Soundset Festival / Photo courtesy of Ashton Howard

St. Paul, Minnesota; Minneapolis, Minnesota. Otherwise known as The Twin Cities. Traditionally, the cities have been more known for it’s sports teams, Mall of America — which, wow! — and Prince — R.I.P. While all of those things still remain atop the Mount Rushmore of the Twin Cities, the 4th and final piece has undoubtedly become Rhymesayers Entertainment. The historic record label is based in Minny and is one of the most storied backpack labels of all time, boasting underground legends like Atmosphere, Brother Ali and more to their roster. Being one of the only record labels to be rooted in Hip-Hop throughout the whole state, the group felt a responsibility to bring together the budding scene under one roof. The answer? Soundset Festival, an annual music festival that not only places a focus on ALL five elements of Hip-Hop, but also attempts to blur the lines between “traditional Hip-Hop” and the new age crowd. This year’s 10th Anniversary was a special one, bringing out artists like Travis Scott, Talib Kweli, Gucci Mane, Lauryn Hill and more under one roof. Although there were some bumps, bruises and no-shows, the show still went on…. & excelled. For more on the history of how the legendary festival got its’ legs, check out our interview with co-founder, J-bird, here. Check out our recap of Hip-Hop’s premier festival below.

12:00 P.M.: Arriving to the festival was a bit overwhelming, to the say the least. I’ve covered many shows over the past year with some of the biggest artists, but they were nothing like this. The massive St. Paul fairgrounds was getting ready to house more than 75 thousand people and it sure did look like it. With road blocks surrounding the area, music heads of all ages — ranging on average from around 12-30 — donned in their favorite band shirts, crop tops and Timberwolves’ jerseys were free to walk among the streets as they pleased; with the line to get in wrapped around the block. It was nuts. I’m not too sure what Woodstock looked like back in the ’70s, but it couldn’t have been too far from this, but more on that later.

Oswin Benjamin / Photo courtesy of Maddie Uglum

1:00: Entering the festival was way easier than I thought. Granted, I did come in through V.I.P., but so did many festival goers, and despite the massive lines and crowds of people trying to bow their way in; we made in it fairly quickly.

Soundset: 1, anxiety: 0.

Upon entry, the setup was beautiful. Rhymesayers and crew managed to turn the massive fairgrounds into a music fan’s paradise. There were vendors selling merch, EVERYWHERE, & not just any merch. Do you guys remember when J. Cole showed up to one of his shows wearing a Viking, Purple Rain-themed football jersey after his death? Yeah, they had THAT for sale. Insta-cop — okay, it was $200, so I didn’t buy it, but don’t tell anybody else. At 1, there were already performers up and getting the party started. On one of the main stages, I immediately noticed Kool Keith RIPPING down the already packed out crowd. Performing as the alias, Dr. Octagon, the rhyme-veteran got things started and then some.

Mod Sun / Photo courtesy of Maddie Uglum

1:15: This is the time I was slated to interview Minnesota native Mod Sun. Now, before the festival, I was unfamiliar with the mid-west emcee. A quick google search though, showed me that I may have been among the few to have NOT heard of him. I won’t say too much about our interview as it’ll be publishing live this week. Just know this: you’ve never met, or conversed with anybody like Mod Sun. Yes, even your hippy grandpa who attended Woodstock — second Woodstock mention!! — is nothing like this man. I’ve never had a more open and honest conversation with an artist in my life. Also, he was high as hell, and he just seemed on cloud 9, literally and figuratively.

With this being his first performance at the historic festival coupled with him being a native, Mod gave the show of his life. Originally scheduled to perform on the Rhymesayers’ stage, which housed most of the middle-tier acts like Dave East, 070 Shake and Amine; Mod benefited from a sudden dropout from Lil’ Uzi Vert — sidenote, this is the only time I’m mentioning his absence in this whole article. We’re mad at you, Vert. — and was given the opportunity to perform on the big boy stage. & disappoint, he did not! The native showed out for his hometown fans, slashing through song after song with an incredible energy that the fans themselves attempted to replicate. To put it plain and simple, Mod might’ve been the second biggest winner of the day.

3:00 – 6:00: Throughout these two hours, many many things happened. With this being my first festival, the one thing I wanted to make sure to do was keep a tight schedule and see all of the artists that I wanted to see.

Yeah, what a noob mentality for me to have, because none of that happened.

