It only makes sense that musician Maria Isa would eventually become a politician. Born and raised in St. Paul, she has municipal engagement in her blood. The newly elected 

, serving District 65B in the Minnesota House of Representatives, is the daughter of the first Latina appointed to direct the office of equal opportunity by former Gov. Rudy Perpich. Speaking the language of the people has aided her prolific career as a youth worker, as an activist, and, especially, as a rapper. 

The same day Maria Isa was sworn into office, she also released a hip-hop EP, 

 inspired by her campaign run, motherhood, community, and day-to-day living. The action serves as a bold statement to the public: music and diversity are what she represents — and she is here to see those entities thrive and flourish. 

Local Show host Diane spoke in-depth with Isa about her relationship with hip-hop and community, and what motivated her to run for office. 

Transcript edited for clarity and length.

It is Diane here, host of The Local Show on The Current. Sitting across from me is Maria Isa, hip-hop artist; and also just sworn in as state representative for Minnesota in our district. And is now just kind of making history. Talk to me about how you're feeling.

It's been a week. And I will tell you that I feel like we're in movement for our people. I feel like the goals that were set from those that have survived so much, in my lifetime and beyond the years of my life, are actually seeing what hip-hop gave birth to. And so it's about time that there is a hip-hop artist sworn into office. It's about time that there's any field of work that's coming from our BIPOC community leadership that are taking those steps. We were appointed by the people. So whether you're a teacher — and I'm a youth worker — whether you're a lawyer, whether you're a doctor, whether you are a customer service rep, you are a citizen that has the ability to choose to run for office. I was answering a call of action for my community and my people, and in particular, the hip-hop community that has raised me.

It's so exciting too because artists aren't always viewed as professionals and people that contribute to society in ways that give immense value. And so sometimes look at — "What's a hip-hop artist doing in politics?" It's like, are you kidding me? How much does music mean to our community and how much value and economic stability it adds. I think a lot of us here in the music community, myself included, are celebrating and are so happy. And you dropped an album the same day you were sworn in. That is so rad. 

. It means “capitol” in Spanish, like the building. Not like the profit, but the building, the location, the symbol of the people, this house.

And it's an eight song hip-hop record. Fierce, amazing. 

Dance music, soul. Of course it has Puerto Rican influences, and is also a bilingual album. Tell me more of the inspiration behind this record.

The inspiration was the campaign run, and just also reminding myself to hold on to myself and hold on to my people and my daughter. There's a song called "Nena" that I dedicate to her and to the little girl that lives in me still – not to let go of what you've survived as a child, as a young girl, and now as a woman and a mother. Running for office — she was my inspiration. I live in the district that I represent. My entire life I've lived here. I love my community. And now she's born and raised in this space that I have been appointed by the people of my district. And I was appointed by the people of my district because I believe in people. I believe in diversity. And I believe in democracy. And I believe in her to have opportunities that we're still fighting for. I believe in her and all children that deserve equity, that deserve safety, that deserves opportunity. And 

 is also a reflection of women empowerment and having fun. You could be in politics or working policy, you could be working at the club. It's all politics. It's all economics. It's all justice. It's all trying to just live your life to the highest potential and as peaceful as possible. And being a human being, it's human rights. So being an artist for me is my right, and defending a community of people in so many different backgrounds, so many different sectors, but also so many different career paths. 

Artistry and being a professional artist has to be respected. And this is a step of that. This is a step of saying to all the teachers that told me, "You're never going to do anything. Stop messing around writing — what are these raps?" And tearing down my Nas posters in my locker room. All of those things is like, "Nah, we're here." Hip-hop is a culture of the people, and it is me. It is Puerto Rican, it is Black. It is all the shades of representation. It's vogue, it's diversity. It's queer, it's love. And it's survival. And so 

 is all of that. It's a decade of me — I shouldn't say decade. It's been over a decade since I've been in this hip-hop community. But it's a reflection of where I believe women and non-binary folks that are now elected into positions of leadership, have a way to celebrate that. And that's what 

 is. It's like, let's legalize what we need to legalize. Let's fight for what we demand. And let's have a clean environment while we could groove at the club after legislation passes.

