Desdamona Interview with Kevin Beacham - as seen on www.dunation.com

Rhyme Tissue
by Kevin Beacham

When someone can find the perfect marriage of their talent and their personality it is a beautiful thing. Desdamona has achieved just that. Watching her on stage you get a variety of emotion and passion mixed with a voice that is sultry yet strong. Her words are well chosen and thought provoking. Most often there is a message to the music, a lesson to be learned, but she's able to convey it without being overbearing. The heavy subjects find comfortable balance amongst light hearted humor. Certainly some of these talents are the results of birthright, but have been fine tuned with years of practice and experience. Having mastered her craft on stage, the time had come to repeat the process in the studio. The result is her first official full length CD release titled "The Ledge" which is comprised of powerful spoken word poetry, uplifting MCing & soulful singing. We recently sat down and spoke about her history, what's new, what's in the future and had a few laughs. Here's what she had to say....


K.B.: Let's start with the very beginning of life, where are you originally from?

D: I grew up in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It's on the South East corner of Iowa. It's a little town of about 8,000 people. I lived there my whole life until I was 18 and then I moved to Cedar Falls/Waterloo, Iowa. That's where I went to school for a while and then I moved to Minneapolis in '96.

K.B.: When and how did you first get interested in Hip Hop?

D: I think the first time I really got interested in any of the elements was probably in about 6th grade. Around the time I first saw the Breakin' movies and stuff like that and I already was a dancer so I thought it was so cool and I wanted to learn how to breakdance. Being from a small town there was not a real outlet for it besides that kind of stuff. Lyrically, the first time I started doing things was when I was 14 and a Freshmen and just listening to like the Beastie Boys, RunDMC...all that kind of stuff, anything that I could find.

K.B.: Were there a lot of options for buying Hip Hop where you were at?

D: No. It wasn't really being played that much on the radio there. Really the way that I found it was YO MTV RAPS. I watched YO MTV RAPs every single day. I would literally tape stuff off there and try to make these little mixes on tape...it was so stupid...ha. It's like I wanted to be a DJ. It's funny when I think back about it and how I wanted to be a part of every element of it and I think that's why it's so important to me now. Even though I was never a graffiti artist, I was never a DJ, and I was never a Breakdancer, but I have a love for those things...that's basically how it started. I would go about a half hour from where I lived and there was a bigger town and I would go to the mall and go to the record store. I would just pick things that I thought looked interesting, stuff I saw on YO MTV RAPS, or whatever I could find. I would just buy it. Although I didn't have a lot of money so it didn't happen very often. My Mom would get mad at me because all I would buy is music.

K.B.: At that point were you already doing poetry?

D: Yeah, I've been writing since I was little. My dad was a fourth grade teacher and he always got me into writing and my Grandmother is a Poet and I used to go to her house after school and we would write poetry or paint or whatever. I think that was the reason why when I heard the first rap I was attracted to it.

K.B.: What are some of the Pros and Cons of doing both poetry and Hip Hop, if you see any?

D: People wanna label you a certain way and it gets frustrating. In a way something in you wants to be labeled. Then something (else) is like, 'fuck you, I don't want that'. I think within the Hip Hop community there's like this desperate need, and I don't just mean this for me but for everybody, to be accepted. When you don't feel like you're accepted it makes you angry but it also makes you work harder. It's good and bad on lots of levels. (Also), I think a lot of times spoken word or poetry right now is getting a little over saturated and there's a lot of stereotypes that go along with that too and I try not to follow those things.

K.B.: That kind of goes into my next thing because potentially when you do both and you have had a passion for both from an early start you face several obstacles. I'll say particularly in Hip Hop because I know Hip Hop better but maybe also in the Poet circle as well...one thing is that within Hip Hop people say those who can't become MCs become spoken word poets. There's probably circles of Poets who don't respect rappers. So you personally have those two things, but then you also have, definitely in Hip Hop, the challenge of being a women involved in the Culture. That's a whole other thing so how do you mentally prepare yourself to deal with these obstacles besides just doing what you do...

D: Well, before I moved here I was doing Hip Hop stuff. It was definitely not what I'm doing now, but I was writing rhymes but I've grown so much since then. What I realized when I came here was that it was going to be really hard for me to do that because I kept getting people basically telling me not to do it. I really started doing spoken word because that seemed like that was the easiest way to get involved in it. Every-time I would go to try to work with producers or musicians it was pretty much constantly more like, 'I'm trying to get with you'...ya know, really annoying. It made me feel like no one liked what I did at all and that they were just trying to get with me so I was like, 'Fuck it, I'm just going to erase the music out of it and I'm going to take what I've written in songs and do them as poetry'. It's been interesting because I kind of used that to get in the door. I would do and still do a lot of poetry about Hip Hop so people started to ask me to do Hip Hop shows so I kind of got to come back in to it. I feel like I haven't even fully come back into it yet. I feel like I'm still in between the two.