Partly to blame on the sheer distance between the Rhymesayers’ stage and the two main stages — which is honestly my ONLY complaint of how the festival was organized — as well as artists showing up late; many set times were changed. This caused me to miss T.I. — who I was told brought out Tee Grizzly — Atmosphere, Ty Dolla $ign and D.R.A.M.’s sets completely, while missing most of Pusha T‘s, but still getting to experience the 4-headed-monster that was, “So Appalled“, “Runaway“, “New God Flow” and “Grindin’.”

Pusha T / Photo courtesy of Maddie Uglum

The reason for missing these sets?? I was with the kids, bro. *Kanye voice*. During this time, the Rhymesayers’ stage as well as the Essential Elements stage — dedicated to the other 4 elements of Hip-Hop besides rap — were POPPING. The Rhymesayers stage flexed their chops for a killer back-to-back-to-back-to-back line up that included; Talib Kweli, — shame on you Soundset, he should’ve been on the main stage over Brother Ali — Dave East, Amine and the resident Teen King, Playboi Carti — fight me, Yachty. While Kweli showcased why he was a legend, highlighted by his incredible breathing pattern that allowed him to give probably the best pure vocal performance I’ve seen from a rapper; the new kids on the block showed out. Dave East took the predominantly white crowd on a brief trip to Harlem, Amine let everybody know he was more than a one-hit-wonder, but it was Carti who was the man of the hour.

Playboi Carti / Photo courtesy of Ashton Howard

Thrown in as a late addition due to Mac Miller pulling out, Carti came out and went through a medley of hits that the crowd knew every single word to. In all honesty, the ATL native could’ve put the mic down and let his fans sing the whole set and I’m not sure they would’ve missed a beat — which is something he’s done before. But instead, Carti decided to show-off his vocal chops and rap without any help from the background track, which was highly impressive. Mod Sun may have the second biggest win of the day, but nobody impressed me more than Carti did. Give credit where it’s due, the boy can rap.

While the newbies were burning it down for the crowd at the other stage, the Essential Elements stage was getting loose. DJ, Astronautica got things started with an ultra-wavy mix of songs that left me constantly grabbing for my phone to ask Siri, “Who tf is this?” The last DJ to grasp my attention with such force, using mostly Electronic music was Kaytranada; and I’d like to go out on a limb and be the first person to label her as such. She was amazing.

After Astronautica, the attentions turned to Stretch & Bobbito, two of the more legendary attendees of the event that day. If you’re unfamiliar with the iconic radio-duo, stop reading this article now and do your homework. Anyways, streetball legend, Bobbito got it started–unleashing an arsenal of Afro-Cuban records that got the B-Boys/Girls going craaaaaaaaaaazy. Disclaimer: I’m from California, and I was born in 1995. I’ve never seen B-Boys get off authentically, and this was amazing. Their moves were so fluid and complimented each-other very well. The group played like puppets, while Stretch & Bob shared duties as Gepetto. If you’ve never seen B-Boys/Girls dance, or Stretch & Bob DJ a set, add both to your bucket list immediately.

Gucci Mane / Photo courtesy of Maddie Uglum

6:00-8:00: This is when things started to get interesting. With all due respect to hometown heros thestand4rd, who were without a doubt doing their thing closing out the Rhymesayers stage; it was Gucci time. As everybody made their way back to the main stage to see the first of three headliners, the anticipation was starting to build. The weather was also starting to change. What was once a beautiful sunny day, one that required me to take off my hoodie early into the event; had now turned into a potential dust storm. All of a sudden, the wind starting blowing more trees down than Redman, and the gloomy clouds began to overtake the once enticing sky.

Nevertheless, Gucci murked it. The rap veteran went through all of the classics highlighted by, “Lemonade“, “Wasted“, “Freaky Gurl“, and “Both.” Honestly, I was shocked at how many Gucci songs I knew word for word; and at this point I had started using my drink tickets. That’s just a more responsible way of saying I was on one. Laflare then closed his set out by bringing Travis, who had recently gotten to the festival, out to do their song, “Last Time.” To this point in the festival, this was the craziest track not named, “Magnoila.” The fans went bananas–singing every lyric bar for bar, and hymning every single Travvy melody like an auto-tuned blanket had just came over the entire audience.

