Nazeem & Spencer Joles

South Minneapolis' rising rapper Nazeem makes his SXSW debut this past Wednesday evening at the MN Hip-Hop Showcase in Austin's Blind Pig venue presented by Dante Entertainment.
The Twin Cities has a strong history of LOCAL musicians making their mark and taking over the SXSW Music Festival and this past Wednesday evening 18 year-old, South Minneapolis rapper Nazeem took charge of every minute he had on the mic.

Nazeem, who leaked January 1st, the first song off his upcoming mixture produced by Spencer Joles, was definitely a crowd favorite at this year's SXSW MN Hip Hop Showcase presented by Dante Entertainment at the 6th street Austin venue The Blind Pig.

"Performing at SXSW was a goal I had set 2 years ago, after releasing my first project The Coliseum at the 2012 Soundset," states Nazeem. "I was glad to have my family there supporting me and the crowd was really cool too."
Growing up on the Southside of Minneapolis, and graduating from Southwest High School last June, the rapper and songwriter born Nazeem Jalees Cunningham is now a student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College , and for 5 years has been working at Youthfarm, a non-profit organization focused on building youth led food movements in the Twin Cities. He was recently promoted as the Harvest COORDINATOR at his job, all while writing and recording his new mixtape produced by Spencer Joles.

His name is being heard around the Twin Cities as a best kept secret. With a feature on his father, veteran rapper Muja Messiah's upcoming project God Kissed It The Devil Missed It and this May's release of Atmosphere's Southside album, the new kid out the booth is bound to collect a fan base while educating a new generation of hip-hop fans through revolutionary bars set to shake YOUR mind and tell a story.

"Nazeem killed it at the MN Hip Hop showcase here at SXSW! He had the crowd focused and responding to his catchy hooks like his songs were already a billboard hit on the radio," expressed Twin Cities producer, rapper and friend Bobby Raps of Audio Perm who took part in DJ-ing Nazeem's debut set at SXSW. - Star Tribune

SPENCER JOLES

We are In The Kitchen once more following last month’s catch up with Brooklyn boy Dillon Cooper. This time round we speak to upcoming rapper & producer Spencer Joles and tuck into his debut mixtape ‘Matinee’.

Fresh out of Minnesota, Spencer is a young and talented artist who has caught the attention of many following his debut release in November last year. Having first fallen for hip-hop in High School after listening to Nas’ ‘Illmatic’ – an album that has influenced so many of this generations rappers – Spencer began to write verses with his long term partner in crime Nazeem. After a few years of rhyming and making beats in his basement, along with a handful of SOUNDCLOUD releases that exhibit his guitar proficiency, Spencer is now proving to be an exciting new prospect in the game. We sat down for a full serving of his 11-course project ‘Matinee’.

First up on the track list comes ‘Cosmic Dialect’. A welcoming starter that combines echoing snares, low frequency bass and a medley of extra-terrestrial flavours that immediately fits the profile of A COLLEGEstudent experimenting in his dorm. With a sample from 2001: A Space Odyssey thrown in for good measure, it becomes clear that this track is a product of Spencer’s short stint studying film at college. The cinematic atmospheres don’t stop here however. The next three tracks CONTINUE to draw upon ambient and earthy instrumentation with ‘Cycles’, ‘Progress’ and guest produced ‘Folks Like Me’ helping to illustrate the overall vision of the Mexican-American’s music.

It isn’t until we reach his fifth contribution that our taste buds REGISTER a new flavour on the palette. Accompanied by childhood friend ‘Nazeem’, ‘Lay Low’ is the first of the livelier contributions that demonstrates the pairs lyrical prowess. With both rappers dropping tasty verses over a synth-infected electronic beat, this track serves as a refreshing midway point before we are reunited with the influence of cinema in the spoken word interlude ‘Pans Labyrinthian Hell’.

As we reach the final few course on the menu we are already well adept to the movie inspired sound that Spencer’s music encompasses. ‘Teledream Symphonies’ is another stand out track that once again uses an airy vocal hook that has served as a WINNING recipe for him so far. Just before the end credits begin to roll we wash down our meal with the contemplative ‘Long Nights’; an enticing piece that see’s the 19-year old provide relaxed and equally mature lyrics, reflecting on the long nights spent awake turning “blunts into ashes” and pondering life.

On the whole the ‘Matinee’ experience was an enjoyable one. As far as debut projects go Spencer has certainly managed to create a sound that is unique to himself, drawing upon his visual influences and TRANSLATING them into music. One thing that resonates through the tape is how at home his vocal’s sound in the foreground of his production, a worthy trait for an upcoming artist. We caught up with the Minnesotan for a few TOASTy questions…
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Q & A

What inspired you to start rapping and producing?
I began rapping when I discovered Nas in high school and developed a deep desire to flow ridiculous. My friend, Nazeem convinced me to start making beats for him so I got Maschine my junior year of high school and fell in love with producing.

