Soundset 2011

Last Thursday I took a trip out to Minneapolis, MN to spend time with some friends and check out Soundset 2010, the annual independent Hip-Hop music festival put on by Rhymesayers Entertainment. Curious about who performed? Check out the archives at SoundsetFestival.com. The site contains the show lineup, videos, and pictures.

With this year's show already come and gone, and being as amazing as it was, and last year's show being great too (I didn't see 2008), I developed a list of independent and legendary acts I feel deserve a shot at rocking the Soundset stages and tents.

Unfortunately, it looks like the majority of the acts I listed, I personally feel earned time on the main stage, so my other stage list will be a little light.

Main Stage

The Cool Kids
Blu & Exile
Slaughterhouse
A Tribe Called Quest
De La Soul
Outkast
Goodie Mob
Dungeon Family
Gnarls Barkley
The Roots
Common
Public Enemy
Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Bone Thugs N Harmony
Ice Cube
Jurassic 5
The Beatnuts
Kool Keith
Madlib/Quasimoto
Little Brother
Camp Lo
Sean Price/Boot Camp Click
Mos Def
Talib Kweli
Blackstar
Pharoahe Monch
Jean Grey
Mr. Lif/Perceptionists
Soul Position

Fifth Element Stage

Apathy/Demigodz
F. Stokes
Soulcrate Music
Joe Good
Oh No
Jay Electronica
Reef the Lost Cauze
J. Cole

B-Boy/B-Girl Tent

DJ Danger Mouse
DJ Shadow
DJ Qbert
DJ Premiere
DJ Honda
Mr. Len
RJD2
Flying Lotus
Gaslamp Killer
Exile
Pete Rock
King Britt
Dan the Automater
Kid Koala

Hosted by

Sway and King Tech
Fab 5ive Freddy

I'm not saying this should be the lineup for the next festival, but I am suggesting that any of these people would be great for the festival. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to post them here. Please keep in mind that this is an event put on by RSE, so certain performers won't fit the scheme of things. Trust me, I want M.O.P. too, but it's not going to happen. I'm also aware that it would be highly unlikely for Joe Good to accept an invitation, because he doesn't rap anymore, but a guy can dream, right?

Twin Cities Week

Minneapolis/St. Paul. It's come up a few times here on this blog. People close to me know I have a chubby for the Twin. Really, it's Mpls, because I've only spent a couple hours in St. Paul, and that was to eat at one of the best burger joints in the world.

Minneapolis is a great place to hang out and chill. Everybody out there hates snow as much as people in the UK hate rain. I don't know why everybody's crying, because I love the snow and the rain! What really grabbed my attention about the TC was the music/arts/entertainment scene out there. During my first hoo-rah back in December I visited MCAD to see what they're about. That has to be one of the best art schools I've ever seen in my life. It made me want to go back to school...there, of course. But all in all, the music is phenomenal. Prince is great, but we're in the 2000s here! It's all about Hip-Hop right now.

The group Atmosphere has done so much in terms of promoting their city. Each album is littered with references of their hometown, but also outright name-drops. Add a good portion of the Rhymesayers Entertainment roster, along with the Doomtree collective and you've got the North Star confederacy. Let me clarify. People in the South are very "patriotic", and the people of Minneapolis will defend their territory to the death. It's not about America, it's about where they lay their heads first and foremost.

Beyond the tangents, on May 24, 2009, RSE put on Soundset 2009 in Shakopee, MN. It was the follow-up to last year's Soundset 2008, held at the Metrodome parking lot. The first event garnered so much attention that this year things ballooned, with interest coming in from MTV (it really helps that they're all over. P.OS. right now, and Atmosphere just last year).

MTV decided to run what they titled, Twin Cities Week on MTV2. Artists such as P.O.S., Mike Mictlan of Doomtree, Slug of Atmosphere, Toki Wright, and Brother Ali of RSE were all interviewed by the station to show it's viewers what their scene, music, and lives are all about. The artists spent some time online hyping up Twin Cities Week, understandably so, to let their fans know to keep an eye out for them.

Look, I know how this works, and it played out exactly how I knew it would. MTV does not do true features on artists. Instead, they force people to sit and watch their lifeless programming in anguish in order to see what you're truly after. These guys' segments were played during commercial breaks and in between shows with 10 minutes of mindless waste preceding and succeeding it. Needless to say, I couldn't bring myself to be turned into a troll by the one-time cutting edge music station. The people I was looking out for are great artists and nice people, and I enjoy supporting them. However, I wasn't up for it on this go 'round. The Twin Cities Week link above will give you a small taste of some of the coverage, but it's definitely not everything they did. So the next time you hear that your favorite artist(s) is/are being featured on MTV, don't put yourself through the agony. Just pretend you never heard anything. Seriously.

MTV, what did I ever do to you?

P.O.S. - Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)

This is the first video released for the upcoming P.O.S. release, Never Better on Rhymesayers Entertainment/Doomtree Records. The video was shot on-location in Minneapolis. It was a 20 degree day in MN, with snow falling as the shoot took place. Cameos include Ander Other, Abjekt, and another person you may or may not know.

Never Better releases next Tuesday, February 3, 2009. Pick it up at Best Buy, Amazon.com, Fifth Element, and iTunes.

FREE MUSIC!

Support my homie from Minneapolis, FranzDiego.com, by copping his new EP! FranzDiego.com is a member of the Mpls, MN Hip-Hop group, Illuminous 3.

You can't go wrong with free music, right? It can't hurt. Who knows, you might become a fan.

Trust, he's dope.