Dessa
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Latest ReleaseView All
Bury the Lede
Release date: 9.29.23
Label: Doomtree Records
Press Releases View All
Dessa Takes No Prisoners On Hard-Hitting New Single “Decoy”
Read MoreDessa Returns This Fall with New Full-Length Album, ‘Bury the Lede’
Read MoreMinneapolis Institutions Dessa and The Minnesota Orchestra Unite on ‘Sound the Bells: Recorded Live at Orchestra Hall,’ out Today
Read MoreBiography View
"Language was my first love," says Dessa, and her work as a musician, writer, and speaker is studded with memorable turns of phrase. Her style is also defined by an empathetic curiosity--an interest in finding unlikely connections between seemingly disparate people and ideas. Over the course of her career, she’s partnered with neuroscientists, shadow puppeteers, a dentist, a traveling circus, and musicians of all stripes: subway bucket drummers, flamenco palmas, a Chinese pipa master, and a Zimbabwean mbira player. Her work on stage and on the page is often funny, usually clever, and sometimes melancholy: poignancy tempered by wry wit delivered in a cocktail dress paired with combat boots.
Dessa’s musical career began in earnest when she was asked to join Minneapolis’ Doomtree collective, the hip-hop crew known for bold production, charismatic lyricists, and explosive live shows. She started touring hard as a solo act after her 2010 release A Badly Broken Code. Since then, she’s worked across sounds and styles; her albums include rap bangers; a cappella arrangements; and big, catchy pop hooks. On the invitation of Lin-Manuel Miranda, she contributed a track to gold record The Hamilton Mixtape. She’s also co-composed work for full choirs and cut a live album with the GRAMMY-winning Minnesota Orchestra.
Dessa grew up in the 80s in South Minneapolis as a strong-willed, cerebral, sometimes troubled kid. Both parents were musical—her father played classical guitar and the medieval lute; her mom came up in the Bronx in an apartment where someone (or everyone) was constantly singing. In school, Dessa was studious, with special interest in biological science and creative writing. After earning a philosophy degree, she began competing on the slam poetry circuit where she connected with members of the local hip hop scene. Her songs are the product of this nonconventional trajectory: she remains part academic and part hip hop artist, with moments of playful braggadocio offset by flashes of arresting candor. Dessa’s formative professional years were spent adhering to the DIY model of indie artists: passing flyers hand to hand, touring the world in a grimy van, and learning how to run a business from her backpack. She’s now performed at gritty underground rock clubs in Central Europe; velvet-lined theaters in Australia and China; standing atop a chair in South Africa, and at top-tier festivals like Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, and Riot Fest.
Between tours, and sometimes backstage, Dessa continued to write poems, essays, and short stories. Her written work has been published in the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, and in literary journals around the country. She’s released three short literary collections, most recently Tits on the Moon, a collection of stage poems published by Rain Taxi and Doomtree Press. Her short fiction has been published in The Iowa Review and her first audio play was produced by 45North in London. In 2018, Dutton Books (Penguin Random House) published Dessa’s memoir, My Own Devices, which tells the story of her life, career, and an ambitious plan to fall out of love. She delivered a TED talk in Hong Kong titled “Can We Choose to Fall out Love?” that has notched more than 4 million views.
Across formats, Dessa’s work embodies ferocity, intelligence, and tenderness. NPR’s All Songs Considered hailed her as a “a national treasure.” The LA Times says simply she “sounds like no one else.” You can listen to her music, read her writing, and check out the tour schedule at dessawander.com or find her on Instagram as Dessa, and on Facebook and Twitter as dessadarling.
Online
Press Clippings
- Interesting People Reading Poetry
- MXDWN
- MXDWN (review)
- NPR 1A
- NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour
- People Magazine
- V Magazine
- WNYC Soundcheck
- Analogue
- Billboard
- Isthmus (Madison, WI)
- KEXP's Sound & Vision
- Leader-Telegram (WI)
- NewSounds
- New York Public Radio - New Sounds
- NPR "All Songs Considered"
- PBS - Articulate Show
- Salon
- Switched on Pop
- Talkhouse
- Twin Cities Media
- 2DopeBoyz
- Audiotree
- 303 Magazine
- The 405
- Ambrosia for Heads
- American Craft Council
- AV Club
- Baeble Music "Role Model" essay
- Billboard
- Billboard Soul Sisters Podcast
- Boston Globe
- Brooklyn Vegan
- Detroit Metro Times
- Duluth News-Tribune (MN)
- Chicago Tribune
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Complex
- The Current (premiere)
- Do312 (Chicago)
- Impose
- Indy Week
- Isthmus (WI)
- KUTX This Song Podcast
- La-Crosse Tribune (WI)
- Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Little Village Mag (IA)
- Live from Here with Chris Thile
- Mashable
- My Spilt Milk (NOLA)
- New York Times
- The New York Times Magazine (online)
- The New York Times Magazine (print)
- New York Times Playlist
- NPR All Songs
- NPR All Songs (2)
- NPR
- NPR Morning Edition
- NPR Music - Best Albums of 2018
- NPR Science
- Paste
- Refinery29
- The Rumpus
- Salon Live
- Salon Stage
- San Francisco Chronicle
- Sound Opinions
- Sound Opinions interview
- Star Tribune (MN)
- Star Tribune (2)
- The Third Story Podcast w/ Leo Sidran
- Tidal
- USA Today
- The Verge
- The Waster
- WQXR
- NPR Tiny Desk Concert
- NPR "All Songs Considered"
- Wall Street Journal
- USA Today
- USA Today - The Playlist
- Billboard (feature)
- Billboard (Premiere)
- Billboard (Minneapolis feature)
- Last.FM
- Bullett