I want to get more into music specifically. I think of hip-hop as such a powerful genre of music, especially because it kind of has a — well, it's edgy. And there's an unapologetic aspect of hip-hop that's so fierce and in your face, and so tough. And that's one reason why I'm attracted to it too. And it also represents that diversity, for me as a person who's BIPOC and queer. I've always been attracted to it. And I want to hear more of your connection with this specific genre because you own it so well.

Oh my gosh, thank you. Wow. Well, it's been a wild ride. Especially coming from the Twin Cities hip-hop scene. Especially coming from being a woman of color, especially being bilingual, and all these boxes that they want to check us off. And the inequities of surviving a culture that has been uplifted and owned by patriarchy without understanding where it was born from. I know hip-hop to be woman. I know the symbolism of Rosie Perez being the first hip-hop choreographer to get a check from a label as a hip-hop choreographer by Def Jam touring with LL Cool J and inventing the famous Bobby Brown — you know, everybody knows the Bobby Brown pump. And I know hip-hop too, before that, being Sylvia Robinson, who is the president of Sugar Hill Records and the producer of the Sugar Hill Gang. There would be no "Rapper's Delight" without a woman. And I'm like, this is all the equations of what that means and the dominance of empowerment of women of color and survival. And it's just so magical to be in this presence, because the people believe in it. The people are hip-hop. And that's what this album is. 

For folks who's like, "Well, you got a song like 'Bad Chicks.' You talkin' heavy." I'm like, yeah, because I have that right. That is the First Amendment. I have the freedom of speech. "Well, you talk about calling St. Paul, St. Philando." I was like, yeah, because Philando died. He was tragically killed. And he was someone that I personally knew that was a leader for nutrition for children in our education system. So if you call Paul of the Bible a saint, somebody labeled him as a saint for what he did, I will tell you Philando did a lot more to benefit my community than Paul did. So let's talk about what symbolism means to our children who are surviving an education system that needs funding, who are surviving the aftermath of Big Floyd, who we knew personally, being killed by somebody who worked in the same spaces as us. 

So it may just be a groove and a dance for folks who don't understand where we come from in the state or in Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minneapolis. But for those of us that are here, and that have been living through it, or that have been at a hip-hop show, that want to know how to build a studio in their closet so that they can financially afford it because they can't afford studio time. Because that was me, recording in the closet with little microphones or Fisher Price mics and recording your demos on there. You can do that. And you can demand your respect. And let's try to help opportunities for folks who believe in the arts, just as much as they're trying to pass standardized testing. Nah, F that. Let's capture how we can help these children like the kid that was in me, and now the kid in my daughter, the best ways that they want to learn it. Music and arts is such a point of the mountaintop for all of the other things in this agenda from education to health to healing to economics to housing. So we bring in hip-hop to the house.

And I just got to point out that the opening monologue in 

 is with the legendary Bernie Sanders, such a grassroots hero to so many folks, and I know especially in Minnesota. Gosh, to know that you've built relationships with so many important figures and are continuing to do so. But also, I just was like, that's incredible having Bernie so passionately knowing your power and passing on his wisdom to you in almost like a rapper way. He was just like, "Tell them to go F themselves."

It was real. Yeah, I opened up (for him) when he was running for president at his rally. It was one of the last performances before COVID shut the whole world down. Like literally right after that. Yeah, we shut the world down. It was March of 2020. He was running for president and his camp hit me up to open up, and I rocked it with my DJ — shout out to Tony Trouble — and because of his support for what I believe in. And then flash forward to two years after that, I decide to run for office, and my mentor [Attorney General Keith] Ellison in our community and what he stands for, the people, and everybody counts, everybody matters. What do you do? Well, we do a tour. And well, you can't do a tour without music. And the support of that coming from our camps was just awesome. Shout out to DJ Sophia Eris who's been such a strong support of all my work for years, and (DJ) Keezy. Everybody's touring, getting back. Eris is touring with Lizzo, and you're watching their Instagram stories, and she's watching me hitting the doors and getting with the kids and doing what we do, and then all of a sudden, they're like, "Well, how are you managing to do this?" And I'm like, I'm keeping the music together. 

