Photography ANDREW PARKS
One word kept coming up at Rhymesayers' annual Soundset festival last Sunday: community. Not in the social media sense of the word—a sign of the times that somehow makes us feel connected and incomplete.
No, we mean actual human interactions, spurred on by a shared love of hip-hop that cuts across politics, race, and religion. Or to quote the OED, Soundset prevails where other all-day affairs fail thanks to "a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals."
That may sound a little absurd or downright corny given the State of Things ("how do we sleep while our beds are burning?", indeed), but hear us out. There's a reason everyone from Killer Mike to Sway Calloway—a Soundset host since 2013—told us all to hold onto the Twin Cities' tightly wound connective tissue for dear life. And it's not a "Midwestern Nice" thing, either. People are far too passive-aggressive here to make that leap of logic.
The success of Soundset over the past 12 years appears to be more of an unspoken thing: an air of open-mindedness and positivity that can be felt across five stages, a midway full of custom cars, live skate and street art demos, and a lovingly curated lineup that starts with a rising local singer (Dua Saleh) and ends with a rock-star rapper (Lil Wayne).
In other words, if you're wondering why self-titled moved to Minneapolis in the middle of winter last year, the answer isn't just in this Star Tribune story; it's in the photos below, and the inescapable feeling that we're a part of something truly special here....
One word kept coming up at Rhymesayers' annual Soundset festival last Sunday: community. Not in the social media sense of the word—a sign of the times that somehow makes us feel connected and incomplete.
No, we mean actual human interactions, spurred on by a shared love of hip-hop that cuts across politics, race, and religion. Or to quote the OED, Soundset prevails where other all-day affairs fail thanks to "a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals."
That may sound a little absurd or downright corny given the State of Things ("how do we sleep while our beds are burning?", indeed), but hear us out. There's a reason everyone from Killer Mike to Sway Calloway—a Soundset host since 2013—told us all to hold onto the Twin Cities' tightly wound connective tissue for dear life. And it's not a "Midwestern Nice" thing, either. People are far too passive-aggressive here to make that leap of logic.
The success of Soundset over the past 12 years appears to be more of an unspoken thing: an air of open-mindedness and positivity that can be felt across five stages, a midway full of custom cars, live skate and street art demos, and a lovingly curated lineup that starts with a rising local singer (Dua Saleh) and ends with a rock-star rapper (Lil Wayne).
In other words, if you're wondering why self-titled moved to Minneapolis in the middle of winter last year, the answer isn't just in this Star Tribune story; it's in the photos below, and the inescapable feeling that we're a part of something truly special here....