*Sidenote, have you ever listened to the chorus of that song? Buck up, Scott. Gucci gets a pass since he’s been locked up, and yaknow… probation and all. But you, you should be able to handle your sh*t better.*

After Gucci burned it down, the stage was set for Miss Lauryn Hill to do her thing. Backed with a live band and no recorded music playing, Miss Lauryn displayed exactly why she’s been mentioned amongst not only the greatest female rappers of all-time, but emcees period. While Lauryn never missed a beat, I did feel like her band was lacking just a bit. There were certain points in the set where I had no idea what song was playing until the chorus came on, and I’ve bought Miseducation physically, three times. Despite that, I and everybody else in the crowd collectively sang our hearts out to classics like, “Lost Ones“, “Ready or Not“, and “Doo Wop (That Thing).” It was really a sight to see 75 — nah, it looked like easily over 100 — thousand people all belch out, “THAT THING, THAT THIIIIIIIIIIIING” all in unison. You won’t know what I mean ’till you see it for yourself.

Travis Scott / Photo courtesy of Maddie Uglum

8:00-9:30: It was time. This was what everybody in the humongous St. Paul fairground had come to see, Travis Scott. As great as the festival had been up to now, the whole thing felt like a warm up for The Rodeo. Other than you-know-who being a no-show, Travis was the most talked about person of the day, and he hadn’t even been visible.

“I heard Kylie was here, doesn’t he live with her now?”

“Is he gonna go for the record again? Man, I hope he does.”

“Dude, I saw the Bird!!!! I think he’s bringing out Brian McKnight or some shit.”

These were things that I heard in passing all day. Seriously, somebody thought he was bringing out McKnight. The crazy part? Nobody thought it was crazy.

While I was aware of certain things — the Bird was indeed in attendance, McKnight was not — there was still a mystique in the air; and now the gloomy sky had turned into a full blown rainstorm. It was incredible, man. It was almost as if Travis and his team had paid for the rain. The stage was set. Travis jumped on the mic:

“Are you motherfuckers ready?!?!?!?!?!!?!”

The 100+ — fuck it, I’m saying it — thousand people in the place all chanted out back at him, ready to rage. Then he let loose. I’ve personally never seen that many people in my life and they all knew his tracks word for word. Black people, white people, Hispanics, and Asians. Old-Heads, kids, hypebeasts and everybody else, it did not matter. I found myself at no less than 12 — I started counting at three — times saying quietly to myself, “This is the craziest shit that I’ve ever seen.”

Not like it mattered as I was in complete turn-up mode; but at this point, my phone was completely useless which meant any ability to take notes was gone with it. So I’m going off the top here, but I’m going to name off a list of bonafide BANGERS that Travis let off: “3500”, “Pick up The Phone“, “Biebs in The Trap“, “Antidote“, “Through The Late Night“, “Mamacita” (!!!!!!!!!!), “Quintana Pt. 2“, “Don’t Play” — which was a fun, but telling social experiment with the racially diverse crowd — “Way Back” and of course, “Goosebumps.”

Travis: “This is my last song. This is my favorite song on the album. (He said this four times.) I need for you motherfuckers to turn-up for this one. Are you ready????!!!!!”

The Crowd: “Oh my gosh, he’s gonna do it.” 

Me: “Holy shit, he’s gonna do it!”

Kylie Jenner: “Fuck, man. Not again.”

In total, Travis ended up playing the song six times. I won’t lie, before the festival I had told my friends that if Travis tried to break the record that I would run on stage and snuff him. After the third time running it back, that all went out the window. We all wanted him to go for the record. The Houston native had just given the performance of his life at Hip-Hop’s Coachella and personally, the best set I had ever seen live. *Kanye at the Yeezus Tour was the previous choice.* But nobody was mad at him for not doing it. The six times felt proper and he did what he had come to do. Which was tear the stage apart. May 29th, 2017 will forever go down as Memorial Day Eve, aka “The Night Travis Scott Lit Up Soundset.”

Check out our photos from the event, all of which are courtesy of Maddie Uglum unless otherwise noted.

The post RESPECT. Recap: Soundset Festival’s 10th Anniversary appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The lineup is thoughtfully curated. You have new school headliners such as A$AP Rocky, Future and Machine Gun Kelly, living legends that appeal to the sensible old school set; The Roots and Common, up-and-comer of the moment Post Malone, the next up-and-comer in line Anderson .Paak, fierce lady femcees Lizzo, Reverie and Lexii Alijai, grizzled NYC vet Pharaohe Monch, the lovable and goofy Danny Brown, underground favorites Atmosphere, Aesop Rock and Murs and 9^th Wonder… and a slew of other talented artists that if listed would definitely make this the longest run-on sentence in Soundset review history. The beat junkie in me has just reminded myself that I missed out on legendary DJ’s Marley Marl and Jazzy Joyce. Sadness.