But what I realized is folks like Bernie want music too. They want to continue to support everything that is humanity. And whether it's Bernie Sanders, or 10 years ago, 12 years ago, working with youth and touring with Nobel Peace laureates that I learned so much from —  Rigoberta Menchú. Rest in peace to Reverend Tutu. You've got the president of Costa Rica, Óscar Arias Sánchez. You've got all of these folks that have been influential to my artwork that I have opened up their keynote addresses. Dan Rather, the journalists of the world, with hip-hop. And with my music, it's all coming together. It feels like there's hope with hip-hop. 

Did you know that you were gonna eventually run for office?

I didn't. It's always been embedded. My mom was the first Latina appointed by Governor Rudy Perpich, by the state of Minnesota, to direct offices of equal opportunity. So when I was in her womb, that was her job. And then when I had my daughter in my womb, I was a part of the community equity project out of the Wilder Foundation that takes BIPOC community into the capitol to teach us about policy and how it works. And I'm an alumni of that. And I'll tell you, after I had my daughter, and after being around such amazing leadership that looked like me, that come from where I come from, and that support each other from medical fields to everything, and helping out with the Insulin Act and giving testimony. That was the trigger of like, time is now, time is here. Let's go. So I didn't see myself as doing this. I've been working an independent label my entire career.

And you don't just talk the talk, you walk the walk. You were just sworn in and already are working to get the Driver's License for All legislation passed.

Well, we're working on it. We just definitely got through our first hearing committee of transportation less than 24 hours ago. But we've got a few different other committees, but we're gonna get it. I mean, I talk the talk. So I'm talking.

In a nutshell, explain what that means, the Driver's License For All.

 means that undocumented folks and undocumented Minnesotans in our immigrant community have the accessibility to have a driver's license to be able to drive legally. Our immigrant community, our undocumented folks are our parents, our students, the leaders in our economy, are in so many different sectors of work, and help build Minnesota. They're Minnesotans. They just don't have citizenship, but they are such a big part of Minnesota that they deserve to get their children safe to school, or to emergency aid, or get themselves legally trained just like everybody else who's in a vehicle. So this only helps human rights as a human right, and it also helps our economy. Let's do it.

There's got to be this balance between being an artist, and I think you're probably still exploring this. How do you balance maintaining this professionalism between being a politician and being an artist?

The balance comes from finding space for yourself to reflect; but also, yes, it's only been a week. I mean, there's the difference of a campaign trail and recording and writing, which is difficult to find time. But shout out to producer Ymmi/Perfect Noize for making sure that I have a space to do that, and that I can still be what I've challenged myself to be. And there's also the importance of my daughter and balancing. And I have great parents — I have a great mother and phenomenal father who have always been supportive, even challenging. Because it's a challenge, right? But they have been supportive of doing what's best for the community. And my daughter is my village, and she's number one. And I conversated with my community to be like, how can I help her? And this is the next step, how can I help others like her. And I have a village of support, my family and my community. It takes a village for real. 

And so we all just doing our role right now and trying to figure this out. It's a new transition for not just me, but also my daughter, and my parents who have been supportive of making sure that she's safe while I'm here in these spaces as well. And my campaign and my friends. Real recognize real. And taking time to make sure that there is time for yourself. That was very important with this project. I literally won my campaign and was like, alright, I'm not door knocking. But that time that I spent door knocking, Ymmi's like, "We got to get the door knocks now in the bars and in studio." And so we got it in. And bringing folks like Bernie into that, like, can I do this? Yeah! You better do that. You know, you'll hear it on the first track, Tio Bernie. That means Uncle Bernie, tio. 

And then folks in the city to state to national politics that have been really supportive. They're like, "We needed this. We're listening to this. We're bumping this." People next to my office, my other colleagues that I'm just getting to know, and you walk out of your office and you hear your music, and you're like, oh, this is kind of weird, but it's also like, that's love. Thank you for making me feel home. Because it's a very big intimidating space. But it also is a space that I'm familiar with. It's been something that I look at every day, because I've been in this district every day. The capitol is in my district, and I love my city. And I love this state. Being born in Minnesota is crazy. So much things have been in like a tornado my entire life here. But there's opportunity here. And there's a strong sense of opportunity and with people who are still connected to hope. That's why there's so many doors opening, and we just got to make sure that we stay open and continue to build and not take things for granted and not slip so that those doors fall down. Or the

 house — I feel like Mirabel at that house trying to keep it from falling. 