If YOUR music was a type of cuisine, what would it be and why?
Mexican cuisine. Bold flavors. Bold Love.

How would you describe the hip-hop scene in Minnesota, are there many up and coming artists such as yourself?
The hip-hop scene in Minnesota is like a ticking time bomb. There are so many great new and already established artists who I believe are about to contribute to an explosion of hip-hop that is really going to put Minnesota on the map. I feel the community here values obscurity and there’s a lot of uncharted territory that artists here have the desire and ability to explore. There are a ton of extremely talented up and coming hip-hop artists in the Twin Cities area who are getting on their grind and putting out good work. I’ve had the wonderful OPPORTUNITY to work with a handful of them such as Nazeem, Francis, Lucien Parker, the Uncommon Enemies crew, and the Unknown Creatures crew. Hopefully I can work with many more. The talent here is immense, so everybody should keep their eyes on the Minnesota scene.

As your first feature length project, what was the vision behind ‘Matinee’?
I began working on Matinée my freshman year of COLLEGE as a side project to stay productive. I wasn’t really sure what I was doing in school and I felt extremely alienated among the giant lectures and drunken debauchery so I fell into kind of a dark place. One night I was feeling especially in a funk so I sat in my dorm for six hours and recorded Long Nights, which was the first track I had ever both written and produced. The idea for the rest of the tape stemmed from that song, just feelings of isolation and inebriation in film school. After completing 2 more tracks and finishing the first year of college I moved back to Minneapolis and finished the mixtape with the experiences from returning back home which I think added more happy element to the tape.

What is your favourite song on the mixtape?
Pan’s Labyrinthian Hell. It was a song I wrote in 15 minutes and just had a lot of fun making.

What have you got in STORE for 2015?
I have a lot in store for 2015. I’m planning to really emerge into the scene and collaborate with as many LOCAL artists as possible. I also have a few collaborative projects in production and plan to release a solo EP.

Besides a hip-hop artist or producer, who would you most like to collaborate with?
Spike Jonze. I’d really like to see what kind of crazy music video he could make for a hip-hop track.

What would you be doing if you weren’t a musician?
Filmmaking

Can you cook?
Only fiery dishes

If you were HOSTING a dinner party, what would YOUR 3-course menu be?
Small sandwiches inside of LARGER sandwiches, Chicken with mole, and Cheesecake

You can invite 3 guests, who would they be and why?
SZA because she is everything good in life. Reggie Watts because he reminds me of the salad days. Daniel-Day Lewis, because he is my spirit actor.

It’s no secret that food often tastes better when you’re high, what’s your go to food/drink when you have the munchies?
Greasy thin crust PIZZA cut into squares with a glass of ice water for the soul and the cotton mouth.

Finally, what do you most like to spread on TOAST?
Nutella, yo. - TOAST MUSIC

words by Solomon Gustavo

photography by Nabil Ahmed courtesy of the artists



Hip Hop duo Nazeem and Spencer Joles, both 20, sit on shaggy rolling desk chairs in a surprisingly quiet room behind the stage at record store and Rhymesayers Entertainment headquarters Fifth Element, as the shop’s Thursday night open mic finishes up. Both born and raised on the southside of Minneapolis, Nazeem and Joles speak loosely about their creative process shortly after performing three songs from their simply titled debut The Album. From the looks of it, their bodies and minds are drained of pre-performance adrenaline and gassed up by the experience of a good set, like a basketball team in the locker room after a hard-fought win against a crosstown rival.

When confronted with where and who they are -- where they live, their musical tastes, inspirations and aspirations lie -- they don't really have an answer. Pinpointing specific genres as goals or foundations, if they favor themselves more musicians or filmmakers, or where they even live exactly, isn't seen as a challenge to them -- it isn't seen as anything. Asking those questions misses their point. The two prefer to range about like vagrants, doing anything in anyway that brings them satisfaction. “We’re like hobos,” says Joles. “It’s hobo rap.” The duo performed three songs from their debut album, simply titled The Album on a whim, a warm-up for their album release show at 7th St. Entry on April 14 [Ed. Note: Tonight]. Though they clearly appreciate preparation, within the context of their wayward worldview, terms like spontaneity require redefinition.
The songs on the The Album -- which sports features from local luminaries like P.O.S and Muja Messiah, who happens to be Nazeem’s father -- reflect this. The album swerves and dips, turning down corridors of cerebral, smoldering bars over pensive, pounding minimal beats, and alleys with nostalgic samples trumpeting anthemic choruses so deftly and quickly, it becomes impossible to predict what's next. It's like listening to a frenetic fantastic car chase, and the fun is in seeing where they go next.

