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Playlist: Soundset alumni

Atmosphere performing at Soundset 2015
Atmosphere performing at Soundset 2015Bridget Bennett for MPR

by Colleen Cowie

May 22, 2019

For a number of years in the mid-2000s, Soundset was the largest hip-hop festival in the country. "That should go down in history books, because there's absolutely no reason that the largest hip-hop festival in the country should be in Minnesota," Rhymesayers Entertainment founder and president Siddiq told Andrea Swensson.

But there are plenty of reasons why Soundset couldn't have emerged from anywhere but the land of 10,000 lakes — one of them being Rhymesayers and its expansive roster of artists. Its first year, Soundset's lineup advertised over a dozen of the label's artists, like Dilated Peoples, Aesop Rock, Eyedea & Abilities, Psalm One, Brother Ali, and P.O.S just to name a few. Atmosphere headlined the festival for a ten-year stretch until 2017. When Rhymesayers founded Soundset, they didn't just create a hip-hop festival — they launched a platform to highlight Minnesota's musical talent and connect local artists with hip-hop legends from across the country.

As Soundset has grown, Rhymesayers' artists continue to shape the backbone of the festival. This year, Sa-Roc sits on the bill near Tierra Whack and Run the Jewels. deM atlaS is performing on the same stage as Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Wayne. To take a look back at the label's presence at the festival, we put together a playlist of Rhymesayers artists that have played at Soundset, from 2008 to now.

This playlist is a bonus feature of The Current Rewind, a brand-new podcast putting music's unsung stories on the map.