One could argue that all rappers are poets – hell, that all performers are poets – but some actually carry the card. Dessa Darling, member of the Doomtree hip-hop artist collective, has the experience to earn the title.
Darling wasn't even planning on performing at Kieran's Irish Pub on slam poetry night, but a friend tricked her into signing up. She was anxious, but ultimately found the experience liberating.
"As an unknown, very little is expected you ... I felt nervous, but confident," Darling recollected at an uptown coffee shop.
The Doomtree guys eventually saw her perform at Kieran's – and they were impressed too. They extended her an invitation to join the group.
This, it should be noted, is simplifying things. At this point, Darling was already friends with most of Doomtree and she had already been rapping with the Twin Cities hip-hop group Medida. But joining Doomtree was a huge step for a burgeoning artist, putting her on the local rap map like it did the group's 11 other members.
It didn't all come naturally. Finding her voice – equal parts Ani Difranco and Mos Def – was difficult. Then P.O.S., the collective's most well-known member and one of Minneapolis' most celebrated rappers, gave her some good advice: "Rap like you write."
The approach yielded Darling's debut record, "False Hopes," released in 2005. Though her performance experience gave her some confidence, she was unsure about recording her first CD.
"I was nervous, and I had a hard time not imagining peoples' responses. I think to some extent, I'll always be like that," Darling said.
Despite the serendipitous circumstances of Darling's entrance into the Doomtree universe, her aspirations were a key factor to her success.
"Every extroverted kid at some point has the wooden spoon microphone in the kitchen – and I did," Darling said. On the other hand, she added, "I didn't know these were real jobs people could have."
One of Darling's other real jobs is technical writer, a position she holds for various companies, including a pacemaker and defibrillator manufacturer. When asked whether or not her technical writing has influenced her poetry and lyrics, Darling took a moment to think.
"It has forced me to get things done," she said. "You agonize over the poem, but sometimes you just have to get the motherfucker done."
This work ethic may explain her busy artistic schedule. By her count, Darling has appeared on "four or five" releases and continues to write and perform regularly. Her schedule is currently devoted to putting together Blowout 2, the second annual benefit concert featuring the entire Doomtree crew. Proceeds from the December 2, 2006, event at First Avenue will go to People Serving People, a local organization devoted to helping the homeless.
Though they share obvious characteristics, Darling sees big differences between spoken word and rapping.
"Spoken word feels more like theater to me. And I think you can use cadence and rhyme in spoken word, but if those were the only approaches you took, you'd be ignoring a huge arsenal ... [In rap,] You're emoting, but the music helps to do that. You're working within an emotional framework that a producer provided," Darling said.
Doomtree has provided Darling a chance to work with others in producing both events like the Blowout and individual records. Though it took a little while to figure out her unique role within the collective, she's found her niche.
"I think all of us have divergent styles ... the rap styles we use are different voices," Darling said.
So, what's Darling's voice?
"For me, I think you can hear some of the slam influence ... and I tend towards more melody, probably," she said.
Darling's MySpace page provides perfect evidence for this point: Not only are the two tracks on her page rooted in both song and spoken word, but she lists novelist Dave Eggers and hip-hop singer/rapper Lauryn Hill among her influences.
Helping her find this unique role was the supportive Twin Cities music scene.
"When I initially got involved, I didn't know how outstanding it was. I think you find there's a musical segregation that grows in other cities." As for Minneapolis, she continued, "I think more and more music fans are recognizing there's a lot of music to be found here."
Darling clearly enjoys providing some of this music and looks forward to growing artistically. With her will be a crew that many of us, personally and creatively, would be lucky to have.
"Doomtree," she said, "seems to be the closest thing to perfect as I'll find."
www.myspace.com/dessadarling |