K.B.: Do you want to settle on one or the other or...

D: I like being able to do both because I think there is a different freedom in both of them. There's (also) a little bit of a different mode of communication...just slightly different. I like being able to play with the two. I want to be able to experiment and not just stick to just one thing.

K.B.: Do you feel with the path you've taken, some of it being conscious and some of it being natural, that for you personally or for others as well that you've been able to beat some of those obstacles?

D: Yeah, sometimes. I could go off on so many different tangents from that, but I think in a way I've been able to do that. (However), It's pretty hard just as a female in general so that on top of being spoken word and Hip Hop...

K.B: ...so you consider being a woman that hardest challenge?

D: Yeah, actually...yeah. It's even weird to say that because I feel like it shouldn't be that way. I think people on the outside don't really get to see what goes down or how people treat you or how people assume certain things about you.

K.B: Then you have some people who are just so used to it that they think it's normal.

D: Or even the way people will treat you and they don't even realize that they are treating you this way but in a way they are stifling you and it's like, 'wow, that's deep that you don't even know that you are doing that'....ha!

K.B: Yeah, it's a way bigger problem than Hip Hop....

D: Oh Yeah, it's way beyond that but it gets a little amplified inside of Hip Hop I think because of the masculine portrayal and the posturing that happens.

K.B: It's just one of the many ways that Hip Hop is a great way to view the world (for the better or worse)....

D: ...cause it's a big magnifying glass...

K.B: It's a lil exaggerated to the proportion of the world, but it's very real (and accurate) within Hip Hop...

D: Right

K.B.: Alright, let's move along to some other things. You were saying earlier that you've been doing this for a long time so why so long before the first official release?

D: I had put out a couple things I did on my own, but honestly money and maybe even a little bit of direction. I think it's good that I waited for as long as I did. I think most people should wait. I don't think you should release something 2 or 3 years into your growth. I guess you can learn a lot from doing that but I think you really need to build a fan base and you really need to build on yourself as an artist and what direction you are trying to go in. I think people think to be an MC you have to put out a product, but it's like, 'No, actually you have to put in a lot of work first'....and everybody has a CD...

K.B.: (whispering)...but who has a good CD?

D: Right.

K.B.: You just kind of mentioned that even though this is your first album you've done some other things up to this point so what are some of the other projects you've done?

D: I did a little EP called "Resilience" and it was mostly spoken word. It was really low key and really mellow...probably more mellow than I would now do....

K.B: Did it just happen that way...

D: Yeah, It just happened that way. Partially with the musicians that I was working with and partially because I didn't really have a decided direction that I wanted to go so I let it be more collaborative and now I know better. Then there was the live CD that I did. Then there's a bunch of compilations & stuff that I've been on. I've been on "Words Will Heal The Wounds" and Groove Garden "Varietals Volume One". I've been on some Rhymesayers stuff too...Musab, IXL and Brother Ali's first release. I was on the Rosemary records (compilation) "The Evolution Is Outdated". I'm on the Cheap Cologne CD and I'm also on the DU Nation Compilation.

K.B: OK, the album! Of course, the most famous question probably is (switching to my most Hollywood voice) how did the connection with Sly & Robbie happen...ya know...How was it like working with Sly & Robbie?

D: Well, I was writing songs for someone else...more R&B stuff. (For this project) we were working with some people in Philadelphia. I went out there to work on a couple more songs and my friend who is out there, who I write songs with, her husband owns a studio and that's where some of the vocals were being laid. He had heard me here once when they came to visit. My friend was like, "You should do this poem for him" so I did this poem and he was like, "Let's go record some of this stuff". He manages Sly & Robbie and he was like, "Let's just record like 14 different things and I think what I'm going to do is give it to Sly and have him listen and if he's interested then they'll go and work on something. He may not be interested, let's just see". He sent them to him and (Sly) liked it so he started working on some stuff. This was back in 2000 actually. Then we got like 5 or 6 things that we were working on with Sly & Robbie and also a couple of other people out there. Then they came into town with Black Uhuru and I opened up for them. After that nothing happened and we didn't do anything with it either. Then I got a grant from Minnesota State Arts Board and I put some of that money towards helping finish the project, but we really ended up starting over again. I got a bunch of beats from Sly & Robbie and started working on that and then went out there (Philly) to record.The only time I really ever met them one on one was when they were here. The rest was like on the phone or other modes of communication. It was a weird transplant thing like I'd go out there to record then they'd send the stuff to Jamaica and then they'd send it back....

