"Almost always, I write from a snippet, a moment, in my real life, kind of craft an aesthetic response. Sometimes it’ll be riding the bus, and there’s an overheard snippet of conversation that seems particularly indicative of some facet of the human condition. There was this woman who was just saying “Hallelujah” over and over again as she got on the bus, after every sentence she said, even though each sentence was really sad. So it was like, her feet hurt: “Hallelujah.” She was late to pick up her children: “Hallelujah.” And I remember thinking, “Man, that’s a really intense expression of how you understand your faith to relate to the daily struggles of your life.” So that was an example of something I jotted down in the notebook that I try to carry with me most of the time. Something that seemed poignant, something that seemed like it might grant a glimpse into a larger truth about the way we’re living our lives together."
—
Dessa, in this week’s Twin Cities Runoff: “Don’t Get Stuck on Being a Girl.” Managing Editor Colleen Powers interviewed five Twin Cities women MCs— Desdamona, Tish Jones, Dessa, Heidi Barton Stink, and Irenic— about their beginnings in hip-hop, the origins of Intermedia Arts’ B-Girl Be, and musical and personal inspirations.
The Twin Cities hip-hop scene has a huge amount of opportunities for women and queer artists— and definitely doesn’t tolerate the sexism and homophobia that often rears its ugly head in mainstream hip-hop. Read what these women have to say about their beginnings and the obstacles they still face.
