While the Twin Cities hip-hop scene is most notably represented by the indie label Rhymesayers, there are plenty of talented artists that are quickly making a name for themselves. From artist like Bobby Raps and Prof going on national tours, to up and comers like J Plaza and Why Khaliq who are playing to bigger and bigger crowds every month, the twin cities hip-hop scene as a collective is growing and I got to sit down with one of the standouts just before she embarked on the second leg of her tour with Atmosphere and deM atlas.

Isaac (UHH): This is the question I usually open up with everybody, just to give our readers an idea of some of the new artists that we bring to the page. I work with Upcoming Hip Hop, so if you want to tell everybody who you are and what you represent?

The Lioness: I am The Lioness from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I represent peace, solidarity, consciousness.

Isaac: The first thing I want to get into is, I did a little bit of research up on you and I wanted to get into what your church choir meant to you growing up as a kid?

The Lioness: It meant a lot, that was kind of the base of my music. It was like a collective, and then I branched off into just the individual musical.
Growing up I was always at church and while I never had much of a voice the musical aspect of church was something I always enjoyed because there was always a story being told in the Hymnals. While the Church has shaped part of Lioness’ life, there was much more to her childhood that molded her path.

Isaac: You grew up in the north side of Minneapolis, correct?

The Lioness: Yes.

Isaac: I have spoken with a handful of artists from the inner cities and in particular North Minneapolis and it seems that everyone notes that it can be easy for someone to slip up and take a bad path. How are you able to maintain a focus driven on living this peaceful life, living these very positive influential things that I feel come from your music, growing up in an area that doesn't always have the most positive look from the outside.

The Lioness: I stayed active as a kid. I was always doing something, whether it was basketball or I traveled a lot, even though we didn't have it like that, we made a way to move around. I had some really dope mentors, I'm the last of six so my brothers were already driving and moving around when I first started school, so they looked out for me. That's what kept me active, kept me going.

Isaac: Yeah, that's what I wanted to get into next. I had read that you came from a bigger family. There was four of us kids in my family, and I was the youngest of three boys and so you being the youngest, I know from my brothers I learned how to stick up for myself. We were a hockey household so from a young age we were always very rambunctious little kids, so from a young age I learned how to stand up for myself and that. What did you learn from being the youngest of your family and growing up in that type of environment?

The Lioness: I learned what not to do by their mistakes. That kept me fresh, like "I know that's going to get me in trouble", so just learning … Man, learned a lot from them.

We went on to talk about how easy it was to learn from the mistakes made from our brothers. While in different circumstances, we agreed that it only took a couple times seeing your siblings get chewed out to know we didn’t want any part of that.

Isaac: So now, getting a little more into your musical career, I know I first saw you, I believe opening for Doom Tree at the Palace Theater. I think that was the first time I saw you there and instantly I was like "I'm already a fan". So I know you started initially with the church choirs and everything and when did you initially move more into the hip-hop genre, and what drove you into hip-hop? Was there anything specifically about hip-hop that just was more of a calling, or it just felt right when you did it?

The Lioness: It felt right. I started off doing poetry. I was writing little poems and stuff, I was nine or ten. So, I've always wanted to do it, I recorded my first song when I was 14.

Isaac: Is that song out anywhere?

The Lioness: No, and it would never come out, do not even ask for it! But yeah, I was 14. I started doing open mics around 2009, 2010. I released my first mixtape in 2010. I graduated from McNally Smith in 2010, that was when I first put my stuff out because I would engineer for other people. I'm like "I rap too, I should do something for myself".

Growing up, I wasn’t exactly surrounded by music. It was on in the car, or at church, or in high school bands and choir, but it was never really a part of my life until I went to college, got high and made it an experience. I then realized I couldn’t live without it. For Lioness, music was prevalent from an early age and she continued to work her way up the local scene, but moving up in any career doesn’t come easy and it’s rarely done by yourself.

Isaac: So, when you made this transition over to doing this, was it pretty welcoming when you came into the scene? I've heard two sides of the story, it's either people were really welcomed in early or you kind of had to fight your way into it. For myself, it was very welcoming due to first meeting Dwynell Roland who continues to be one of the most genuine dudes I’ve met since moving here.

The Lioness: Yeah, definitely I had to earn my stripes, but I just demanded crowds listen, and not even in a way of telling them "listen to me", I would see a room that had three, four people and then next thing you know it was packed, people were sitting down and then they come up to the stage. So it was welcoming in that sense. Sometimes it would be difficult with the different things that go on as far as this being a male-dominated culture, hip-hop, and then being a female doing it. Everybody tries to say that you're good for a female and things like that. What are you really getting at?

