Deuce 7 is a different breed of gallery artist. He's too busy to get his picture taken, and he'd rather hop trains across the West. Or head to Vancouver to meet women, or spend an afternoon getting chased around San Francisco by obese pimps or drop DMT in the Mojave desert -- all in a week's time.

Our local South Side kid -- who listens to '90s rap, Norwegian black metal, and outlaw country while he creates -- has gained a national following over the years for his bright, detailed work that demands attention on a canvas or the side of a bridge. He's done collaborations with local poster and design house Burlesque, and could be working with rapper Aesop Rock in the future. Still he remains camera-shy to avoid obnoxious art groupies and law enforcement.

Deuce 7 spends most of his days on the rails or working out of Northern California, but for now he's sitting outside an Uptown coffee shop. While meeting with Gimme Noise, he has a backpack full of Miller High Life, and he finishes a can every five minutes. A catfish is tattooed swimming around his neck, and the rest of his body is marked up from the hard life of being a trainspotter and street artist. Ahead of his curated Art-A-Whirl show at Abstracted Gallery -- its title, "It Was All a Dream," recalls the opening line of Notorious B.I.G's "Juicy" -- we discuss his life, his inspiration, and his fascination with trains.

See Also:
The 331 Club's music lineup at Art-A-Whirl
Art-A-Whirl 2013 music lineups at 612Brew and Indeed Brewing announced
STNNNG and ft (the Shadow Government) to debut STNNNGVRNMNT at Art-A-Whirl
More »

Photo by Anna Gulbrandsen

Enterprising hip-hop producers, you have the power to decide where Prof's sound heads next. The Minneapolis rapper, who has employed jazz samples, EDM explosions, and trap rap in the past is looking for some fresh beats to build up his next album, the proper follow-up to 2011's King Gampo. He's in the studio now, so hit him up!

See Also:
Off the deep end with Prof: The Powderhorn rapper proves there's more to him than partying
Prof: If I can justify it and be smart enough, I can say anything
Ten gorgeous GIFs of Prof at First Avenue

More »

Erik Hess

It's truly a great time to be part of Marijuana Deathsquads. In addition to their engrossing "Music Rocks" May residency at Icehouse (which continues tonight with an MDS rap set, as well as a performance by Lizzo alongside Lazerbeak and Cliff Rhymes as they bring LIZZOBANGERS to life, and DJ Plain Ole Bill), the sprawling collective is also involved in the recent flurry of musical activity coming out of the Totally Gross National Product camp.

But the inventive crew isn't planning on stopping there. News is now coming out that not only have MDS been busy reworking P.O.S.'s stellar recent record, We Don't Even Live Here, with a bunch of their creative cohorts for a forthcoming remix album entitled POS WDELH MDS RMX, but the collective are also planning on hitting the road this June on a short U.S. tour with their good friends Solid Gold.

See also:
Marijuana Deathsquads announce May residency at Icehouse
[Slideshow] Totally Gross National Party 2012

More »

There's a glut of hip-hop coming out of the Twin Cities, and it can be a lot to try to digest. In the spirit of the Gimme Noise Mixtape series that ran on this blog, we now present to you a more focused album roundup, selecting three recently released albums by local rappers that deserve recognition. Welcome to Gimme Leaks.

See Also:
Gimme Leaks #1: Local hip-hop albums you may have missed
Gimme Noise Mixtape Roundup archive
Gimme Leaks #2: Three Twin Cities hip-hop albums you may have missed
More »

Honey plays host to a fundraising rap show on Wednesday with all proceeds benefitting the Minnesota Autism Center. Rapfam's Christopher Michael Jensen, who has spearheaded benefit shows for suicide prevention and Oxfam, among others, was approached by Hecatomb's Capaciti to help run a show devoted to raising money and awareness for autism and MAC's schools and centers after his son was diagnosed and began attending the nonprofit's special-needs kindergarten.

The pair came up with a diverse range of acts to perform at the show, including the noise-rap group Moodie Black, who also happen to work at MAC. Gimme Noise sat with Moodie Black, Christopher Michael Jensen, and Capaciti for an interview about the upcoming event.More »

Photo by Erik Hess

Killer Mike at Fine Line

It's hard to believe with the reputation it now holds that there was a time when the Twin Cities wasn't booking too many hip-hop acts. Once we were still flyover country to many of the national touring acts, and the local underground scene had yet to rise to prominence and prove the power of homegrown rap talent on a large scale. Nowadays one can catch a rap show basically any night of the week -- from the major acts that now consider Minnesota a destination to the burgeoning local movements that are only getting better with time. 

Gimme Noise gathered together a list of the best places in town to catch hip-hop shows. Keep an eye on these venues if you want to take part in the Twin Cities' thriving scene.

See Also:
Top 10 Twin Cities hipster bars featuring local live music
Top 10 best places to grab a drink before a show at First Avenue
Top 10 Twin Cities dance venues
More »

Haphduzn recently dropped his debut album Whittier Alliance, a collaboration with Wide Eyes' producer Dimitry Killstorm, and it sits comfortably in the pantheon of the Rhymesayers artists with whom he recently got off tour. A brutally honest and personal record, the straightforward raps come from a place of struggle, but with the willpower to break through the cycle. Gimme Noise sat with Haphduzn and Dimitry to discuss their powerful new record.

See Also:
Welcome to MN with Atmosphere at First Avenue, 3/5/13
Atmosphere unveils Welcome to Minnesota 2013 dates

More »

Could the "boy" from the North Country be the answer for our drought?

Summer un-officially began this month as pitchers and catchers reported to Florida to mark the start of another season of trying to survive in Twins territory. Even though about 12 inches of snow covers Target Field, we can still daydream of April 1 when the skies will be blue, and Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will be healthy.

More »

Photo by Drew Carlson

Toki Wright was scheduled to perform at Friday's TC Hip Hop Awards.

A good reputation can open doors, and a bad one will lock you out. To be realistic, the Twin Cities Hip Hop Awards has been stuck with a bad rep over the last few years. However, it's up for debate if it was well-earned or not. But you can't argue with video evidence. Last year's event at First Avenue was the latest of several in its history to be diminished by violence from the crowd.

More »

Photo by Chrissy Piper

The Moldy Peaches' one-of-a-kind female voice Kimya Dawson, who has released albums titled Alphabutt and Thunder Thighs, is now on the same roster as Atmosphere and Brother Ali. Today, our local hip-hop juggernaut label Rhymesayers announced it is branching out into a strange pocket of indie rock with the assistance of indie-rap stalwart Aesop Rock, who put out the excellent Skelethon last year on the label. Both West Coast residents, Rock and Dawson have collaborated together numerous times in recent years -- on a holiday compilation and on each others' albums --  and now the partnership is official as the Uncluded.

An album titled Hokey Fright, which had been in the works for while, arrives on May 7. Based upon its first single, "Earthquake," this combines all of the naughty child-like wonder of Dawson's work with Aesop Rock's unmistakable flow. There's not another pairing of musicians that could create something that sounded anything like this.

More »