Dessa at MIM.

Spanning genres and disciplines, Minneapolis rapper Dessa’s style is defined by tenderness, ferocity, candor, and wit. As a musician, she has written music for large choirs, crowd-surfed at rock clubs, recorded a live album with the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra, and contributed a track to the number-one album The Hamilton Mixtape.
Her musical career began in earnest when she was asked to join the Minneapolis hip hop collective Doomtree, which was known for bold production, charismatic lyricists, and explosive live shows. Since then, she has released several full-length albums, working across sounds and styles while keeping her razor-sharp writing front and center. Dessa has also written for The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, hosted two seasons of the BBC podcast Deeply Human, and published several poetry books and literary collections, including the memoir-in-essays My Own Devices.