- Fri, 2011-11-04 13:13
Fifteen years ago gangsta rap ruled the United States. Snoop Dogg, 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. all had number one albums to their name, and as far as the majority of the American public were concerned the four elements of hip hop were bitches, bling, guns and weed.
But even as gangsta rap reached its height - and consequently began to self-destruct with the deaths of 2Pac and Biggie Smalls - the underground world of alternative hip hop was thriving. Groups like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and The Pharcyde had long been preserving the original spirit of hip hop, preferring more thoughtful or humorous lyrics to ghetto-glorification, and Wu-Tang Clan had shown that alternative hip hop could be a business as well as an art.
All of which no doubt played its part in inspiring a nascent group of young hip hop fans and artists in Minneapolis’ Twin Cities - and in particular the crew called Headshots - to create a scene of their own. BK-One - DJ to Brother Ali - recalls how Headshots members Slug and Ant (together known as Atmosphere) Siddiq, and Beyond (later known as Musab) began to take things into their own hands:
[They] had a lot of vision for building a hip hop scene where literally there was not one. There were rappers, but there wasn’t a crowd. You couldn’t throw a rap show and have a crowd of people come out. So Atmosphere just started opening up for whoever did have a crowd. Not trying to steal their fans, but just trying to find a place to do what they did. They figured that if they really believed in what they were doing, and kept plugging at it, then eventually people would identify with it and become a part of it.
At the same time the crew established Rhymesayers Entertainment, a label and collective designed to support the scene that they were shaping. In 1996 it made its first full release with Comparison, by Beyond, an album that established the label as an outlet for lyrically thoughtful and thought-provoking hip hop concerned with challenging clichés and stereotypes rather than propagating them.
In the subsequent fifteen years Rhymesayers has gradually become one of alternative hip hop’s most important players. From introducing the world to the likes of Atmosphere, Brother Ali and Eyedea & Abilities to releasing material by Soul Position, MF DOOM, and Evidence (of Dilated Peoples) it has consistently brought the finest underground rappers to within touching distance of the mainstream, helping in the process to prevent a new generation of gangsta rappers from dominating the scene to the extent that their forebears did.
Rhymesayers are coming to Europe this November for a series of one-off shows that bring together some of their top talent on a bill of rare quality: Atmosphere, Evidence, Brother Ali, Blueprint and Grieves & Budo. For full dates, check the Rhymesayers website, and to get yourself in the mood here’s a playlist of some of the label’s finest releases:
