So you’re new to Minneapolis?

And you didn’t even know about our burgeoning hip-hop community?!

Well let me give you the word.

First we gotta assume you know the basics of hip-hop culture. If not, there are many, many resources at your fingertips to get you initiated, ranging from blogs to feature news stories to encyclopedia articles. If you want a quick fix to get the basics, check out Wikipedia. They have many to-the-point entries about the origins and history of hip-hop. And while this is by no means the final word, it’s a good place to get started if you know absolutely nothing.

Then, just as Hunter S. Thompson said you should do with Bob Dylan if you want to understand the ‘60s, listen to all of KRS-One’s albums in chronological order, and you’ll probably be on the right track… (those of you hissing at this comparison, substitute KRS-One with the artist of your choice--just don't say Puffy.)

While many of us were in diapers or sucking at the teat, the would-be pioneers of Minnesota hip-hop were laying the groundwork for a cultural movement whose dynamics and composition are still shifting around us today.

By 1981, what had started as an isolated movement in New York before taking up roots in California was beginning to infiltrate urban life here in the Twin Cities. Like their earlier South Bronx counterparts, hip-hop parties in the Cities began as relatively low-key gatherings with a DJ and MC playing to a small local crowd. Many attribute the proliferation of these parties to DJ Travitron, who started the infamous Club Hip Hop on Selby Avenue in St. Paul. He has been commonly revered as Minnesota’s answer to DJ Kool Herc, and he quickly became renowned in underground youth circles for his massive parties. In fact, DJ Disco T, another local DJ from the early era, touts, “Travitron was the godfather. If you had a party on the night Travitron had a party, then your party wasn't getting packed. The best thing you could do was wait until his flyer comes out, and try to throw something a week later.” (from City Pages’ “One Nation, Invisible,” August 18, 2004)

Meanwhile, the b-boy/b-girl element had already been in existence, ever since news of the popular phenomenon spread east from New York. Stories about gangs proving their worth by battling—not with knives and clubs, but with aggressive, revolutionary dance moves—astounded police and captivated the minds of youth. Soon you could find kids across the nation breaking as soon as they were old enough to dance. Regular parties and competitions gave them a much-needed venue in which to do it.

The graffiti-writing element of the culture rose steadily alongside the others, and Twin Cities hip-hop was born. Crews came and went, talent rose and fell, and all the while, mainstream pop culture saw more and more of this strange new counterculture trickle in and gain momentum amongst the masses. This could be seen in the form of Top 40 pop singles (MC Hammer, Kriss Kross, Tone Loc…), sketch comedy shows (In Living Color), spectacular graffiti bombing campaigns (the New York trains), films, dance, and much more. But while the rest of the country gradually grabbed on and embraced certain mainstream elements of hip-hop, the grassroots scene as it existed in Minnesota lay largely undiscovered.

Flash forward to now. Society is overwhelmed with the negative side of what the major media outlets have dubbed “hip-hop.” Black rappers from the inner-city have largely traded in concerns over social justice and the politics of poverty for a white-capitalist-like obsession with “bling-bling” (e.g. gold chains, diamond earrings, and hot cars, for those who have been living on Planet Crypton for the last decade). Calls for racial and sexual equality have turned into the systematic degradation of women, or “bitches,” while white-owned mega corporations rake in the lion’s share of profits from album and ticket sales. And what was once a rally for causes like black unity and nonviolence has given way to appalling levels of gang-related, black-on-black crime in the inner-city and beyond.

Yet with all the negativity surrounding mainstream rap, the so-called underground has never seen so much mainstream breakthrough—particularly in Minnesota, where the exhaustive efforts of dozens of socially conscious, progressively minded hip-hop artists over the last decade finally seem to be paying off. But in what ways?

First, it’s hard to find a night of the week when some sort of live hip-hop event is not happening. It may be Atmosphere or Brother Ali(pictured performing on Minnesota Public Radio), or it may be some guy you’ve never heard of ripping up tracks on the ones-and-twos at some dive bar. That’s part of the beauty of our scene: you get a diverse cross section of the wide world of rap music, from club-rockin’ DJs to angsty, black-clad emo rappers, spoken-word soul sisters and skilled live bands to MPC geeks and boom-bappin’ beat boxers.

Break dancers are yet another integral part of any cohesive hip-hop scene. When the ancestors of today’s turntablists first started throwing down those party-rocking breaks in the late ‘70s, people began to move. That pushed the boulder down the hill, beginning a perpetual motion that has only increased in inertia ever since. B-boys and girls can be found not only at rap shows, but kissing the dance floors with their gravity-defying, Capoeira-based moves at clubs with DJs spinning house, funk, electro, and even disco. Just check out First Avenue’s weekly “Too Much Love” if you don’t believe me.

Minnesota is officially on the hip-hop map now (and has been for some time), and at the risk of stating the obvious (and looking like a suck-up), we largely have Rhymesayers Entertainment to thank for it. What began as a simple collective of like-minded rappers, DJs, producers, etc., under the name Headshots, has now become a world-renowned platform for some of the most unique and innovative music to come out of the Midwest and beyond. And with Atmosphere having just performed on Dave Letterman (with Doomtree’s P.O.S. on back-ups), this momentous force does not seem to be waning—in fact, it’s likely to pull other stellar objects along with it.

For the first time in memorable history, we have a high-powered FM radio station (89.3 The Current, part of Minnesota Public Radio) that has local rap music rotating on a regular basis throughout their playlists. Though admittedly the local-artist tracks are unevenly saturated with Minnesota’s most famous and chic, it’s safe to say that as more up-and-coming local acts prove their worth, we will hear more of their tunes coming across the waves. Plus RSE’s Kevin Beacham (aka DJ Nikoless) has a weekly radio station in which he highlights his weekly hip-hop picks, which is an excellent compliment to the regular track lineup.

Of course the Current is not the only station that plays local rap. Nor is this anywhere near a complete overview of the history and current state of local hip-hop. But I think we’ve spent enough time here creating what should be a good primer for those who are new to the scene, and if that’s you, I encourage you to learn more—just as I always try to do.

As for our webzine, we have a few basic goals:

• To generate timely and relevant news pieces revolving around issues relating, directly or indirectly, to the greater Minnesota hip-hop scene and culture
• To contribute to the positive image of our scene by promoting it as beneficial to the local business economy, to local arts and entertainment, and to youth in the community who are seeking an outlet for their creative energies
• To establish a friendly relationship with the artists, promoters, and businesses that have helped make this scene what it is
• To establish a friendly, synergistic relationship with relative unknowns in the scene who hope to expose themselves and their enterprises to a larger, more diverse audience
• To establish and maintain relationships with businesses who stand to benefit from exposure in our publication, and to in turn encourage them to give back to the community in a multitude of ways, including but not limited to sponsorship and promotion of local events, providing a venue for local artists, and promoting awareness of the positive elements of hip-hop’s true form

With that said, we are always looking to network, and we’re definitely looking for more contributors (writers, photographers, etc.). If you think you have something to give to our cause, e-mail us with a copy of your resume and some of your previous work. Some jobs pay, some do not, some don’t but will soon. You need not have a background in journalism, nor do you need be an expert on the local hip-hop scene. However you must show a strong desire to cover your beat in great depth, learn more about your beat, and to never stop learning—that is, after all, the job of a journalist.