This ninth edition of Soundset was held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. A very fitting venue. Soundset has outgrown last year’s venue Canterbury Park. Last year there were 30,000 attendees. This year I wouldn’t be surprised if they had well over 50,0000. The ferris wheel proved to be a convenient landmark to help coordinate with fellow festival-goers. The site’s layout allowed for a couple aspects of the festival to be showcased much better: the abundant amount of graffiti art and the car show. Food trucks dotted one area across the water refill station. There were many more food choices this year. The fried cheese curds are my favorite deep-fried guilty pleasure. I may have had a corndog and may have had a cheeseburger too. Gluttony. My beverages of choice were the Hard Cherry Cola and Root Beer. Thirst-quenching.

After settling in, we caught the tail-end of singer-rapper Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals at the Main Stage – South. He’s been on a good run lately, working with the likes of T.I. and Kaytranada, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and releasing his critically acclaimed album Malibu earlier this year. Anderson’s a solid performer with great musicianship to boot. Definitely a favorite new artist of mine.

Transplanted Minnesotan rapper-singer Lizzo was a force on the stage. She exhibited such an undeniable stage presence that it forced me to part the tall trees in the crowd. Lizzo and The Big Grrrls(her dancers and dj) had the Main Stage – North crowd jumpin’ with their high-energy choreography and their contagious charisma. Lizzo’s vocal chops were on display as well, effortlessly soaring over bass-heavy beats. Time to give Big Grrrl Small World another listen!

The heavy beats continued with rapper Danny Brown. The Detroit native took us on a literal trip. The psychedelic video backdrop accompanied crowd favorites Smokin’ & Drinkin’, Blueberry(Pills & Cocaine) and Rustie perfectly. Before he finished his set we had to head off to the Fifth Element Stage to catch NYC emcee Pharaohe Monch. His set was just as good as his beard. Meaning pretty damn good! He hasn’t lost a step after nearly 30 years in the game. Head-nodding quickly turned into neck-snapping as his set progressed from infectious Oh No, to the hardcore anthem Simon Says. To cap it off he paid a nod to his rap roots by performing Organized Konfusion‘s Bring It On.

We trekked back towards the main stages and decided to take in Common from the VIP bleachers; an excellent vantage point that allows one to appreciate the vast sea of humanity assembled before the main stages. Common knows how to work the crowd. Although you’d think that his “Good vibe shit”(as he personally referred to his style of music) would mellow out the crowd, it didn’t. His man of the people persona was on display as he jumped off stage and performed within the crowd for a few minutes. Soon afterwards he took a lucky lady onstage and performed one of the dopest festival freestyles I’ve ever heard. Cleverly referencing all things Minnesotan and all things Soundset: The Twins, Prince, blessing your girl in the Lake Minnetonka, A$AP Rocky, The Roots, Future. Favorite Common tracks performed were: Go, The Corner and The Light. DJ Dummy‘s DMC-worthy exhibition was highly entertaining as well.

Catching a glimpse of Post Malone was impossible as the Fifth Element Tent was rammed to capacity spilling out well into the surrounding field. It was a sight to see fans running towards the tent once they heard the last track of his set White Iverson.

The Roots supreme musicianship was on full display throughout their entire set. Emcee Black Thought could have arguably been the hardest working performer at the show. Or perhaps he may have been better off wearing a darker colored shirt. No matter. His rapid-fire delivery and stamina were admirable. Jeremy Ellis maniacally yet skillfully finger-drumming on his Maschine drum machine was a highlight of The Roots set for me. It may have lasted a minute too long but the remixed Prince songs were a treat.

Soon afterwards host Sway introduced Future as “One of the most flattered artists of our time.” I did have some doubt with that statement but it was clear after his set that along with his tireless work ethic and enormous catalog, his influence on the current crop of rappers is undeniable. Back to his catalog; he has so many hot tracks that a fair amount were performed in 30 second to 1 minute snippets. It was pretty obvious to me that the majority of the younger demographic was here to see him specifically. Chants of Future! Future! Future! Could be heard the second The Roots finished their set. When Future stepped on the stage the amount of ganja-smoke increased ten-fold. Second-hand high here we come. The crowd was amped. I had survived his set after 2 elbows to the head, 1 elbow to the shoulder and 3 bras thrown onto the stage later.