K.B.: Being that you have several different things you offer to music, vocally speaking (singing, poetry or rapping), when you hear a track that someone is giving you how do you decide what you are going to do for that particular song?

D: I don't really decide I don't think...just whatever happens. I might try a couple different things on it to see what feels right. Usually it just kind of happens on its own. I don't make a conscious decision to be like this is going to be me singing or...you know what I mean. Yeah, I don't do that usually.

K.B: Do you feel more comfortable doing one or the other?

D: I'm more comfortable doing poetry or MCing than I do singing.

K.B.: What are some of your favorite album tracks from "The Ledge"?

D: I don't know if I have a favorite track at the moment. I have in the past...um, I like number 11...

K.B.: You can't say #11 for your own release....that should be against the rules...

(cue laughter, as we both laugh thru these next few moments)

D: ...it is #11 you can call it that if you want cause that means people will be like, 'what was #11, what's it called and they'll go look'...

K.B.: OK, reverse marketing or something alright..ha!

D: It's called "Get By" and I am (actually) singing on there.

K.B.: Describe the difference, if you think there is one, in preparing for a live show and preparing for recording a song in the studio.

D: I think it's a lot harder to record in the studio than it is to perform live. I guess (because) it's more of a controlled thing when recording and so it's hard to get the right energy. I guess basically to get prepared for that I make sure I know what I came to do. I think when you walk in and you are not clear then other people can take control and if don't want that then you need to know what's going on. Also, maybe even bringing the right people with you to be listening cause you're not always the best one to be listening. Matter of fact, you are NOT the best one to be listening. Someone who is not just going to say, "Yeah, that's great.". I guess for the live show, sometimes I forget because I perform so much, but what I like to do is go thru some of the songs in my mind before I go up. Sometimes I just go up and just do it, but I feel like I could just get lost in it sometimes so I need to meditate on if for a minute.

K.B: ...so you do a lot of performances and you also have some regular nites as well...

D: Yeah, Tuesday at the Blue Nile...sometimes I perform, sometimes I don't (she hosts the nite weekly). Thursday night at Bunkers with the New Congress, but I just sit in with them.

K.B.: With doing so many performances how do you keep yourself intrigued by performing?

D: It's the one and only thing that I'm like kind of probably addicted to. I don't get tired or bored with it. Plus a lot of people who have seen me in so many different...like, I'll be with a DJ. I'll be with a Beatboxer. I'm by myself. I'll be with a band. I'll be with one musician. You know what I mean...

K.B: It's a variation and you can do the same songs and pieces, but the dynamic changes.

D: Yeah, totally.

K.B: Also, on shows, I know you do a lot of shows locally but what other places have you been and how's the reception been in other cities?

D: Lately I've been in Iowa, Nebraska, Winnona, St. Cloud. I've been getting a good response and selling a lot of CDs that way. I think it's kind of refreshing for people cause they are not used to seeing it. From the response people are giving me is that it's different or I'll get (people who say), "That's what Hip Hop is". Which makes me laugh because a lot of people here don't feel like what I do is Hip Hop. It's all perception. Also, comparing here to other places, I get a great response out of town and lots of guys will buy my CD, but here my response from guys is funny. They'll come and be like, "My girlfriend loves your stuff". (more laughter). Then they buy my CD. I don't know if they are lying to me and they feel stupid buying it or what it is. It's like "I'm buying this for my mom"...

K.B.: (mocking the guys) "This CD is not for me, No. Maybe I'll hear it in passing...." (the laughter continues)

D: I'm not kidding. Like 90% of the time that's their response.... Then in other places dudes are the first ones to buy it. I think partly...I don't know, I don't even want to go into why I think that.

K.B.: Fair enough. Perhaps you've said to much...

D: I will say too much if I continue on...

(we have to take a moment to try and get serious again....)

K.B.: Do you usually write to the music?

D: I usually don't write to the music. Every now and then I do. Actually, that's not true. Sometimes I'll go out and listen to live music and I'll be writing there, so in a way I'm writing to music, but it's not the music that I'm going to end up doing it to. Then a lot of times it happens when I'm in the car and trying to write and drive at the same time... With the singing stuff, the chorus usually comes before I get the music and the melodies and stuff come after because that's a little bit harder to do without the music.

K.B: Do you have any particular rituals to help you write?

D: No, I write when I'm inspired.

K.B: What inspires you?

D: Going to see live music. Different kind of stuff than what I do. That's what inspires me, seeing other people perform...people that are good performers. Obviously life inspires me, but it comes thru when I'm just sitting and I'm quiet and listening to somebody or something. It can be one thing that somebody says that is like, 'Yeah, that's it'.

