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Desdamona - Photo from http://www.myspace.com/desdamona

Desdamona: My Mom was always into music when I was young. On Saturdays, American Bandstand and Soul Train provided the soundtrack to cleaning day. I didn't really like cleaning day, but I liked the music and somehow managed to watch more than I cleaned. I took dance lessons from the age of four and started teaching dance when I was 13 and taught throughout high school, and I was in band and choir throughout school. I played the saxophone, which was actually my second choice. My first choice was the drums, and to this day I regret not learning to play the drums. Back then, I wasn’t as liberated as I am today. I just didn't think that girls played the drums. Too bad I couldn't have seen Sheila E. back then.

HWTS: Do you remember the first time that you stood in front of people and felt that being a performer was your calling?

Desdamona: I have been on stage since I was very young and I vaguely remember it, but I don't ever remember really being nervous or scared. I was more excited than anything else. I don't know if I have ever thought of it as being my calling. I think of my calling as being broader than that. I do think that performing is something that has come naturally for me, probably because I started so young. But I think my calling is to inspire people to speak up and know that only you can tell your story and to remind people that they have the power to create change.

HWTS: As a young adult, what brought you to Minneapolis?

Desdamona: I was going to school in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area in Iowa. My best friend and I were writing songs together and we actually had a little group and we performed occasionally. We met some musicians from Minneapolis and started coming up to work on some tracks with them. We came up about four times before we decided that we should move to Minneapolis. I think I gave my parents a heart attack when I told them we were moving to Minneapolis and we didn't have any jobs and we didn't have any place to live except for the floor of my friend’s cousin’s apartment.

We came up in August of 1996 and slept on air mattresses in a tiny efficiency while working the overnight shift at Target and working part time at Marquette Bank during the days. All we did was work. Eventually we got our own apartment—still an efficiency—for two of us to share in the same building and we quit the overnights. I started working at the Mall of America and stayed at Marquette. I went on to work at Pier One, Lady Footlocker and Marquette. Yeah, my whole life revolved around work—and then I realized, hey, this is not what I came here for.

HWTS: Did you find it difficult to get integrated into the local scene? What were some of the barriers that you were able to navigate through in getting yourself established?

Desdamona: It was very hard in the beginning. I came to the Twin Cities as an MC and somehow became well-known as a spoken word artist, which I had never heard of before moving to the Twin Cities. I found that the hip-hop community was very male dominated and tight knit. I was very naïve—that's the story of my life. But the great thing about being naive is that there is this pure innocence in it. I was also very driven and felt that my writing was all I had, so I was going to make it work. There was no other option. 

I was an outsider. I was a woman. I didn't know anyone. I remember trying to connect with Rhymesayers after going to a couple shows, but at that point-in-time, nothing ever came of it. I exchanged some emails with Siddiq and became friends with Beyond (Musab), but there was no performance opportunity happening. I did run into some discrimination, but truthfully, it made me a better person, writer and performer. It made me question myself and it made me really think about what I was doing. I found open mics and tried to get my name on the list at the South Beach open mic. I never succeeded, but when the open mic was moved from South Beach to Jazzville in St Paul, I got my first chance to get on the mic. It was run by a young man named Blak Powa and he was the first person to give me a chance. He was also someone who supported me when others weren't happy about my presence. 

There are obvious barriers as a woman, but everything that is against you can be used to benefit you if you know what to do with it. I don't want the barriers to be my identity. It's part of my story, but it's only a small part. I still come up against barriers and I just plow through. That's all I can do. I'm not stopping and the more that gets in my way, the more I bulldoze my way to the other side. I don't believe in failure. It doesn't exist. I think I got that from my parents. I don't remember them ever giving up on anything. It was difficult becoming established, but it's also very rewarding to earn a place in the circle. And what’s even better is inviting other people into that circle and watching them become established.

HWTS: You have received the Minnesota Music Award for Best Spoken Word Artist in five of the last seven years. To what do you attribute this continual level of acclaim?

Desdamona: You know, I work with all kinds of musicians and do it regularly. I am very active in the music community and spoken word community. I think a lot of it is because I'm out there all the time, being exposed to new audiences. I feel like I can take my work to any kind of show and be accepted. I didn't know that initially, but learned slowly that a lot of what I talk about in my work is universal, so it appeals to a wide range of people. Maybe it's because I'm all about community and connecting. I think that seeps through the work I do. If it was all about me, I wouldn't be doing anything but gigs.

HWTS: Let's talk about some of the different groups of people you work with.

I work regularly with Carnage as the ferocious hip-hop duo Ill Chemistry. We like to pretend that we're super heroes. Sometimes that seeps into the show and sometimes we keep our super hero identities undercover. There is some Ill Chemistry material featured on the new release. We've been getting a good response. I think that people aren't used to seeing and man and a woman on stage creating hip-hop without the help of a band or a DJ. We come to rock the party and it is a challenge when all you have is your big mouth. Obviously, we like a challenge.