Due to Future’s lengthy set A$AP Rocky came on slightly later than scheduled. No worries. I’ve grown to appreciate his music more lately and I haven’t seen him perform live so 10 more minutes of Future wasn’t going to kill me. Speaking of killing it, that’s precisely what A$AP did. He used the whole stage to interact with the crowd and performed with more energy than I had expected. He told security to keep the mosh pits going. The dj played House of Pain’s Jump Around much to the delight of the moshing masses. Stand out tracks such as Multiply, Hella Hoes, Goldie, L$D and Yamborghini High kept us elevated.

Next year is Soundset Festival’s tenth anniversary. We’re excited to get even Hip Hop higher in 2017. It’s gonna be real Minnesota nice!

Photography by Khammy Phanthavong

Words by Ryan Reyes

Suggested Articles:

RESPECT. Recap: “The Level Up Tour” with A$AP Ferg & Tory Lanez

The 3001 Laced Odyssey Tour: An Evening with the Flatbush Zombies

The post RESPECT. Recap: Soundset Festival 2016 appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Atmosphere drops off “My Best Half.” The track clocks in at about 3:30 and chronicles the relationship the rapper has with his best half. Listen to the fitting dedication below, Atmosphere bars help tell quite an interesting love story.

The post New Music: Atmosphere – “My Best Half” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Atmosphere delivers a funky yet, storytelling track with the assistance of Blueprint & Aesop Rock on “This Lonely Rose.” The track clocks in around 4 minutes and speaks of a beautiful woman whose heart been jolted and damaged, and slowly starts to seclude herself. The lonely rose is still appreciated though. Peep the verses that showcase that below.

The post New Music: Atmosphere – “This Lonely Rose” ft. Blueprint & Aesop Rock appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Atmosphere’s moody standout off Southsiders gets the video treatment. We follow a young lady mowing a cemetery lawn, while listening to “Arthur’s Song” in her walkman (complete with the orange fuzzy headphones some of you may be too young to remember). Watch it below.

The post New Video: Atmosphere – “Arthur’s Song” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Atmosphere is known for their left-field visuals and this one is no different. Directed by Blueprint, the video stars Bobby Silver and DJ Rare Groove and follows a man’s quest for some beloved nunchucks. Watch the hijinks below and check out our Southsiders review.

The post New Video: Atmosphere – “We Ain’t Gonna Die Today” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Photography by Khammy Phanthavong

Words by Ryan Reyes

Over 30,000 eager hip hop fans descended on Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota for the 7th annual Soundset Festival. The bill was diverse: ranging from Minnesota-based artists such as Atmosphere, Prof, deM atlaS, Lizzo and Lazerbeak to up and comers Chance The Rapper, Ab-Soul, Snow Tha Product, Rapsody and Shad.

But there were also headliners from out of state: 2 Chainz wore only 1 chain; albeit it was massive and diamond-encrusted. But a one-hit wonder he ain’t. “Bandz a Make Her Dance,” “Birthday Song” and “I’m Different” were highlights. The crowd clearly loved his set. Some ladies loved it so much that they flashed him quite liberally. One woman made him exclaim “Damn, those are some big ones, some double G’s, double Gucci’s!”

Nas was a treat for old school heads like myself. He truly felt the love from the sea of people assembled before him, stating, “This shit is beautiful.” He performed tracks off his iconic Illmatic album which celebrated it’s 20^th anniversary this year and finished off his set with classics such as “Street Dreams,” “If I Ruled The World” and “Made You Look.”

Wiz Khalifa arrived at Soundset on time. Festival-goers were nervous to hear via Twitter that he was arrested on marijuana charges in Texas the morning of the festival but he was able to post bail and charter a jet (the high life). Fitting for everyone’s favorite weed-rapper. The crowd went crazy during hits “Young, Wild & Free,” “We Dem Boyz” and his set-closing Pittsburgh anthem “Black and Yellow.”

Everything came together nicely for Soundset in 2014: A sold out festival, cooperative weather, and an excellent lineup. Much respect goes out to Rhymesayers Entertainment and Rose Presents. They could turn Soundset into a two-day festival next year. This once little festival is all grown up!

The post SOUNDSET 2014: PHOTOS & REVIEW appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.