Yeah, it's the most diverse legislature that Minnesota has seen.

Before we wrap, tell me about your thoughts on the evolution of hip-hop's sound. You've been in this scene for a long time and hip-hop seems to be taking so many different identities. And I feel like you're someone who's embraced the old school ‘90s hip-hop boom-bap beats to embracing like the real fierce trap stuff. I want to hear your thoughts a little bit on hip-hop.

It's jazz. Hip-hop is bomba. It's African. Yes, Latina. It's culture. It's soup. It's rice. It's noodles. So you get to play with different flavors. And that's what I always do. Growing up, the labels would be like, "Why don't you do this? And maybe we can talk about it." And I was like, nah, because that's me. So I guess I'm not gonna be labeled. I will do my own thing. And Doc McKinney, shout out to one of my mentors, he produces the Weeknd, he produces everybody. But Doc has been really influential for me to just say, "Be yourself." And the night that I won, he was like, "You never got signed to a major label because you created your own label, and you never let it stop you, and keep doing you." And so that's what this is. 

I feel like I'm like HOV and Beyoncé. Bey can go sing a ballad, and then she could rap better than her husband on it. And so like, nobody is skeptical, like, "Well, Beyoncé just stick to an R&B record." Like, no, I'm an artist, man. Literally, I paint with my drums and I paint with my lyrics and my bars. And I also do art. I'm a graphic artist too. I did the cover of the album. And that was all me. So that's how the record sounds. It might be all over the place, but it got something for each policy member. It's got something for each mama out there. For everybody who wants to go through whatever. You want to fly a plane? You got that. You want to ride in the whip? You got that. You want to take a cruise? You got that. You just want to chill, kick it in the sauna? It's the vibe.

Well, I also want to add, you sing beautifully too ... from the soul. And I love the Annie Lennox (nod) ... I'm just like wait a second?

That's right. Thank you. And that's hip-hop, like ‘80s, ‘90s, early 2000s. I was born in the ‘80s. And I was raised by the ‘90s and the early 2000s. And that's just what it is. You would listen to Sade. And you would listen to Gloria Estefan. And you had to clean when Mama had Mary J. Blige. It's Sunday, go clean. And Salt-N-Pepa. It's just like what the diversity is in my music is, is what the diversity of our world is. And that's what hip-hop is. It's global communications. 

Well, thank you so much, Maria Isa, for being here with me on The Current's Local Show. Anything else you'd like to add we might not have covered?

Just to everybody tuning in, thank you for supporting the movement and the music. And for those that want to learn how you can support your local artists' movement, there's ways and means of doing that. So feel free to reach out to those leaders that are out there fighting for our equity and rights of artistic means. Gracias, and thank you for what you do. I see you.

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Diane

Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega, now serving District 65B in the Minnesota House of Representatives, has released a hip-hop EP inspired by her campaign run, motherhood, community, and day-to-day living.


Maria Isa chats with Diane

Perfect Noize Ent / Sota Rico

A woman wears a black t shirt and stands with her hands on her hips

Courtesy photo

CAPITOLIO

Tío Bernie

O.U.T.S.I.D.E

Interview: Newly elected Rep. Maria Isa drops 'Capitolio' EP

Fatima Rahman

The night featured Carbon Sound faves killusonline, plus Obi Original, Mike Kota, Raffaella, and three more emerging Minnesota music acts.


Darin Kamnetz for MPR

Review: First Avenue's Best New Bands celebrates rising Twin Cities talent

Happy New Year! Carbon Sound has been adding tracks and getting some very special things ready for you ;)

Each week, we add new music, older tracks, which are known as “Gold adds”, and tracks that might not fit our general format, but still deserve a place in rotation because they serve our mission of showing the depth, breadth, and influence of Black musical expression - These are known as “Variety adds.”

. If you make music and want it considered for rotation, 

 If you want to give feedback directly, reach out to me at jgreen@mpr.org.

Tune in to hear our host Sanni B. live on The Message from 10 AM to 1 PM Monday through Thursday!

Keep all these tracks in one place with the 

 Spotify playlist. This playlist is updated weekly with all the new adds. When that playlist is cycled with new tracks, the tracks live forever on the 

 playlist. That playlist contains all of the music that we've added since the week of July 11 in chronological order of when it was added. All of the tracks available on Spotify, at least.

