Blog: Midwest Broadcast

Toki Wright continues his experimental streak with "Stone St. Jangala (जंगल)," a song he made live while broadcasting on UStream last night. Stream it below or head to Toki's Bandcamp to download it for free. <p><a href=" http://soultools.bandcamp.com/ track/stone-st-jangala"&gt ;Stone St. Jangala (जंगल) by Toki Wright</a></p>

I teased Master Mind's somewhat mysterious forthcoming mixtape last week, and today he leaked the project to Soundcloud. I'm halfway through the tape right now and Master Mind is definitely upholding his reputation as an excellent lyricist. Stream the mixtape below. I'll update this post if a download link becomes available.

4 Shades producer crew member Katrah-Quey recently released a new instrumental project. These were all beats he made years ago and had recorded to a cassette tape. The tracks were ripped from the cassette and uploaded to his Bandcamp. Now you can purchase all 20 song for only $2, or stream the entire album below. Katrah-Quey: A Mind With No Ceiling (Instrumental Album) <p><a href=" http://katrah-quey.bandcamp.co m/album/a-mind-with-no-ceiling ">A Mind With No Ceiling by Katrah-Quey</a>< /p>

Lately local legend DJ Abilities has been experimenting less with hip-hop production and doing more DJing. The result of that work is his brand new 51-minute mix, featuring remixes, mash ups, and new blends. Also, this mix has the best title. DJ Abilities: "NOW! That's What I Call Fuck Off."

Today Astronautalis debuted the music video for "This Is Our Science," off his album of the same name . The video was released today to recognize the start of a new tour with Busdriver . Be sure to check them our if they're in your city.

After putting out 2011's Immigrant Chronicles: Coming to America , M.anifest has been living/working in his native country of Ghana for a little while now. He recently sat down to do an interview, and spoke about what he learned from the music scene in Minneapolis, pushing the craft of music through heightened technical quality control, and, naturally, killing goats in his backyard. Thanks to OD for putting me on to this. Previously - M.anifest's video for "Makaa Maka"

The latest release in a long, consistent run from the Background Noise Crew is this odds-and-ends collection from Phingaz , Broken Glass . The 11-track album features fully-formed songs and instrumentals that, for one reason or another, never were officially released. Initially intended for a double-album release that was eventually abandoned titled The Mirror Image , we are left with Broken Glass. The album is free, so follow the link below to download it from the BNC Bandcamp site, or continue futher down to stream Broken Glass in [...]

Akrite of The Usual SuspectS (who was also featured earlier today on the video for I Self Devine's "Pretty Sickness" ) just had a new song released today through Audio Perm . "Burnin' & Learnin'" features fellow TUSS member Greg Grease and singer Spikaboxxx; it was produced by Cory Grindberg . The track throws a wrench into the popularized conception of the apathetic stoner's daily life, replacing stereotypical time-wasting smoker pursuits like video games with a thirst for knowledge in literature and conversation. Download the song below. Akrite: "Burnin' & [...]

This recap video covers the No Kings tour show in Montreal, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and drama ensues at the Canadian border as Paper Tiger forgets his passport.

The last time I wrote about Michael Gaughan it was because he did some live painting of Eyedea & Abilities during some of their performances around the time By The Throat came out. Gaughan, however, also performs under the name Ice Rod. He recently put on a rap show at the Turf Club in Saint Paul, performing not only to a live audience, but also whoever was lucky enough to bump into him on Chat Roulette. Below is Ice Rod's explanation of the event, but it's really beyond description. You must watch this video above. [...]

Last month I shared the Sound of the City 6 compilation mixtape . This month, 4Seen Magazine is back to present another collection of recent Minnesota-made hip-hop. Included in this mix are Metasota, Bobby Raps, Brother Ali, Franz Diego, Mike Dreams, Mike the Martyr, the Tribe & Big Cats!, MaLLy, and more. Stream/download the project after the jump. <p><a href=" http://4seenmagazine.bandcamp. com/album/sound-of-the-city-7" >Sound of the City 7 by 4Seenmagazine</a&gt ;</p>

I Self Devine's newest Culture Series mixtape, Reports From The Field: In The Trenches , is avaiable now. Reports From The Field - In The Trenches Mixtape Release Party Saturday, March 24 7th Street Entry I Self Devine with guests Mike The Martyr, Mankwe ft. Medium Zach, Big Quarters, Illuminous 3 & DJs Shannon Blowtorch & Simone Steppa Dujour 8:00pm // 18+ Facebook RSVP [...]

Back in the winter of 2010, Audio Perm were releasing weekly songs with rappers from around the Twin Cities. Their Permed Out Wednesdays series helped the production crew gain much of the local notoriety that they have today, but many of the download links for those songs have expired over time. The crew, being the generous group that they are, re-uploaded the whole collection to their Soundcloud page , and all thirteen songs are now available for download/streaming. Download the compilation through the link below, or hit the jump to stream each song. Oh, and [...]

Here is the latest collaboration from Minneapolis rapper Absent and Long Doe artist Big Wiz . This song is featured on Absent's late 2011 release, Amber Alert , which is available on iTunes now.

This past weekend I saw a free copy of Illuminous Free, Vol. 1 at b. resale shop in South Minneapolis. That compilation featured twelve songs from Illuminous 3's monthly release series that highlights the work of local producers. To think that they're now on their twentieth installment in the series — almost two years! — is pretty crazy. Much respect to Illuminous 3 for their hard work in the local scene. This latest song in the Illuminous Free series was produced by 4 Shades crew member OD [...]

Back in late January I posted F. Stokes' video for "My Simple," the lead single off his Love, Always EP. The EP will be officially released tomorrow but is available for streaming/purchase on his Bandcamp page right now. It will be on the iTunes store and other digital music outlets tomorrow as well. Hit the jump to stream the project and purchase the project if you like it. F. Stokes: Love, Always (EP) <p><a href=" http://fstokes.bandcamp.com/al bum/love-always">Love, [...]

Chicago/Minneapolis rapper Longshot released this song earlier today. "Len Bias" (Wikipedia for those of you who are unfamiliar) was produced by TGIK, and will be on Shot's upcoming Live From Gravebomb, Vol. 2 mixtape. Longshot: "Len Bias"

Mike the Martyr posted this new song to the Long Doe Soundcloud page earlier this afternoon. More importantly though, is the fact that Mike, along with Tony Bones and Big Wiz, were selected to the Soundset lineup today. Congrats to the Long Doe team. Mike the Martyr: "Fuckin Wit"

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Last week Dessa spoke at Augsburg College at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum . Her presentation, titled "Mic Lines: Art, Ethics, and their Contested Connections," was a discussion on ethical and moral issues surrounding rappers and the content they choose to include in their lyrics. Her 45-minute speech includes discussions of social, political and philanthropic work by local and national artists, the intertwined nature of hip-hop and community activism, as well as discourse on the moral obligations of rappers as role models, common defenses of misogynistic/violent lyrical content, and the reflections on the power of musicians to influence individual [...]