Via Dessa's Twitter

Looking for some affordable entertainment to kick off the warm weather? Anyone who is already on Doomtree's email list has the answer. The Twin Cities hip-hop crew is assembling for a last-minute show at a location that'll make sense to those following their activities of late. Where might that be, you dare ask? The answer is below the break.

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Yeah, those are goats behind him.

News had mostly been quiet out of the P.O.S. camp lately -- when we spoke to him briefly a few weeks ago, he was still waiting on his kidney transplant --  but that changed today with the video debut of "Weird Friends (We Don't Even Live Here)" off the excellent 2012 album We Don't Even Live Here.

Produced by Housemeister, the dark synth stabs and sirens in the track might wake up a few Atari Teenage Riot Fans, and the furious pace of the rhymes are ready to run off the rails. But they never do.

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Photo By Erik Hess

Fresh off of a brief but successful U.S. tour earlier this month, Dessa has announced plans for a special local show at the MIA (not with M.I.A., as I initially, and awesomely, misread the press release). The Doomtree vocalist/MC will be performing at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' Reception Hall on Thursday, February 28, at an event the museum is billing as "An Evening With Dessa."

In addition to hopefully getting a chance to hear some new songs from Dessa's forthcoming record at the show (alongside her impressive back catalog of hits), this performance will also serve to benefit a new teen scholarship set up by the museum as part of their ongoing commitment to area youth programs.

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Photo by Erik Hess

Doomtree Blowout VIII night one
First Avenue, Minneapolis
Friday, December 14, 2012

The wings and teeth didn't book another week-long set of shows like last year's Blowout celebration, but that's beside the point. Oh Minneapolis, we have such high standards. Never mind that P.O.S has kidney issues. Or just trying to schedule the seven-person crew that's a rotating band of friends and musicians to play a weekend at the same time is a booking managers nightmare. Let's toast these three shows, and sit back and celebrate. Get down.

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Photo by Emily Utne

The Mayans (or dumb folks from the present, depending on what you believe) predicted our impending doom for just over a week from now, but an impending Doomtree Day is coming even sooner.

In conjunction with the opening night of the Doomtree Blowout 8 at First Avenue,  Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak. has declared that December 14, 2012 is dedicated to the local hip-hop group. The commendation for this week's City Pages cover star P.O.S., Dessa, Cecil Otter, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Lazerbeak, and Paper Tiger comes following years of "putting Minneapolis on the map" and giving back to the community, the mayor's office says.

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P.O.S and the comfort from the chemist.

Excellent news that'll warm your insides from P.O.S. Dude is expecting to get a new, functional kidney put in his body sometime in January. In a video update posted today, Stef offered his thanks and acknowledgement to the fans who have already exceeded the $25,000 fundraising goal for his health expenses (donations currently over $36k and climbing).

"Thanks to everybody who has donated or sent any good thoughts or offered me your kidneys," he says in the clip. "You guys are incredible." As you might recall, kidney failure derailed his entire fall tour in support of his latest Rhymesayers solo album, We Don't Even Live Here.

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From Team the Best Team.

Minneapolis rap group Doomtree will release a full-length documentary detailing their rise titled Team the Best Team on December 11. Just in time for the Blowout VIII shows at First Avenue, and definitely ahead of your holiday giving schedule.

This 70-minute film was directed by by Chris Hadland, who spent a whole year on the road with the crew of P.O.S, Dessa, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Cecil Otter, Lazerbeak, and Paper Tiger. The inner functioning (and dysfunctioning) of these long-time friends and performing partners is on epic display.

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Joe Horton, Crescent Moon, and Lazerbeak

Since his teenage years, Aaron "Lazerbeak" Mader has had a running fascination with Alexei "Crescent Moon" Casselle. "He's like one of the godfathers of Minneapolis hip-hop," he says during a conversation with Gimme Noise. "He and I Self Devine are like the dons of the city."

In the Minneapolis scene, part of taking the brass ring is spreading out your work and influence, and treating collaboration as a natural part of the creative process. "Side projects" don't exist when you're only content to move forward. After some prodding from Doomtree cohort Sims, 'Beak and Crescent Moon finally started talking about making a rap album "without overthinking it" a couple years ago. Scheduling proved to be a hurdle -- until last year.

With No Bird Sing's Joe Horton as an added catalyst, loose talk begat recorded sessions, and Mixed Blood Majority proved to be something dark and contemplative -- and tangible.

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Photo by Jonny Magowan

The Music Industry is a weekly column that dissects local and national music-business headlines with the help of local industry professionals and music fanatics.

This month, dark lords of alt-hip-hop Death Grips emerged from the shadows to thrill believers by leaking their latest album, NO LOVE DEEP WEB, online. The album's cover features a very NSFW shot of male genitalia  with the title scrawled on it in Sharpie, and inside, the record follows a sweaty band of punks from Sacramento as they commandeer the rap format and wipe the floor with their more commercial counterparts in the process.

Supposedly, their label Epic Records wasn't in on the decision, and they retaliated by pulling the band's website. Now, I'm a marketer by trade, and I can smell strategy a mile away. So, when casually interested bloggers and journos wondered timidly whether the Death Grips leak may have been a setup, I had to laugh.

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Doomtree's annual Blowout series turns eight years young this December. Last year, the workhorse team dropped seven shows in a row. Just announced this afternoon, the Minneapolis hip-hop crew will rock three shows at First Avenue to spray holiday cheer all over your high-priced sneakers and luxury automobiles.

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