Muja Messiah Wins City Pages' Best Hip-Hop Artist

City Pages recently announced its Best-Of for the Twin Cities. First off, congrats to Culture Bully for winning Best Local Blog. Second, another big congratulations to Muja Messiah for winning Best Hip-Hop Artist. Here's a sample of the City Pages write-up:

The Twin Cities' reputation as fertile grounds for underground hip hop is well-deserved and hard-earned, and it has resulted in a number of classic albums. But we could always use more hip hop that hits the streets and clubs as hard as it hits the headphones, and Muja Messiah spent most of 2008 emphatically claiming that sprawling turf. After dropping the buzzed-about MPLS Massacre mixtape last March—where his collaboration with M.anifest resulted in one of the best tracks to rock the "Paper Planes" beat—Muja Messiah kept his momentum going strong with Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy...

To read more, go here.

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

(Jon Graef)

Black Blondie - Do You Remember Who You Wanted To Be

Black Blondie - Do You Remember Who You Wanted To Be
Grade: A-
(Self-Released)

*MP3: Black Blondie - "Candy Cigarettes"

Slug of Atmosphere, during his one-time stint as love advice columnist for The AV Club, advised one reader that some people were addicted to drama in the same way that others were addicted to drugs. Based on some of the lyrical content of Black Blondie’s newest album, Do You Remember Who You Wanted To Be, there was some considerable drama addiction that inspired the musically eclectic collection of 10 tracks (love being compared to hunger and drug addition are but two typical metaphors).

But that relationship's loss is the listeners' gain, as Black Blondie take the pain and use it to transformative effect, effortlessly incorporating divergent styles as gospel, hip-hop, electro-pop and trip-hop into one impressively cohesive whole. The reason for Do You Remember's artistic success is that the band's approach to genre experimentation is constantly energetic, and possibly insouciant, even when the music itself is solemn, like on highlights "Hunger" and "Dirty Ashes" (featuring a verse from Muja Messiah).

The final result is that an invigorating listening experiences from a group with endless creative possibilities.

Black Blondie CD release party is at the Triple Rock tonight:



Black Blondie MySpace Page

(Jon Graef)

Video: Mayda CD Release Party @ Triple Rock Social Club

St. Paul songstress Mayda displays a strongly deadpan sense of humor in this promo clip for her CD release show this Saturday at the Triple Rock. There, she will be celebrating her latest disc, The Interrogation, by releasing it into the wild, by which I mean into the forest of consumers, who can purchase the disc there. Or at Cheapo. Or at any of the other fine, independently-owned record stores that Mayda mentions in the vid.

Check out the video at the top of the post. Below, check the flyer:



Mayda MySpace Page
Muja Messiah MySpace Page
Heiruspecs MySpace Page

Disclaimer: One of the writers of this blog works for both Mayda and Heiruspecs, respectively. The writer of this post, however, has neither a personal nor professional relationship with either act.

Tonight: DJ Snuggles 21 Big Bang Birthday Bash @ 7th Street Entry

DJ Snuggles MySpace Page
Muja Messiah MySpace Page
St. Paul Slim MySpace Page
Kristoff Krane MySpace Page

"Black, Grey, and White Party" - Must Wear
Cost: $6/$8 at the door.
@ First Ave.

Video: Peter Parker Interviews Muja Messiah on B96 (Feb 26th, 2009)

This video is from Muja's appearance on Parker's show last night at about 8:30 p.m. or so. The duo talk about many things, not the least of which was Parker's rant about local hip-hop. Parker also asks Muja about how he earned his success, to which Messiah answers that people need to be self-reliant. Muja Messiah also relates an anecdote about an encounter with Def Jam head Russell Simmons. Check it out at the top of the post. Oh, there's a freestyle too.

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

New Muja Messiah - "We Survived The Bush Era"

Muja Messiah: "We Survived The Bush Era" {Dre Day VII} from One Dynamic Broad on Vimeo.

Not a man known for exactly shying away from expressing his opinions, MPLS-based rapper Muja Messiah returns with yet-another Dre Day-related video nugget. The song is called "We Survived The Bush Era." We have a feeling that we just told you everything you needed to know about the track. Watch it at the top o' the post (thanks to Jon Jon for the tip)

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

Video: Muja Messiah - "High Notes/The Watcher" from Dre Day VII

Muja Messiah: "High Notes/The Watcher" {Dre Day VII} from One Dynamic Broad on Vimeo.

More and more videos of Muja Messiah tearin' it up at Dre Day the seventh keep popping up. This video comes directly from Jon Jon himself. It's of Muja covering Dr. Dre's "The Watcher". The footage comes right on the heels of Muja performing "Red Rover," a relatively new song, at the fest. For now, watch "The Watcher" at the top of the post.

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

Video: Muja Messiah @ Dre Day

Dre Day VII | Minneapolis [02.14.09] | Feat. Muja Messiah from Justin Andert on Vimeo.

Download: Muja Messiah - "Red Rover" (Live at Dre Day)

Now that the seventh annual hip-hop (well, as defined through one dude) celebration known as Dre Day is over, a few digital morsels from the event have emerged on a wide variety of blogs. Video and audio of Muja Messiah's performance of "Red Rover" from Dre Day have leaked over the past day, and you can find both at the top of the post.