Isaac: Yeah, I was going to touch on that a little bit later, but we can jump right into it because, in my opinion, some of the most talented artists in the city right now are women … I mean you have BdotCroc who is just incredibly talented, and not only talented but what she does for the community, and everything. And then Lexii Alijai, Destiny Roberts and yourself. How has it been for you having a lot of strong female artists in the cities, where, like you said, hip-hop tends to be this male-dominated thing. Have the female artists been very supportive of each other, or do you find it just as harsh or competitive as everything, that's-

The Lioness: Yeah, I mean it's friendly competition always, but it's not a competition though really for me, it's just I'll support them and I'm not going to go against them, you know what I'm saying? I want everybody to win, everybody can win, there's no point of going against anyone. So, no.
The importance of this last sentence is something I hope all the future artists read and then read again. Everybody, or at least those who truly try, can win and wasting your energy trying to stop another is just more energy taken away from your own craft.

Isaac: Right. I mean, if you're good, you're good and people are going to see that.

The Lioness:I see no point in trying to hate on somebody else. It's dumb, you know what I mean?

Isaac: Yep, just be undeniable.

The Lioness: I'll definitely share their music, especially if it's something I like, I'll let them know.

You don’t always have to be a cheerleader, you don’t have to blow smoke up anyone’s ass, but the simple act of supporting those you vibe with can go a long way in not only helping someone’s career, but also growing working relationships that can come full circle.

Isaac: The last thing I wanted to get into here was, you've spent the last couple of months on tour with Atmosphere and deM atlaS, DJ Keezy. I wanted to get into a little bit about how that was. Is this your first national tour then?

The Lioness: No, this is my second national tour, but the longest stretch.

Isaac: Okay, and how was that, being that Slug and Atmosphere, they're this iconic presence in the Twin Cities here, and what's it been like going on this tour with them and what have you learned from them, specifically?

The Lioness: First of all, it was incredible. It's not over yet, we've finished the first leg and we leave back out this week. They're very organized, which is great. Everybody plays their role, everybody is there for a reason.
He is very down to earth, like with his fans. He talks to his fans, he spends time with them, takes pictures, Ant too, [Plain Ole Bill] too. But that's why they get so much love, because they show it, so I respect them and I'm appreciative that they brought me out, you know what I'm saying? All these venues, I think the smallest show was probably 900 people or something like that, so to do that every single night and to have room for the people every night, that's just surreal in a way, but also, this is exactly what I want.
If you have followed the careers of Sean Daley and Anthony Davis, you know that Atmosphere has a very strong connection with their fans and the fans always reciprocate the feeling. While many fans have strong connections to their favorite artists, like Tech n9ne learned when travelling with ICP, not everyone cares for the opener.

Isaac: How have the fans been? Because I know when I talked to Tech N9ne, we did this interview with him, and one of the first tours he ever did was Insane Clown Posse, and he said every night he'd walk out there and the fans had their backs turned to him. I don't know if you know a bunch about the Juggalos, but they're Insane Clown Posse and Juggalos, and that's it.

The Lioness: That's what they came for, and [that’s it]

Isaac: Yeah, so what's it been like being on tour with Atmosphere, because he definitely has very passionate fans as well, so how was it with the reception to your music?

The Lioness: It's been good. Nobody had their backs … I seen one guy, he had his back turned, I was like "alright", but I try not to think about that, I'm doing it more to release what I have to get off for the night, you know what I'm saying, and being there by my spirit, I'm not doing it for the applause or the praise, that's not what I do it for. So, to get that as a bonus then it feels good, and to have people come up to me afterwards and say that they enjoyed it or purchase a CD or whatever, is all love, and I'm grateful for it, so great when they are receptive. Gained a lot of fans in this first leg, so I'm excited to see what we do when everything's done at the end of March.

Isaac: So, I guess the last thing I want to just end on was just talking about your positive message, and what your message behind your music is. Because I know you said in the beginning you represent peace, and love and unity, and these are things that I don't think are talked about as much. Even in conscious artists, in conscious music, you don't hear as much of the talks of peace and of love, and all these topics. So what drives that message for you? What keeps you able to stay focused on love especially in an environment currently between the President, politics in general, and just the hate-fueled divisive nature? What keeps you fueled to stay in your lane of this love, and this peace and positivity?

The Lioness: Love conquers all. That's it.

Isaac: That's true.

The Lioness: It's stronger than hate. That's all.

And that’s truly all. I have had some great interviews over the past couple years, but in all of them I hadn’t heard the message of peace and love so simply but beautifully put. From my immediate infatuation with her music when she opened for Doomtree to seeing her perform for thousands at Soundset and sharing an intimate stage at a cancer benefit; it is always a pleasure to catch up with one of the bright stars of the future in the Minneapolis.

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Catch The Lioness on tour