Fifth Element’s open mic is like most open mics. Both unheralded and unknown acts ranging wildly in quality are intently watched by their friends, but half-heartedly watched by everybody else. The presence of Nazeem and Joles brought all of this to a halt. Retreating from the amber sunset glow of their uplifting album Intro, they begin Smoke Daht, a slow, winding weed-rap track with plenty of space for Joles to lay down Mr. Hudson-like sing-song vocals fitted with a deep voice distortion conjuring a level of inebriation that literally slows down time. Cell phones in the room shoot out of pockets into the air and hit record. The two break here momentarily for applause, it dies down, and a guy yells out -- “what's your name?” He must have been chit-chatting during the artist’s introduction, but he's paying attention now.

“Nazeem and Spencer Joles, aka street food,” yells back Nazeem. A group of fans who were well aware of who they are give a few hoots and hollers, a couple yelling out a requests for them to play another song Why So Low. They don't give in to the requests, but the tallest guy in the room with a towering afro says of the next song, Benjis, “it's okay, this one turns up.” The track is Nazeem and Spencer’s rollicking take on trap-pop, fitted with Travis Scott auto-tune and spine-tingling hi-hats. After it ends, they run off the stage to raucous applause from the crowd and too many daps and handshakes to count.

Growing up the son of one of the Minneapolis rap scene’s pillar artists, Nazeem says he expected to make music his entire life, rapping first for himself, then slowly showing it off to people when he was in his early teens. On the other hand, Joles never thought of pursuing music until his mother bought him a guitar, with which he began to write songs, finding the creative channel a useful way to blow off the steam of adolescence. The two have been peers since middle school, and began to gravitate towards each other musically during high school.

“It took a couple years, hanging out a lot,” says Nazeem. “We basically learned how to rap together.” The two began spitting in cyphers at Southwest High School, meeting under a stairwell during their lunch hour. “Sometimes we wouldn't get lunch, and just be constantly writing goofy, Lil’ Wayne type verses,” says Joles. Nazeem says they were always trying to one-up each other, to come up with the bar that made the entire group throw their hands up and holler.

When graduation came, Joles went to Milwaukee to go to film school. He ended up hating it, prompting him make even more music, and reach back out to Nazeem. From his dorm room, Joles made a beat and randomly sent it to Nazeem. Nazeem laid a verse, sent it back, and the two couldn't get over how much fun it was. They continued to work together, making scant songs and eventually deciding to make a record together. What was once friendly competition soon transformed into a genuine creative chemistry. “We’re really different people but really similar at the same time. We make crazy mental connections,” says Joles, adding that the two will set out to make a song and end up writing lyrics with the same theme.
Nazeem looks at The Album as a great start, a place from which the two can creatively look back and work toward improvement. The record is decidedly versatile, with little to no songs that emanate from the same source except the first and last, which intentionally embrace a soulful, throwback sound. “We try to make nostalgic music,” says Nazeem. “If you hear it, it will represent a point in time of your life. Basically, music that helps you remember what it's like to be alive.”

The Album is surely a springboard for further hip-hop creation, but the group isn't just interested in exploring one genre, or even one artform. They have a “folk-punk” collaboration with the Houston-based folk band Days ‘N’ Daze in the works. They’re also working on television and film scripts -- one of which would be an exaggerated take on their lives -- as well as plan on self-directing more of their music videos, hoping to eventually shoot videos for all 13 songs on The Album.

When we spoke in the backroom of Fifth Element, both were surprised that there were people sing along or requesting songs. They also took time to marvel at signed records on the wall, saying that they both appreciate how hip-hop history was being preserved at Fifth Element, showing their appreciation for blending eras as much as musical genres. Each day, more and more in the metro will learn of this exciting new duo as they aim to make their mark on the Minneapolis scene and beyond. They’ll be the vagrants, rifling through sounds new and old, both lost and on their way.
http://www.greenroommagazine.com/blog/2016/4/14/feature-nazeem-and-spencer-joles-hobo-rap - Greenroom Magazine

Nazeem & Spencer Joles
Triple Rock Social Club, ?Saturday 6.25
The son of Muja Messiah, rapper Nazeem has significant connections to long-established Twin Cities artists, including collaborative work with Atmosphere. It’s his music with Spencer Joles, though, that’s helped shape a newer T.C. rap scene. After previous collaborations, Nazeem and Joles, who first met in middle school, finally united for a full album, released back in March. Simply titled The Album and produced entirely by Joles, it’s one of the local rap scene’s best-received full-lengths this year. “I love classical and I love the Boosie,” Joles raps on “Smoke Daht,” so it’s fitting that his beats are eclectic, including Golden Era classicism, trap, and more. Lyrically, Nazeem and Joles’ verses are often wordy and dense with thought, but never in a geeky way. In fact, a song like “Fallen Souls,” which addresses white privilege and reparations, is effective because of how directly the verses hit. Nazeem and Joles work well with Minneapolis rap royalty on the album, including spots from Muja and P.O.S, but the duo’s own chemistry shines brightest. With Bae Tigre, Malcolm Anthony, and Ayvah. 18+. 9 p.m. $5. 629 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-333-7399. —Michael Madden - CITY PAGES

