’re all pigeon-holed, often early in our careers, and we can never shake those labels. Releasing a rap album is like having a kid, being a great parent for five years, and then dropping that kid off on the very first day of school; it’s just that the “school” is full of 19 year-old drunk white boys.

I’m not too stressed about this one, though. Because I made it pretty much just for myself, it’s okay if it doesn’t get ten thousand downloads in the first week. I’m not doing any videos, singles, release parties, or even a big press push. But this whole decision-making process HAS made me think more about what success looks like, and what I want to be doing in the years to come.

It’s as easy to rationalize success as it is to rationalize failure. I know I’m not alone in this– the life of an artist (I’m happy to say this is my actual job, and has been for 2-3 years now) is a constant inflation and deflation of the ego. On the negative side: everyone’s playing bigger shows than me, this new video has more YouTube views than my new video, this other artist gets more love from the press even though they have nothing to say, etc. And on the positive side: my work has a much larger impact because it’s actively challenging the audience with specific critiques and action points, I probably make more money on the college circuit than a lot of better-known MCs on the club circuit, even when my videos have fewer views, they’re actually saying something important, the people I respect respect me, etc.

And both sides of this dance make good points. For me, I know that I AM doing really good work and having a concrete impact on my world. I also know, however, that I could have a much bigger impact. There’s always a new plateau.

So what does all this have to do with DUNGEONS? The project is fairly obviously not about me getting famous. It’s not a good promotional strategy to say that this is a “stepping stone” or “detour,” but that’s kind of what it is. That “next plateau,” for me, isn’t necessarily selling out the Mainroom or getting posted on all the big rap blogs. That’s not defeatist; that’s having an intentional strategy and making my own way. The more experienced I get, the more I figure out what my strengths, passions and experiences are pointing me toward. And I just caught a clear glimpse of that this past year.

In some ways, DUNGEONS is wholly unrelated to that “something” I caught a glimpse of. In other ways, it is inextricably bound to it. I hate to be abstract and mysterious like that, but I’m hoping it’ll all make sense in time. Thanks for listening.

UPDATE: here’s a track-by-track breakdown.

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Two big updates, even if they don’t have much to do with one another.

“The Family Business” is probably the best spoken-word piece I have. Following in the footsteps of my poem “Ten Responses to the Phrase Man Up,” it’s been featured at Upworthy. Grateful for the signal boost. I like to think that the title of the post is actually about me, and not the character in the poem, haha.

Also, wildly talented producer Ganzobean (Musab, Abstract Rude, etc.) took a crack at remixing the Sifu Hotman song “Limb from Limb” and it’s a banger– and a FREE DOWNLOAD. Listen to me and Dem Atlas (who just signed to Rhymesayers, in case you haven’t heard) get venomous. The beat changeup when the third verse hits is just gorgeous. I got another song or two with Ganzo coming soon, not to mention another song or two with Rube, who produced the OG version!

I think my favorite part of this update is looking at how different these two pieces of art are. It’s good to keep your listeners on their toes I guess. Any re-posts, shares, links, etc. of EITHER piece are greatly appreciated!