The Wake

The members of Doomtree, a local hip-hop crew, have been ravaging the Minneapolis music scene for some time now. They have probably done more to get in touch, lyrically, with their listeners than even Atmosphere and the rest of the Rhymesayers.

When I was given an opportunity to speak with one of Doomtree’s members, Dessa—a hardcore M.C. who is described on the crew’s website as the quiet, brainy member; but is in fact a well-spoken critical thinker and speaker—I couldn’t resist.

The Wake: I know this is a generic question, but what are your influences, in terms of spoken word or poetry?

Dessa: I don’t read too much poetry. Poetry with a capital “P” doesn’t have a sense of humor and tends to consider itself so somber that it’s hard for it to be full of the blood and wrath and sex that’s in it. But I’m a big fan of a lot of creative nonfiction writers who are all named Dave. Dave Eggers, Dave Rakoff, Dave Sedaris and David Foster Wallace. For Wallace, the hardest one I still haven’t gotten through is Infinite Jest. It’s just a big, thick, pretentious book. The kind that you read in a coffee shop and hope somebody who’s literary and attractive will see you reading.

The Wake: Like Atlas Shrugged?

Dessa: Yeah. And when they ask you about it, you just say, “Yeah, it’s pretty good. It’s actually the Spanish translation.” I think that all the Davids have gotten shit for being gimmicky, when they’re actually being innovative, and the people giving them shit just don’t like them for being innovative.
The Wake: Generic question number two: Who do you hope to influence or inspire?

Dessa: If I could influence all those same David people, that would speak really highly of me. Really, I just hope to find other really like-minded people.

The Wake: What about inspiring not like-minded people?

Dessa: I’ve heard some people have some amazingly normal answers to that question, but I never really think about it. I always feel that I’m connecting with people; I’m never like, “Who do I want to inspire?” If I have inspired people, then it’s moments that I don’t know about, and I’m honored to be in that position. But it’s such a lofty, self-referential objective to be like, “Today, I will inspire two girls named Sarah and one girl named Jane. Feminism in poetry will win.” I just hope to legitimately connect with people, or occasionally change minds.

The Wake: Over the years, poetry and music have been swapping places on stage and in regards to which influences the other. Poetry was used in plays, then in music, and then music turned around and influenced poetry and verse. It’s kind of an open ended statement, but would you mind discussing it?

Dessa: I think there’s always an exchange between the performance stuff and music and playwriting. Plus, rhyming (in poetry and song) is an element than can be used easily to convey urgency … so poets usually end up revising their writing to work on stage so that it can be heard better than read.

The Wake: This one might be a little touchy; who are you involved with these days—like Doomtree and any other groups—and how have they influenced your performance?

Dessa: Well, most of my rap influences are in my crew. Then there’s the Palabristas—a group of Latin writers, Ache Magazine and Valiant and Valiant. There was one called the Liar’s Club started by my friend Brian who, to showcase the fallibility of American media, would write totally fake news reports and send them in to get published.

The Wake: Did they?

Dessa: Yes, Brian’s did. They were so outlandish—and we kept points for every article that we could get published. But a writing group is only as good as the writers in it. It’s always good if you can see that the people you’re with have got a lot of talent. And when there’s a really good writer working with me, it makes me feel so much more hopeful about my career.