New Opine Season column, Brave New Voices, new music from friends, assorted links

SO MUCH STUFF I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU:

1. Help support the Minnesota Brave New Voices team

I have the honor of coaching the MN team this year, 6 (officially, but it's really more like 9) absolutely brilliant teen poets. Seriously, they're incredible. We're working on some more events to showcase their talent before we leave for BNV in August, but in the meantime, you can help us all to Chicago by donating here.

2. My New Opine Season Column on BURNOUT:

My Opine Season column this week is about BURNOUT, and strategies to avoid it for activists, artists, educators and anyone. If you have a thought, leave a comment!

3. New Music from See More Perspective:
See More Perspective is criminally underrated, and this is the third in his series of seasonal EPs. It's available now for pay-what-you-want. All three so far have contained some absolute gems. "Dandelions" is my favorite on this one. Such good songwriting.

4. New Poem from Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria:

Rodrigo always has something good to say, and he returns with a new poem about fatherhood and "dispelling the myth of the absent Latino father." He writes more about this piece and this subject here.

5. Ring Ring Poetry debuts, includes one of my pieces
Local poet Cole Sarar has been working on this project for a while; basically, you use a phone to call in to listen to poems about different places in the Twin Cities. It's kind of a virtual tour, exploring place, identity and more. My piece "It Is Cold Here, But It Is Also Hot" is included. Here's the link.

6. Ryan "Bugs" Virden-Williams: "On Fried Chicken and Active Whiteness"
Ryan doesn't pull any punches when he talks about race, racism and whiteness. This piece examines the recent Sergio Garcia/Tiger Woods controversy, and frames whiteness not just as a state of being but as an active force on the world.

7. A Conversation on Appreciation, Appropriation and Urban Outfitters
Lauren Van Schepen over at MPLSzine sits down with Lolla Mohammed Nur and Sasha Houston Brown to talk about UA's history of appropriation and how people can fight back. Read the whole interview here.

8. A GoFundMe campaign from the Brown Queer & Trans Empowerment Collective
The BQullecTivE is a new organization "for Queer and Trans* identified people of color based in the Twin Cities." They're trying to bring artist B.Steady to town for Pride, and they're all very cool people who deserve our support. You can pitch in here.

9. Ty Moore for MPLS City Council
Will post more about this later, but for now, be sure to check out activist Ty Moore's city council campaign. He's a radical, grassroots organizer, active in many struggles, and I think his perspective is valuable and important.

There's always so much happening in this community. I know I'm missing some others, but I hope you'll take a second to check some of this stuff out. For more frequent updates, follow me on Twitter.

Opine Season: Marriage Equality and the Myth of Inevitability

Actually, a few pieces I wrote for Opine Season, which is still going strong.

Marriage Equality and the Myth of Inevitability

Five Lessons Slam Poetry Taught Me About Media

Beyond ‘Slacktivism’: Reframing Social Media as Independent Media

Why Representative Event Lineups Matter

My full archive is here. As always, if you read something you like, please share.

New Video: A PRAYER FOR INDIE RAPPERS

You know, it's a shame that one of my most universal poems has one of the most specific titles. I hope that if you're a poet, visual artist, novelist, singer, dancer, or even someone who doesn't identify as an artist, you'll still check this out. Hip hop here is the lens, but it's not the heart of what this poem is trying to get at.

Anyway, this is a newer draft of this poem, with a much better video courtesy of Patrick Pegg (with an assist from the MN State Arts Board). Kind of the non-rhyming companion piece to this song. This is my reminder to myself that both reach and impact are important, but that they're not the same thing. A few related links:

1. There are a lot of fantastic indie-rappers in the Twin Cities. Here's a "primer" I wrote for people who don't know about our scene. It doesn't cover EVERYTHING, but it's a good place to start.

2. For something more concrete, here's a piece I wrote called "Six Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Getting Started as an Artist."

3. If you like this, be sure to check out all my other spoken-word videos at this link.

New releases from Dem Atlas, PCP, See More Perspective, Kaoz and Khary Jackson

I know a lot of talented people. Here are few of them. Most of this stuff is free. Download it and make a "new music" playlist that will last you a couple hours. I love doing that.

DEM ATLAS: CHARLE BRWN EP

Everyone who's seen Dem Atlas perform knows that he's something special. The next project I release will actually be a short collaborative EP with him (more on that soon). The kid is just overflowing with talent and personality, and you can catch a lot of that here on his debut EP. The Pharcyde comparisons are easy, but only because they're pretty accurate. So imagine if the Pharcyde came up in the Twin Cities hip hop scene-- that's how I hear this stuff, and that's an enormous compliment. Dem Atlas on Facebook.

PCP: PEACE EP (PHUKET!)

Just about everyone I know these days has a "slash." Rapper/producer. Poet/dancer. Singer/painter. But PCP has lots of slashes, and does all of them well. If you frequent this site, you may know him as the guy who shot and edited about half of my spoken-word videos, as well as the "To Young Leaders" video. He's also a long-time youth worker and educator. He's also a producer, MC and singer. His debut LP is coming soon, and this EP is a hell of a compelling preview. It's a raw, visceral collection of songs that showcase a vocal approach reminiscent of Eyedea and Kristoff Krane over some gorgeously unique, live instrument-driven production. PCP on Facebook.

SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE: LOTS

See More is halfway through his "seasonal" EPs, having released "Fall Forward" and "Brain Freeze" already, with "Food for Thaw" coming soon. I've BEEN saying that he's one of the freshest voices in the scene, with a unique, playful style, boom-bap sensibilities and an overall vibe of positivity and community, and these EPs (produced by Serebellum One) are a great place to start if you're late to the party. See More will also be releasing his first spoken-word project, "THE COSMOS ACCORDING TO YOUR CLOSED EYES," in September. See More Perspective on Facebook.

KAOZ: ENTERSEXTIONS

Kaoz has been a staple of our Hip Hop Against Homophobia shows for the past few years, and has been a tireless artist, advocate, activist and educator. While that description might make you think he's a joyless "conscious" rap scold (like me, haha), he's definitely not. This is an album (or two albums, really) about sex, identity and much more, and it's fun, funny and powerful. Kaoz is never afraid to keep it real. You can get volume one and volume two here. Kaoz on Facebook.

KHARY JACKSON: ANY PSALM  YOU WANT

Khary is a very talented poet and spoken-word artist. I think the thing that separates him from the pack, however, is his ambition. He takes risks. He does very difficult things artistically but makes them look easy. I haven't read his book yet, but I've known him and his work for years now and I'm SURE this is brilliant stuff. You can get it through Write Bloody Publishing. And here's a video of him in action.

There's always more great stuff being released. Sorry if I missed you; these five are just people I know personally. Feel free to leave a comment if you got something people should check out.

New Song: The Fourth Wall (Katrah-Quey Remix) w/ Lydia Liza of Bomba de Luz

It's a FREE download, by the way.

I know I haven't released much music since "You Better Weaponize." A ton of essays, poems and other writings, but no new songs. Well, I've been taking the time between projects to record some remixes, re-imaginings, new songs and just fun random songs, especially ones featuring artists I haven't had a chance to work with yet. This one is the first of a few, and features two very talented artists:

KATRAH-QUEY is a producer I've been listening to for years, even before I moved to Minneapolis. He's prolific as hell, and is a real student of the art. Everything I've heard from him has been smooth and beautifully-crafted. You can find more of his work on Soundcloud, and his latest project is the "Woven in the Fabric" EP that features Toki Wright, Kanser and more.

LYDIA LIZA is the lead singer of Bomba de Luz, one of the best bands in the Twin Cities. If you haven't heard their new song "Howl at that Moon" yet, drop what you're doing and listen to it. A cool video of the same track here.

The track was recorded and mixed by Graham O'Brien at Bellows in St. Paul.

If you like it, download it for free. And please share it-- Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, all that. Thanks!

Are we having a real conversation about representation and media in MN?

Just some related links, in case you missed any of them.

Guante: Why Representative Event Lineups Matter

This is my new Opine Season column, about why "big" events (like music festivals, local scene showcase concerts, even rallies and panel discussions) could generally do a better job putting together performer/speaker lineups that are more diverse/representative.

Guante: Cherry Spoon Bridge to Nowhere: On the Iconography of the Twin Cities
This is my previous column, about the symbols that are so often used to represent the Twin Cities and MN, and whose voices and perspectives are validated by those symbols.

Guante: It Is Cold Here, But It Is Also Hot (poem)
Here's a video of my poem about the above topic.

Matt Peiken: MPR's The Current Plays the Same Old Tune
Opine Season's editor, Matt Peiken, doesn't pull any punches. "I say monochrome because MPR—particularly at The Current, MPR’s pop music channel— doesn’t reflect this community’s diversity, ethnically or sonically. Hennepin County is 77 percent white, Ramsey County 72 percent white. At The Current, each of the 14 show hosts highlighted on the station’s Web site is white. MPR News’ three staff arts reporters are white."

Toki Wright: A Love Letter to the Twin Cities: Culture, Music, Race, Fear, and Beer
A more personal note from Toki Wright, one of the best MCs in the universe and a pillar of the community here in the TC. "Me and you can do a lot better relating. I think we are missing each other and if we don’t do something to fix it soon this whole community is going to implode. If we work together this can be an even better place to live. A lot of people who have been on the same wavelength have packed up and ran from here as soon as they could. When the soul of city leaves a city dies."

Related: check out the Main Street Project's media justice campaign, plus Community Action Against Racism's blog.

If there are other people talking about this stuff, please post a link in the comments. I'd love to hear what some other voices have to say. Judging by the web traffic, these pieces are striking a chord with a lot of people; I know me and my friends have plans. I'm excited to see what good can come from it. Let's keep talking, and let our actions reflect those conversations.

(oh and to the weirdos out there who notice/care, I'm setting the date on this post a week earlier, just so the new song can sit on top a little while longer. Will fix later, maybe).

Opine Season: Cherry Spoon Bridge to Nowhere: on the Iconography of the Twin Cities

This week's column over at Opine Season is about the symbols we often use or encounter when talking about the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and why those symbols give us an incomplete picture. It's the essay version of the poem above.

I've been performing this piece for months now, but this is the first time it's ever been available online. Hope you like it. ...Well, that's not quite right. I don't care if you like it, but I hope it sparks some thoughts and conversations.