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

New (Old) Muja Messiah feat. Graph Nobel - "Swing First"

Download: New (Old) Muja Messiah feat. Graph Nobel - "Swing First"

Us (We?) bloggers have been trying to get our little paws on this new-old Muja Messiah track ever since the rapper posted the song to his MySpace a couple of days ago. Thanks to Jon Jon, we can now bring you that track. Originally recorded for a PS2 game, "Swing First" sounds like the kind of dark, minimalist production direction that Ant would take Atmosphere on for When Life Gives You Lemons..., even though the song quite obviously predates that record. The song isn't perfect by any means--one lyric goes "knuckles have been damaged/from all the knuckle sandwiches I've been landin'"--but "Swing First" nails an irresistible groove and stays there, and Muja's flow just exactly complements the production by Doc. Listen to "Swing First" at the top of the post.

Muja Messiah MySpace Page
Graph Nobel MySpace Page

Video: Dre Day VII: Minnesota Love

First Ave's Twitter page posted a link yesterday to the new promo video for Dre Day VII, the seventh annual celebration of Dr. Dre--aka Andre Young--and his music. This year's event is presented once again by the Burlesque of North America. Here are the deets:

February 14th at the Varsity Theater
with performances from:
Muja Messiah
Trama
DJ Jimmy 2 Times
Mike the 2600 King
DJ Grocery (STL)

Plus the $20 Sack Pyramid, Chronic photo booth and more!

Hosted by Espada

And check out the flyer:

Show Announcement: Rhymesayers' "Artists Meet Artists"

Atmosphere meets Brother Ali
Muja Messiah meets M.anifest
Toki Wright meets St. Paul Slim
Jimmy 2 Times meets Plain Ole Bill

Monday, March 9
Fine Line Music Cafe
9 PM | $20 | 18+

These performances of Rhymesayers crew members (and a few who aren't) will consist of "special combined sets." Sounds pretty promising. Thanks to MB, amongst others, for show information.

New Music: Slug of (Atmosphere), Muja Messiah & Lil Buddy - "Sho Biz (Get It Right)"

Download: Slug, Muja Messiah & Lil' Buddy - "Get It Right"

Three of MPLS' most well-regarded emcees got together to record a track, and here, we have the results: "Get it Right" is the new song from Slug, of Atmosphere fame; Muja Messiah, who, last year, put out a strongly promising debut album, Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy; and Lil' Buddy, who apparently has his fair share of problems, like most who have great amounts of talent.

"Get It Right" is an uptempo club banger, one that starts off with a brief sample of "Crewed Up," the massive local collaboration that appeared on Atmosphere's mixtape Strictly Leakage, before settling into pulse-pounding beat and off-the-beat string samples. Check it out at the top of the post.

Thanks to Nah Right and Jon Jon

Atmosphere MySpace Page
Muja Messiah MySpace Page
Lil Buddy MySpace Page

New Muja Messiah - "Red Rover"

Tip of the hat (and no finger wags) to Midwest Broadcast for discovering this footage of a new track from MPLS rapper Muja Messiah. The song is called "Red Rover," and Muja debuted it at the Big Wiz album release party earlier this month. As far as musical descriptions go, it's a pretty mid-tempo number with a synth-heavy beat, and a flow that matches the song's steady groove. Watch it at the top of the post and, once again, hat tip to MB for discovering it.

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

New Muja Messiah Video - "The Madness"

The first proper track off of Minneapolis rapper Muja Messiah's highly promising debut Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy (recently re-released nationally by Koch Records), "The Madness" gets a stylized video treatment by Six-Ton Productions. Stark black-and-white close-ups help accentuate the expressions on Muja's face, which makes for highly compelling viewing. (Thanks, Mike).

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

Reminder: Freeway @ Element w/Trama, St. Paul Slim and Muja Messiah

Show Announcement: Trama, St. Paul Slim, Muja Messiah @ the Element

Tonight: Devin The Dude and Muja Messiah @ The Varsity Theater

Saturday: Obama White House Party feat. Muja Messiah @ The Dinkytowner

Muja Messiah Battles Aych in Underground Hip-Hop Showdown

Well, not battle battles, but Hip-Hop Lives Online is featuring the Minneapolis rapper in their Underground Online feature. Muja Messiah is up against Aych, a rapper from Delaware. Yes, that's right, Delaware has rappers. And pretty good ones at that. Aych's jam "We Used To Be Tight" is up against Muja Messiah's "The Madness". It's a pretty good match-up, but we have a feeling we don't need to tell you who to vote for.

Do so here.

Additionally, the rapper has taken part in Culture Bully's mammoth charity blog-a-thon. Read what he wrote here. Here's a key excerpt:

It’s just now getting to the point where Minneapolis has certain places and forums where you can express your talent. I’d like to believe that it’s because of the work me and my generation put in. Opening up doors that weren’t open before. With that said Minneapolis could still use a lot more schools and programs that specialize in the arts because as an artist I feel so many talented children are be deprived from answering their calling. Everybody hasn’t got money to go to L.A. or New York…

In other Muja Messiah news, his full-length debut, Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy, will be re-released nationally on Nov. 15th by Koch Records.

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)
jon@minneapolisfuckingrocks.com

Reminder: Muja Messiah @ The Triple Rock

Saturday, September 27th
Triple Rock Social Club
Muja Messiah
St. Paul Slim
Paper Tiger
Aby Wolf

21+ | 10:00 PM | $7.00

Hosted by SAMAHRA (Black Blondie)
DJ TURTLENECK

This post contains previously published content.