I also work with the New Congress and have been sitting in with them for over two years. They are also featured on [my new CD] The Source and they have been great to work with. They are really great musicians and hanging with them downstairs at Bunkers on Thursdays is an experience like no other. You'll have to ask them about that.

I have also been working with Jelloslave. We just did the Late Night series at the Dakota and it was so much fun. We took hip-hop to the Dakota, which I was a little worried about, but it all turned out to be very inspiring. We collaborated and did a mixture of our own work. I work with Electropolis and we just finished Metropolis over at the Southern a couple weeks ago. It was a collaboration between Electropolis, Jelloslave, Bill Mike, aerialists, spoken word and film. It was an amazing show and I was so excited to be a part of it.

I have also worked with The Feelin', Project 13, Nathan Miller, Alicia Wiley, Kevin Washington, Bruce Henry and J Young. I love to collaborate and I love to be pushed out of the safety net of the genre I work within.

The Source - Photo from http://www.myspace.com/desdamona

HWTS: You have a new CD coming out at the end of June. Tell me about The Source and what went into making it.

Desdamona: The Source is many things, but the main themes that float through it are legacy, responsibility and empowerment. I think that people are losing hope and it's a dark time we're in. We have to start shedding some light. We have to. It's so popular right now to be the self-deprecating, narcissistic, angry artist and I don't want to say that those things aren't necessary as part of the artistic journey, but there comes a time when you have to start bringing solutions, thinking of new ways, realizing that you want to be happy and it's not a bad thing. We all deserve to be happy. Bad things are going to come, but if you can find some happiness, the bad things never seem as bad. I know it's not "cool" to be so positive, but I don't care. I can’t live any other way.

Some of the writing on The Source is work that was written in the ‘90s and some of it was written a year ago. It's a mixture of things, but it all fits together. I got to work with some of the best musicians that the Twin Cities has to offer—including The New Congress, Carnage, Darnell Davis (my label mate), Brian Kendrick and Johannes Tona, among many others who contributed to the project. Paul Marino produced the whole project and really helped to bring alive the vibe and sound I was looking for.

HWTS: Your CD release party will be at the Fine Line on Friday, June 22nd. What will we see there?

Desdamona: You'll see some new, up and coming talent including M.anifest and PaviElle French and Heatbox from the Root City Band, The New Congress and some of the other musicians from the CD. And me with a live band and Carnage beatboxing.

HWTS: The following week is the third annual B-Girl Be Summit. Talk about B-Girl Be and your involvement in its mission.

Desdamona: I am one of the co-founders of B-Girl Be and this is the prime example of seeing something wrong and deciding to make a change. A group of women got together around the idea of creating space for women to work in the realm of hip-hop without all the barriers that normally exist for us so that we can build a stronger female identity within hip-hop. I direct the vocal portion of the summit. There are four other directors including DeAnna Cummings, Leah Nelson, Melisa Riviere and Theresa Sweetland.

We have actually gotten some resistance with B-Girl Be from people who think it's not hip-hop because we don't have MC battles or DJ battles, and also because they want to know why it's an all-female event. We decided early on to not have battles and that we were designing a new road for our participation in the culture of hip-hop. We didn't feel that battles actually helped to cultivate a young community, it just set it up to be competitive and the way things are now, women are highly competitive in the realm of hip-hop already. You rarely see women in hip-hop working together. We're pit against each other so we decided to steer away from the perception that women needed to compete and that there is only room for one woman. I also have a problem with the idea that being the only female in the crew is what makes you unique. Being a female is not what makes you unique—it's your story and your mode of expression that makes you stand out. We have to get past the idea that we have to be competitive in a negative way and realize that there is no one who can compete with you when you're telling your true story. Once we get to that place, we won't need B-Girl Be anymore—we'll be on our way.

It's a female-based event that does have some male performers in supportive roles. We decided we'd flip the script and make a new world where the roles were turned around. We did this mostly to prove to ourselves that we could do it—not to stifle the men’s voices, but to say that it's our turn and when we get all this together and build a respected female identity within hip-hop that doesn't solely rely on our sexuality, we will have a stronger and more solid community. Who doesn't want that?

HWTS: How can people participate in the B-Girl Be events?

Desdamona: Most of our daily events are free to the public and people can come and watch the outdoor mural take shape over the course of the weekend. There are also dance classes, spoken word classes, MC classes, DJ sessions, open mics, volunteer opportunities, chances to meet and network with female artists from across the globe. The list goes on and on.

HWTS: Any final thoughts?

Desdamona: Here’s my advice to working artists: Don't let your ego get in your way. Let me repeat that. Don't let your ego get in the way! Check yourself. You never stop establishing your identity to the public. It's not in your best interest to be a jerk. There's a fine line between standing up for yourself and being a jerk. I didn't get where I am today by thinking that everyone should know who I am or treat me a certain way. Sometimes you have to realize what the opportunity is and take it, knowing that you are building a strong foundation and sometimes that takes years to do. Quick success is fleeting and un-gratifying and can leave you confused and lost in the end.