alibi

Happy Friday, Toads! It's Marian here with a new and exciting music prompt for you! Get ready for inspiration from the Land of Izy. We are travelling to Minneapolis, Minnesota to experience the music of rapper, singer, and spoken word artist DESSA.

While Izy and I worked on our collaborative poem, speaking for myself anyway, I tried to soak up as much of Izy as I could so that we could find a subject that resonated for both of us. (Oh, who am I kidding, we were both crushed out on each other and trading things we loved, and particularly chatting about music, like a coupla teeangers on a first date.) I knew a bit about the MPLS scene, which we visited in an earlier music prompt featuring The Jayhawks, but I wanted to know what current music on the scene got Izy excited.

Through much exhaustive questioning and prodding, I learned that Dessa is one of Izy’s favorite artists, as well as Doomtree, the MPLS indie hip-hop collective of which Dessa is a part. Izy became hooked on their music upon hearing a song called “The Chaconne” from Dessa’s first solo album, A Badly Broken Code, on public radio. Since then, Izy has seen both Dessa solo and Doomtree live many times, and has become a regular fangirl. Dessa and Doomtree are cornerstones of the MPLS music scene. I will confess to approaching fangirl status myself already, just by falling down the rabbit hole of Dessa/Doomtree YouTube videos.

Izy explains why she finds Dessa so fascinating: Dessa uses wordplay in her songs to deliver a new take on old concepts, like “Forget the bull in the china shop, there's a china doll in the bullpen,” or “Kiss the bottle, spin the girl.” One of Izy’s favorite lines comes from a Doomtree song (written by Dessa) called “Sadie Hawkins”:

A little bit of melancholy
never really did hurt anybody
even if it is a sickness
I'm oddly convinced at least it's honest
When life gets so tragic comic--
a mattress with no sheets on it--
The fact is you have it, the task is to want it.

Plus, the music is intriguing, mysterious, beautiful, danceable, and all of that is crystal clear upon first listen. Izy describes it as “lavish and highly addictive.” I agree.


Without further elaboration (though clearly I could go on and on, both about Dessa and about my new BFF Izy), I leave you to your own rabbit hole in the hopes that you will be mightily inspired. Can’t wait to read any and all that you write. Enjoy!