Are You Sleepin'? Minnesota

FDB Minnesota Compilation
Minnesota's MySpace
Minnesota on Discogs

I've spoken before about the nature of the term 'slept on' and the difficulty in defining it in an era where a wealth of information is literally a mouse-click away. As a part of an online hip hopping community who undoubtedly know a massive amount about the culture, the term becomes even more elusive, and in some ways less valuable. As such, I am not going to claim that Minnesota is necessarily worthy of the slept on tag, but will freely admit that I personally have been sleepin' on his work. After posting up Mos Def's 'Modern Marvel' last week, I felt encouraged to do a little bit of homework into his other production credits (where would I be without Discogs?!), and was surprised to find out that he had played a part in some pretty significant releases dating all the way back to '94. Although his discography is by no means staggering in terms of volume, there is little doubt that he has produced some pretty bangin' beats during his career: the man deserves some shine.

Minnesota started out on Yaggfu's 'Action Packed Adventure' release before entering into his career with the Money Boss Players crew, where he was the lead producer. I know that the group are generally pretty highly acclaimed amongst serious hip hop audiences, but know little of their work beyond the 'Ghetto Chronicle Daily' EP that Sconeboy sorted me a little while back. I was pretty taken with this release, but given MBP's limited output and the scarcity of their work in CD format, I haven't really explored their discography much further. Despite a lack of commercial success with the crew, it is clear to see that it provided him with a platform into production work with more well established figures in the game, subsequently providing beats for Big Pun, Grand Puba, Sadat X, Lil' Kim and Naughty By Nature amongst others before gaining his 'big break' with Ghostface on 'The Pretty Toney Album' and then with Mos Def on 'The New Danger' LP and his most recent release 'True Magic'.

What surprises me about my 'discovery' here is that without really knowing it, I've been enjoying his music for ages. In fact, beyond simply enjoying them, his beats have often ranked amongst my favourites on the various albums of which he has been a part, making my sleepin' on his steez all the more ridiculous. I always loved 'World Go Round' on Naughty By Nature's 'Poverty's Paradise' album, and 'I'm Not A Player' goes down as my favourite cut on Big Pun's 'Capital Punishment'. His use of big drums, soulful loops and heavy basslines creates a classic boom bap sound: Minnesota knows how to get your head nodding.

To make amends for my ignorance I've thrown together a bunch of tracks from the various releases that he has had a hand in. Here's the tracklist (the geek in me took a hold and forced me to put these in chronological order):

1. My Dick Is So Large - Yaggfu Front
2. Jemini - Brooklyn Kids (Remix)
3. Grand Puba - Play It Cool
4. Naughty By Nature - World Go Round
5. Money Boss Players - Games
6. Lil' Kim - We Don't Need It
7. Sadat X - Do It Again
8. Big Pun - I'm Not A Player
9. Ghostface - Beat The Clock
10. Mos Def - Panties

Whether you were already aware of Minnesota's contribution to hip hop or not, he definitely goes down in my book as a producer who seems to have slipped under most people's radar. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that he should be ranked alongside the 'big boys' of hip hop production, but in times where we dig ever deeper into the past in light of the decline of the culture, we should celebrate those that have made a difference to the music along the way: Minnesota should be considered one of them.

Everything Must Go!

I actually intended to do this earlier in the week, but you now have a mere 24 hours to search through the archives and hit the links if there is anything that you want as this time tomorrow they will be gone. Thanks for the feedback and support in light of the change: it's really appreciated. Bear in mind that links will now only be active for a limited time (the last five posts in fact), so be sure to check in regularly here at FDB if you want music to supplement the write-ups. Onwards and upwards!