GREAT photos from Hip Hop Against Homphobia

courtesy of Jon Behm at CultureBully.

HERE'S THE LINK

I put that in all caps so it's bigger.

HHAH debrief, Quilombolas CD release, El Cafe open mic!

So last night was our first Hip Hop Against Homophobia show. It was completely packed. As much as I love the Nomad, I think we might need a bigger venue next time. I'll post photos once I've got them. Big thanks to the performers, sponsors and everyone who came out. Sorry to those who got turned away.

Anyways, busy week coming up:

Guante in the CMJ Artist Spotlight!

Balancing sly humor with "who you calling earnest?" sincerity, Minneapolis's El Guante rides the fine-line between rapper and spoken word artist. On one track, he'll goof on inspirational, lose your self-style motivational hip-hop ("seize the day/i'm a night person") and on the next ruminates on war and sacrifice through the perspective of a soldier's mother. Like any good battle-rapper forged in the depths of the Twin Cities independent scene, El Guante has a knack for a witty puchline ("hip-hop is dead/my style is necrophilia") and a leftist political streak (he played Ripple Effect festival in St. Paul as part of a protest against the Republican National Council alongside Michael Franti, Dead Prez and Anti Flag.) Giving you something to think about while nodding your head to his nimble, casual flow, El Guante could very well follow Atmosphere and P.O.S. in the long-line of outstanding rappers to break out from the Midwest.

That's pretty cool.

Yet another interview of me (w/ video)

More talking about the big Hip Hop Against Homophobia show on Friday at the Nomad. Shot by B-FRESH and Justin Schell, music by Big Cats!. CultureBully posted it:

CHECK IT OUT HERE.

Interviewed at Cake in 15

Had a great chat with Carl over at Cake in 15 about the Hip Hop Against Homophobia show, my own thoughts on art and politics, and more. Carl's involved in some very cool stuff, and that blog is always entertaining.

Here's the link.

3 Minute Egg with the St. Paul Slam Team

Yeah, i wrote a poem about vampires.

Anyways, another very cool installment of 3 Minute Egg, Matt Piekan's exploration of the Twin Cities arts scene. Be sure to check out their archives; just click on the link. Me and SeeMore were in an earlier episode too.

Hip Hop Against Homophobia: a more in-depth look

Here's the link to a dual-interview we did over at CultureBully.com about the upcoming show (January 23rd at the Nomad).

Also, the article I refer to in the interview, "'Conscious' Hip Hop, Homophobia and Hypocrisy," can be found HERE. And here's the flyer for the show:

Upcoming Events

It's going to be a wild end of January:

~Tuesday, 1/13: Slam at Kieran's in Minneapolis, 8pm.

~Thursday, 1/15: Twin Cities Spoken-Word Summit at Springboard for the Arts in St. Paul, 7pm.

~Friday, 1/23: Hip Hop Against Homophobia: trying to upload the flyer but there's an internal error. I'll try again later. Anyways, it's at 9pm at the Nomad in Minneapolis.

~Saturday, 1/24: I'm taking part in Kristoff Krane's residency at the Depot in Hopkins. 7pm. Over four Saturdays, he's bringing in Big Quarters, No Bird Sing, Mictlan, Kill the Vultures, Ecid and more of the TC's best hip hop acts. Really looking forward to this one.

~Friday, 1/30 at the 7th St. Entry: labelmates Quilombolas' CD release party! 9pm.

~Saturday, 1/31 at el Burrito Mercado in St. Paul: featuring at El Cafe open mic!

Lots of fun shows and events this month.

Guante & Big Cats at Eclipse Records (footage)

The good people at Above the Fold recorded our show last week and posted one clip of it, a short a capella and the song "Ink." I could post the YouTube here, but go check it out at their site:

Here's the link!

For our first show together (after only two rehearsals), this was a hell of a lot of fun. We'll definitely tweak a few things before our next show (vocal mix, some timing things), but I think we're in good shape. Eclipse is a very cool space if you've never been there: it's a record store, but there's a door in the back that leads to this big black box of a room-- no chairs, no tables, no bar, just a stage. It was packed for this show, and made for a beautiful experience.

Also, some cool photos of the same show courtesy of Jon Behm and CultureBully.

New Year's Bullet Points

1. The show last night was wild-- big thanks to everyone who came out to Eclipse Records. Big Cats and the band really held it down, and I was pretty good too. We're already thinking about our next show. Big ups to MC Harv for throwing a great release party as well; packed house, beautiful audience. I'll get some photos of it up soon.

2. Finally broke my new music fast and have been listening to a lot of great stuff: the Janelle Monae album (which is brilliant... like what Andre3k has been TRYING to do), the new Raphael Saadiq album (can't pick a stand-out track, but it's very solid overall), Pink's "Sober," (favorite song of the moment; sue me), Devotchka, Haley Bonar, Brandi Carlile, the new Kanye. If I were more on-the-ball I could have reviewed all this stuff for Culture Bully, but i'm generally a month or two behind on new music. Also some great local hip hop: Kristoff Krane's "This Will Work For Now" and Death Ray Scientific's self-titled joint. It's been a good month.

3. HIP HOP AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA on 1/23 at the Nomad. I'll be posting the flyer and lots more info soon. Also, there'll be a short anti- DOMA rally on 1/10; more info coming.

4. My mixtape, "Conscious Is Not Enough," came in at #7 on the Vita.MN readers' poll of best local albums of 2008. That's kind of a surprise.

5. Just finished a great spoken-word residency at Ubah Medical Academy in Hopkins, and am about to start a new one at North High in Minneapolis. Big ups to Project Success and the Minnesota Spoken-Word Association. Both are doing some amazing work, and I'm glad I can be a part of it.

6. New blog/website devoted to the Twin Cities spoken-word scene: CHECK IT OUT.

7. I have an article on hip hop, activism and "hip hop activism" in this month's Mill City Scene. Pick up a hard copy in the Twin Cities; there's also an interview with Eyedea and a bunch of other content.

8. A little further down the road: Label-mates QUILOMBOLAS will be having a CD release party on 1/30 at the 7th St. Entry. I'll be performing, Maria Isa will be performing, more more more. Should be a great time.

9. A million other things I'm forgetting.