Minneapolis Hip-Hop News Roundup: Brother Ali, Toki Wright, Muja Messiah, Big Quarters

There's been several little bits of news regarding some of Minneapolis' best hip-hop acts, so I would figured that I'd consolidate them into one big post, as opposed to several little ones. Here's the info:

Brother Ali

MFR-reader favorite Brother Ali has been touring his nuts off since March's "Truth Is Here Tour". Now that festival season is finally upon us, the rapper sure doesn't show any signs of slowing down. This August, Brother Ali will be spitting the truth for Pacific Northwesterners at Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival, an all-day fest which helps promote sustainability. Looks like Ali has got some great company, both in terms of indie and hip-hop: check out the line-up here.

Toki Wright

Mr. Wright keeps plugging away with his "Best Week Ever" series, and the entry for June 20th is as strong as his last installments were. Addressing current events as the R. Kelly verdict, the planned RNC convention, and wiretapping (both in the case of Fiddy and the Supreme Court), Wright delivers another knockout, with adept flow and profound insight. Listen to it here, then check out the Soundset freestyle at the top of the post. More of those here.

Muja Messiah/Big Quarters


(Big Quarters - "August" Feat. Alicia Steele)

Rapper Muja Messiah is so nice, he made the tracklisting of indie music comp Rock The Dub Lighthouse Project 2 tracklisting twice. Also making it were Minneapolis rap duo Big Quarters. Check out the tracklisting here, then watch the video for Big Quarters' "August" jam straight above. The cover album for Lighthouse is down below.



(Jonathan Graef)