Julian Green built and manages the music library for Carbon Sound and oversees content creation.  


Julian Green

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the weeks of December 29, 2022 and January 17, 2023


Image for New on Carbon Sound Spotify playlist

Natalia Toledo

New on Carbon Sound

Old on Carbon Sound

New Music on Carbon Sound - Weeks of December 29, 2022 and January 17, 2023

Fred White, who played drums for the era-defining and genre-defying band Earth, Wind & Fire, has died at the age of 67, his brother and the band announced on social media. 

"Our family is saddened today with the loss of an amazing and talented family member, our beloved brother Frederick Eugene 'Freddie' White," wrote his brother and bandmate 

 on Sunday. No cause of death has yet been released. 

Fred White was born in 1955 in Chicago into a family of musicians, including older brothers Verdine and Maurice White. He showed talent at the drums early in life — a "child protégé," his brother Verdine said — and even as a teenager found success playing drums in Chicago for acts including Donny Hathaway. 

"At home and beyond he was the wonderful bro that was always entertaining and delightfully mischievous," his brother wrote. "We could always count on him to make a seemingly bad situation more light hearted."

In 1970, Maurice moved to Los Angeles and founded Earth, Wind & Fire, and Verdine joined a few months later. 

A few years later, they coaxed their younger brother to join the group as a primary drummer. 

Fred White went on to play the drums for the funk-soul-disco-R&B-fusion band in its heyday through the mid-1980s, including on all six albums in Earth, Wind & Fire's remarkable run of consecutive top 10 records on the Billboard pop chart. 

His tight and energetic beats made up the backbone of hits like "Shining Star," "Let's Groove" and – of course – the enduring mega-hit "September," which hit No. 8 on the 

 Hot 100 when it was released and has nearly 1.2 billion streams on Spotify. 



Fred White left the band in the mid-1980s, though he continued to perform with other groups over the years. In 2000, Earth Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including Fred as a member.


Becky Sullivan

White, the younger brother of the band's founder and principal songwriter Maurice White, joined the group in the mid-1970s and went on to lay the backbone for hits like "September" and "Shining Star."


Earth, Wind & Fire via Facebook

Fred White, drummer for the band Earth, Wind & Fire, has died

Joely Kelzer

Minneapolis-based rapper Riotgrrldarko has made a name for herself with “shit that makes you wanna punch people in the face.”


DIARY OF A MAD BLACK RAGER by RIOTGRRRLDARKO

Spitting in the Wind

Awa Mally

Riotgrrldarko lives up to her name

The 10 best albums of 2022, as voted by you, the listener!


Carbon Sound Top 10 Albums of 2022

Designed by Cornel Beard

We’re sharing this to get you excited to listen and to open up the floor for feedback and suggestions. If you want to request a song, 

Shoutout to Natalia Toledo of The Current for creating the awesome new art for the New on Carbon Sound Spotify playlist!

“These Days” feat. Annalie Prime, Tim Lyre & Yinoluu

“Umbrella” feat. 21 Savage and Young Nudy

“Diary” feat. Jermaine Paul & Tony! Toni! Tone!

“All Is in Order” feat. Don Jazzy, Rema, Korede Bello, DNA & Crayon

“Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)”

“Sweet Yamz (Remix)” feat. Charlie Wilson and Ronald Isley

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the week of December 19, 2022.


New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of December 19, 2022

Carbon Sound caught up with Jean Dawson inside of First Avenue before his show at 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis on Sunday, Nov. 6.

Jean Dawson defies definition. His latest album, 

, seamlessly blends the punk, hip-hop, and R&B influences that shaped him. 

 by Jean Dawson streaming now on carbonsound.fm and 89.3 HD2.

Questions written by Sanni Brown and Julian Green 

Carbon Sound caught up with Jean Dawson before his concert at 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis on Sunday, Nov. 6. Watch the full interview here.


Liam Armstrong

Jean Dawson talks Prince, "CHAOS NOW*," music videos, and more with Carbon Sound

Twin Cities rapper Student 1 took made a seismic return to the scene with the release of his latest album. A follow-up to 2019’s UPPRCLSSMN, which featured collaborations with Tierra Whack and Mick Jenkins, 

 was originally set to come out before the pandemic began, but was put on hold until this past October.

