Rapper P.O.S of the Minneapolis collective Doomtree said his admiration for his native city is so strong that at one point he only listened to artists from or touring through the Minnesota metropolis.
While P.O.S (Stefon Alexander) and his seven fellow Doomtree members’ attachment to their hometown is strong — it built them individually as artists — it’s luckily not enough to prevent them from leaving the city to tour. The indie rap collective is set to put on a performance at Madison’s Barrymore Theater Dec. 5 that will be both politically disruptive and emblematic of the diverse city they matured in.
After the release of their latest and third studio album All Hands, which they’re touring with, The Badger Herald had a chance to catch up with two Doomtree members — P.O.S and producer Paper Tiger (John Samels).
Doomtree’s origins are deeply rooted in Minneapolis. In 2001, the group started out as a high school production crew consisting of friends, eventually morphing into a 15 member rap group. But the collective has since evolved to include seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, Lazerbeak, Mike Mictlan, Sims, P.O.S and Paper Tiger.
For the collective’s members, Minneapolis is more than just home. They credit the uniquely diverse city for forming not only their musical sensibilities, but also their identities as artists.
P.O.S and Paper Tiger said beside the city’s diversity, it’s also the lack of domineering music labels that sets Minneapolis apart.
“It was an advantage not being pigeonholed [into a certain sound],” Samels said. “We were able to get influences from all over the world and put them together.”
On All Hands, both artists said their collaborative efforts have been bolstered by individual growth from each of the collective’s members. Samels said with time, the group’s members have strayed from the same musical page to embrace their individual voices, allowing them to give their latest album a new feel and aesthetic.
P.O.S likened its sound to “a vast ocean that’s like its own solid block, floating through space.” Their new album takes on a tumultuous, chaotic, but cohesive nature that P.O.S’s simile suggests.
Political themes play an important role in both the individual artists’ and the group’s motivations. P.O.S said when he looks at the news, it’s hard to say nothing. For better or worse, he said when he does not feel inspired by events in his environment, he simply doesn’t make songs.
For Paper Tiger, music serves as one of the only ways he can effectively cancel out the seemingly endless ignorance present in today’s world, he said.
Their upcoming performance won’t be the first in Madison — from their experience in the city, P.O.S, Paper Tiger and the rest of Doomtree have come to expect an enthusiastic crowd. Concert-goers should expect the same from Doomtree, who offer a performance fun, but conscious and political, and never too serious.