K.B: What do you listen to...musically?

D: The last CD that I bought was this guy Amos Lee. He was just here (recently) at the Fine Line. He's sort of more like a male version of Norah Jones. It's kind of mellow which is weird because I don't usually like mellow music but he's a good song writer. That (question is) hard because I feel like a lot of times I'm not listening to music because I'm in it so much. I go out to see local people. As for CDs, Amel Larrieux. The Roots..I love the The Roots. I like Talib Kweli & Common...that sounds so typical I hate saying it. I like Jill Scott. I've been kind of being introduced to some new things just listening to The Current (89.3 Twin Cities) because I don't like a lot of stuff. I don't love everything. There's some people who just love all kinds of music and I don't. I mean I like stuff from the 80s. I like Pop Music. Some of it I like, Some it I don't but I have a fascination with it sort of. I just don't have to buy it because I can hear it all the time.



K.B: Looking back...and we kind of covered this but not completely I don't think, but early on was there anyone particular that was more influential?

D: I can't think of anything specific, but a lot of Women in Hip Hop have been pretty influential to me. All the regular suspects.

K.B: Like who, I'm curious to know... (as I apply the pressure for names..ha!)

D: Queen Latifiah. MC Lyte. Monie Love even. Lauryn Hill when The Fugees came out with their first CD. A lot of people don't like that CD, but there was something there that I like....

K.B: ....reviewing that [Fugees] album was the first thing I ever wrote for a Hip Hop publication...

D: Oh really, wow. My favorite song on there is "Some Seek Stardom". I love that song. Just how she rhymes and she can sing. Every once and a while I'll do one of her verses from that song as a tribute or whatever...

K.B: What do you consider some of your biggest achievements in music? I was doing some research at your Myspace page and there's all kinds of stuff on there but I figured we didn't need to cover them all since they are there for everyone to see already (www.myspace.com/desdamona) so I thought I'd just have you point out the ones that stand out to you.

D: I guess being able to work with Sly & Robbie in a way is a pretty big achievement because most people would not have the opportunity to work with them or someone of that caliber or history. I feel like that was a gift. (Also), that I came from a little tiny town and didn't know anybody or anything and now many people know who I am. It's not about them liking me or not liking me. It's just that I've done something that people notice.

K.B.: Speaking of which, why did you move here?

D: I moved here to be a songwriter actually.

K.B: Why here?

D: Just being from the Midwest it's the closest big city. What happened was I was working with some musicians here already and so my friend and I just packed up and were like let's go. It was like what the hell are we doing. My parents were like freaking out. They were like "Minneapolis for music?", but Minneapolis has a very rich music (history). If it wouldn't have been for my friend I just wouldn't have come here. It was pretty much her initial thing like, "Let's go".

K.B: What are some upcoming things with you?

D: Doing some stuff with Carnage right now. We are going to do a project together. He and I perform a lot together (where) he does the Beatbox. We're going to do some of that but we're also going to do some songs together. It's kind of cool because I think we both kind of push each other a little outside of where we might usually be. We're very different but we have good chemistry. I'm trying to do some other things that I don't have completely mapped out just yet. Obviously there will be another project in the near future. This coming year I'm trying to just tour as much as I can. I've been out of town a lot to do poetry, but that's never what I wanted to do. I always wanted to do music and poetry, but I never had the money to do that. Lately the opportunities have just been coming. I've had to work really hard to get them, but I'm trying to get some things together so I can just like tour for a year. Obviously not non stop. I think that's what I need to because I've been here for so long and I've pretty much done what I can do. Not that I can't continue to do it (too).

K.B: Any goals or aspirations outside of being an artists?

D: (after a brief pause, she answers sort of bewildered)...not really. (we both burst out into laughter)

K.B: You looked like you don't think that is even possible?

D: That's probably what I was thinking because I don't do shit else but this. My first thing (I thought) was I want to publish someting....put some stuff in a book form, but that's still (being) an artist.

K.B: Well, I guess I'll say how do you want use your art in different ways and evolve?

D: I want to do that (the book). I want to get overseas. I want to collaborate with more people. I want to become better and expand what I'm doing and be able to see the growth from this CD to the next to the next... I do this full time, but my goal for this coming year is to perform more. Just get better and better and be able to support myself at a higher level then what I can do now.

K.B: Any closing words of wisdom for aspiring artists?

D: Don't expect anything. Just do it. If you can't do it (just because) you love it then don't do it. Half the time you're not going to get what you want.


Desdamona’s “The Ledge” is out now. You can also see her every Tuesday night at the Blue Nile.
Kevin Beacham, hosts “Redefinition Radio” on 89.3 FM The Current, Saturdays from 11:00PM-12:00AM…