In conversation, Student 1 and his best friend and manager, Alec Coines, discuss the album, music video strategy, and the secret behind his nonstop energy.

Shortly after high school. When I graduated, I was already writing shit in my notebook all the time, or just random beats, but I didn't really have a name. I just knew I liked making music. I was halfway through getting my associate's at this community college that I lived at, and shit just started to feel hard. I felt not focused. A lot of the reason I was at college is because I'm a first-generation American in my family. So my parents really wanted that for me. But the more and more that I felt like all of my efforts kind of going into a different direction, I was just like, "All right, Mom, I'm dropping out." That was not an easy talk. “Don't worry, Mom, because this is my school now.”

I didn't know that you were of African background. Where's your family from?

 My mom is from Ethiopia. She moved to America when she was 17 by herself to make money and send to the family. And then my dad is half Ethiopian, half Eritrean. And I don't really know much about his side of the family because his parents passed away when he was really young. So it's like Ethiopian-Eritrean. Those are my African roots.

How did you decide upon the stage name Student 1?

Part of it was, symbolically, a nod towards the conversation me and my mom had about me dropping out. And she's just like, "What are you going to learn so you can do well for yourself in the future?” And it just felt funny telling my mom, “Imma rap.” I wanted to give my mom the opportunity to look at it through a lens where I'm still learning things. But at the same time, lI thought it was fitting because my head was just in multiple places anytime I was at Alec [Coines]'s house... I'd want to make like one type of record, like an old-school, like ’90s-type beat. And then maybe the next day, I'd want to make something over some Travis Scott Metro Boomin shit. And then like a year ago, I made “Nippy.” I'm ready to learn it all.

Alec, you manage Student 1, but you have a much deeper friendship. How did that form?

 It started in high school, just as homies. I don't know the exact moment I was like, "Yo, this dude really got it." I just always knew that if he tried, he could actually like make it in this rap shit. Eventually, I was just like, "Bro, we gotta go for this." My mindset was always just like, if he creates the music, I can like do everything that's in the background – like figure out how to get the music heard and seen by the people.

I went to two, because I grew up in south Minneapolis. So I went to South High for a little bit, for freshman and sophomore year, and then I met Alec at Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights.

Talk to me about your creative dynamic? What are studio sessions like? 

Before I even go into the studio, I look over what I have in my notes on my phone, or just in my notebook, because sometimes the idea will start to grow before I can even put it into a song structure. And I'll be like, "Oh, that's a good line, like, oh, that fits the theme," and then eventually I'll have like 30-40 some bars that kind of give me a good enough start to lay something down. And I'll think about what it fits with. And then I'll take a stab at it. And if it doesn't work, I'll probably just smoke and come back and try it over something else. But if that doesn't work out, then I'll immediately just scrap what I'm doing and just start something new. 

I feel like Alec is better at focusing than I am. He be on go mode when he's ready to work. There is nothing in his way. Whereas, I need time to get back on the ball. 

Just like aggressively energetic. We didn't hold back at all. Before I met [the album’s primary producer] Cory, aka 

, I didn't really like have a footing. Like with regards to what I liked on the production side of things. I just know that shit sometimes slap. Sometimes it don't and we'll just figure it out from there. But then I met Cory. And like, he has his own style. But it's like, it's insane to me.

Working with him was like a healthy exercise. I feel like because of that this album is going to be like me just comfortably yelling more. And just pushing the pen a little harder and working on my melodies. And that's not to say that I'm not gonna go any harder. I'm just saying like it's definitely my best work.

Where does your Energizer Bunny energy come from and how do you bottle it in?

Being an only child growing up, I just had to entertain myself. I wish I had a brother or sister around me, but I was just alone playing the game. And in my head. I was like, “This is chill, so I learned how to entertain myself hella quick.” I was just always active growing up. When I started going to college, I started taking Adderall because I wasn't paying attention. And then I was just like "What if I just take Adderall and go make music?" I knew I had this side of me that if I liked something, I could really focus in on it and just just do just be really good at it. I remember I was in seventh grade I literally liked Guitar Hero so much that I became like top 15 on the leaderboards of the world for multiple songs. And who's to say I can't do that with anything else?

