Minneapolis
Story, bloodline and 7 names
Rhymesayers Entertainment — founded 1995 by Slug, Ant, Musab and Siddiq — proved you could build a national rap career from a cold city with no industry, by touring relentlessly and owning everything. Atmosphere played 200 shows a year for a decade. Doomtree then did it again with a second collective.
- 1973The Bronx
- 1995Minneapolis
TransferDowntown Manhattan·Leimert Park (LA)
Rhymesayers grew out of Scribble Jam, the Midwest battle circuit that fed the whole 90s indie scene, and toured the same van network as Project Blowed and Def Jux. Cold city, no industry, so they built the label, the store and the festival themselves.
The label, the store, the Soundset festival: a whole ecosystem in one city.
Eyedea won Scribble Jam and Blaze Battle, then made abstract art rock instead.
P.O.S., Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter, Lazerbeak: Minneapolis's punk-adjacent collective.