Nazeem & Spencer Joles "The Album" (CD)

CD - $7.99

Nazeem has been one of the most exciting new voices in the Twin Cities for the past couple years, from scene-stealing verses on Atmosphere's Southsiders remix posse cut, as well as songs like Children Of The Corn with his pops Muja Messiah to his song "Fuck Up," which remains one of my favorite local rap songs from 2015. Much like Muja, he's relentless in his lack of fucks to give, and says shit that makes your head spin like, "I fed a rich kid crack from a silver spoon, like this will heal the wounds and give them something for the news."

Yesterday, Nazeem and frequent collaborator, fellow southsider and rapper and producer Spencer Joles released their debut album as a duo, simply titled The Album. Entirely produced by Joles, it's at once adventurous, versatile and irreverent as the duo juggles different styles, forms and moods throughout the thirteen tracks; from uplifting, self proclaimed "new soul shit" to swampy, skin crawling weed songs, to their best attempts at on-trend slurry auto-tune singing.

Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Benjis
3. Smoke Daht
4. Toss'd (feat. CL & Mac)
5. Despicable Me
6. Oh I Neva
7. Crossfire (feat. Muja Messiah)
8. Chinatown Dreams
9. Fallen Souls (feat. P.O.S.)
10. The Kids Are Alright
11. Why So Low Feat. Francis Brow
12. Everybodys Driving Crazy (feat. Maria Isa) - FIFTH ELEMENT

Nazeem & Spencer Joles Share Self-Directed "The Kids Are Alright" Video http://www.greenroommagazine.com/blog/2016/7/30/spencer-and-nazeem - Green Room Magazine

http://www.citypages.com/music/the-weeks-best-concerts-june-22-28-8375956 - City Pages

Nazeem Cunningham met Spencer Joles in middle school, and neither expected to be making music together almost a decade later.

“I kind of just went up to him and started freestyling, but we wouldn’t ever freestyle about anything or have it rhyme. It would just be ridiculous,” Joles said.

By the time the collaborators, now both 20, made it to Southwest High School, they began writing music seriously, and the two have been close collaborators ever since.

“Sometime in high school we realized we could actually kind of make music,” Cunningham said. “At first we were going to start a band similar to Rage Against the Machine, but then we started just writing raps, freestyle a capellas and stuff at lunch, and we just decided to be rappers after that.”

Coming of age in South Minneapolis has impacted their worldview and is referenced throughout their songs.

“South Minneapolis is awesome because there’s such a huge hip-hop influence, it’s a huge punk community, and I just like to observe those attitudes and those ideologies in my music and with fashion,” Cunningham said.

Their upcoming mixtape, coyly titled The Album, was produced entirely by Joles. It blends deceptive party tracks like “Smoke Daht” with the incise, razor sharp social commentary on “Chinatown Dreams” or “Fallen Souls,” which also features P.O.S. On the latter, they tackle white privilege, the case for reparations, and gun violence.

“It’s 13 tracks, with a lot of different types of hip-hop. We’re doing trap stuff, old-school hip-hop, soul beats, and some experimentation on it. It’s a very diverse mixtape. It’s very fun to listen to,” Joles said.

Each raps with a style that pushes forward while the other pulls back, complementing one another’s lyrical flow as each song mounts in rising tension. In addition to P.O.S, the mixtape will also feature Maria Isa and even Muja Messiah — Cunningham’s father. Spencer’s production darts between folk, classical, and pop music, and he says he tries take aspects from each and incorporate them into his beats.

“We tried to go with a mainstream palette, but also speak to social justice issues,” Joles said.

“People fight for equality, they fight to be heard, and if I can put that voice in my music, then I’m doing a service for everyone and myself,” Cunningham said.

Elsewhere, themes emerge in their work that include “a lot of inner turmoil,” as Joles puts it. “Besides observing the environment, it’s observing the chaos within the self, and not just the chaos, but also the things that are good. It’s intertwining the flow of the inner being with the flow of the lyrics.”

Their influences range from the likes of Kanye West to local up and comers in thestand4rd crew. While the dup appreciates the thriving local hip-hop scene, they see a trend among young rappers in the Twin Cities refusing to be pigeonholed.

“It’s not all just Rhymesayers stuff,” Joles said. “They’re really dope, and they’ve held it down for a long time, but we’re starting to some different stuff, like thestand4rd crew. They’re all making good, weird songs. A lot of artists are experimenting and putting work in, and getting recognition outside of Minnesota too.” - THE CURRENT