As we begin to reflect on the end of the decade, I find little counter-argument to the claim that Dessa is one of the 2010's best Hip Hop artists. With three absolutely amazing solo albums under her belt, in addition to a string of great remix projects, singles and Doomtree work, her catalog has very very few missteps (perhaps the only real one being her podcast appearance on Nocando's Shots Fired years ago - peep that for some fun indie rap beef.)
This month, Dessa released a live concert performance recorded at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dessa has been working with large groups of live instrumentalists for a while now and I've caught glimpses of performances here and there, but I had yet to listen to a full set until now. I wasn't let down!
"Sound The Bells" tackles 18 tracks from throughout Dessa's discography, and does all of them justice. The accompanying orchestra manages to give the songs a large epic feel, while still maintaining the lowkey intimacy that a lot of the original versions thrive on. I do wonder if Dessa wrote her latest solo project, "Chime," with this possible performance(s) in mind, as the tracks from that album (e.g. "Boy Crazy," "Jumprope," and "Fire Drills") end up sounding the best in general. There are a couple tracks that I would have loved to hear an orchestra version of (specifically "Annabelle" and Dessa's latest single "Good For You") though at 18 tracks total, the project provides more than enough to chew on.
Listen to and cop "Sound The Bells" via Dessa's Bandcamp HERE.
[And as a Doomtree-related aside, someone tell greedyass Lizzo to free her Mike Mictlan verse!!!]
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