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)

Shearwater Announce Minneapolis Date

Download: Shearwater - "Rooks"

Those fans of grandiose, melodramatic art-rock with folk touches are in luck. After opening several dates on British rock eccentrics Clinic's tour (including a date at the 7th Street Entry), the band, led by now-former Okkervil River member Jonathan Meiburg, will return to the Entry on June 25th, one day after their Chicago date. This is the second time that Shearwater have played at the entry in as many months. Perhaps Meiburg found a species of bird indigenous to the Entry that considers serious study? I, for one, would be highly amused by the discovery of a black-bellied whistling duck inside the friendly confines of First Ave. They'd have to name it after either Prince or Grant Hart.

Tickets for the 21+ show are $8 and can be bought here. Below you'll find a list of previously announced dates, as well as the new date for Minneapolis on the 25th of June.

May 20 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour *
May 22 Tucson, AZ Solar Culture
May 29 Austin TX The Parish with 8-piece orchestra
June 13-Atlanta Earl
June 14-Chapel Hill Local 506
June 15-Washington DC Black Cat
June 17-Philadelphia Johnny Brenda's
June 19-Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
June 20-Cambridge, MA T.T. The Bear's Place
June 21-Danbury, CT Heirloom Arts Theatre
June 24-Chicago, IL Mansion
June 25-Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
June 27-Fort Worth, TX Lola's
June 28-Austin, TX Mohawk

The show page at First Ave lists the openers as "Special Guests", but one can perhaps safely assume that the opener will be either Frog Eyes or Evangelicals, both of whom had been previously revealed as tour openers.

As far as Shearwater's more immediate future is concerned, the band will play another one of their Rook shows in their hometown of Austin. On May 29th, the trio will play through Rook in its entirety, and backed by a string quartet, woodwinds, a harpist. Visual projections will also be provided by the team behind Rook's cover art, which so happens to be the image at the top of this post.

Rook is out on June 3rd.

Shearwater MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Ryan Adams Has Another Shit-Fit In Minneapolis

Download:Ryan Adams - "Come Pick Me Up"

Read more about it on Yahoo. Apparently, Adams was complaining about the sound all-night at his show at the State Theatre. After 70 minutes of playing, he walked off after the "Last Song" and the fans started booing. Not as bad as last time, mind you, but still not good either.

So it goes.

(Jonathan Graef)