Rhymesayers To Host 20th Anniversary Celebration in December

This December 4, the Minneapolis-based independent label Rhymesayers Entertainment will celebrate its 20th anniversary on its city's biggest stage. The imprint's current and former acts--and their wide network of friends--will sneak into the Target Center between Timberwolves games for Rhymesayers 20, a bill packed with nearly 30 different acts. Headlined by usual suspects Atmosphere, Brother Ali and Aesop Rock (himself an alum of one of independent rap's other great pillars, Def Jux), the lineup looks to be a decidedly family affair. Where Soundset, the Memorial Day weekend festival founded by the label, branches out to acts from different spheres within the rap world, nearly everyone on the above posters has issued a record through RSE; Twin Cities pioneers The Micranots also make an appearance. (Recent signee Prof's new album, Liability, was released just this week.) Tickets are available through AXS.

Founded by Slug and Ant of Atmosphere, Brent "Siddiq" Sayers and Musab (then known as Beyond) in 1995, the Rhymesayers name was first applied to a series of showcases at local venues. The label's first full-length release was Musab's Comparison; Atmosphere's 1997 debut Overcast! solidified the collective as a force. (After dropping its third member, Spawn, Atmosphere would break into the national underground and college radio scenes with Lucy Ford and God Loves Ugly in the early 2000s.) In addition to the founding members, Rhymesayers has issued records by MF Doom, P.O.S, Freeway and a host of others, and continue to wield significant influence in Minneapolis, St. Paul and throughout the independent hip-hop community. Beyond Soundset, the label also owns and operates Fifth Element, a popular local record store and open-mic spot.