Alec, on Twitter, you wrote that this was the hardest and longest album that you both worked on together. Why is that?

Mostly, it's just because I think the first song we finished it like three and a half years ago. And yeah, the album is just coming out now. We were originally gonna release it before COVID. It was supposed to be like March or April 2020. We were gonna go on tour with Prof and thought we were gonna drop the album as a thing before the tour. We had brand new songs and all that. But then COVID happened. So then it was kind of like, no one was watching for new music.

I don't even even think we were thinking about music. When that happened, we basically hit pause and just tried to figure it out. 

Even though it led to it taking longer to come out. I think it was definitely for the best. The album sounds insane now.

Who have been your biggest inspirations as an artist?

I'm not going to cap, I'll put Ye up there. I'll put Doom up there. I'll put Doom very, very high up there. Rest in peace, Doom. I put Lupe Fiasco up there. I don't talk about him enough. I don't think people give this man his flowers enough. And I think he's in my top three of all time. He had me looking into his genius lyric things for like random songs. And he would just have hidden triple entendres for no reason, just in the calmest voice. I loved Eyedea, rest in peace Eyedea. Just one of the coldest motherfuckers out of the Minnesota scene for me of all time. Production-wise, I love old boom bap shit just because I listened to like so much Doom, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock and shit. I love that, but as of now I've been ficking with like JPEGMAFIA's production and just how insane he be. I'd also put SOPHIE... Starrah is probably like a top-tier inspiration for me.

What's your creative process for making music videos? 

When it comes to like music video ideas, they're few and far in between for me, personally. I have homies that just give me an idea and I'm just like, "Oh, I think we could run with that." Where my input comes in is more how I execute on camera. But like I'm a big fan of symbolic things. So I'll just think about little additions that are just like little trinkets to fit with the theme. So like the song, “Kites,” we have a kite, and we're flying it around. And that's not like a super deep symbolism or anything, but I just think that that's cool for a video. But as far as just seeing the vision for the music videos, I feel like that's mostly like, Alec, my friend Justus, my friend, Eric. We literally just got back from a trip to Montana to shoot for the “Kites” music video. We just woke up every day, early in the morning, went out into the mountains and didn't come back until 8 p.m. And I was just like, holy shit, we just did so much.

I've been seeing Montana as a destination for artists, especially hip hop artists, in the last few years. Like, what is it about that state that just inspires musicians?

I'm not gonna lie to you, bro. At first, I didn't want to go. But we've driven through Montana multiple times to go to Portland or California and it's been beautiful and we were like, "You know what? Let's come back here." I forgot whose suggestion it was to go to Montana, but it was honestly the best idea. It's one thing driving through it, but we have a homie that lives there. And he was just like, "Bro, y'all have to come here. I will show you the mountains." And we were all like, "Let's go see the mountains."

What do you envision for the future of Student 1?

Coming out of the pandemic, I'm in a better headspace now. Which is good, because part of the reason I was not very active for a while was because I was just figuring my own shit out. I had to sort that out or otherwise, I'm not really gonna have the energy that I feel is sufficient to work on my craft. So, I feel for the future, just because I feel like in a better headspace, the sky's the limit. As far as I'm concerned, I have like more projects. I have another project that I'm almost done with right now, after 

 And hopefully, that's all going to be produced by me, first time that's ever happened. I feel like I've just been dormant the past two years here, just because I'm not trying to get sick. 

Jeffrey Bissoy-Mattis

The Twin Cities rapper and manager Alec Coines discuss the new album, the pandemic pause, and a magical trip to Montana.





A man wearing a white hoodie stands in front of a group of trees

Justus Louisiana

A man holds a red kite to his chest in a field

student 1 - nippy (Official Video)

student 1 - pSiLLy MaTh (Official Video)

STUDENT 1 & PSYMUN - "PAINT" (Official Video)

OFFTHEDUST!

Student 1 reemerges with new album, 'OFFTHEDUST!'

Tune in to hear our host Sanni B. LIVe on The Message from 10 AM to 1 PM Monday through Thursday!

“It’s Quiet Now” feat. Dope Earth Alien

“I Ain’t Mad At Cha” feat. Danny Boy

“It’s All About The Bemjamins (Remix)”

“Notorious Thugs” feat. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the week of December 5, 2022.


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