Carbon Sound caught up with Chiiild before his concert at 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis on Sunday, April 2. Watch the full interview here. 

Video edited and produced by Erik Stromstad 

Carbon Sound caught up with Chiiild before his concert at 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis on Sunday, April 2. Watch the full interview here.


Liam Armstrong for MPR

Chiiild talks "Bon Voyage," Creativity, Inspiration, and more with Carbon Sound

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Awa Mally

Larry June delivered luxury raps to a packed house in Minneapolis.


Awa Mally for MPR

Photos: Larry June touches down in Minneapolis

Fashion and Hip-Hop have always inspired each other. Some of the greatest moments in fashion history have been created by hip-hop stars, and some of the greatest moments in hip-hop history have been accompanied by great fashion. The 90s are seen as a renaissance for this symbiosis, with lasting influence for decades to come. 

This is something that Natalie Morrow, the founder and CEO of Black Fashion Week in the Twin Cities, recognizes and wants to bring to life in this year’s Hip-Hop Fashion Show. Starting off as a concert promoter in the 90s, Morrow has witnessed some of the greatest moments in fashion and hip-hop history here in the Twin Cities. She was booking shows at legendary Minneapolis clubs like South Beach and the Red Sea for acts like Method Man and Redman - she even booked DMX at First Avenue, her first sold-out show. 

“I started off in Hip-Hop,” said Morrow. “The 90s era was when I became a young concert promoter, I was 19 or 20. I would bring in people like DMX, who became a good friend of mine. He helped me with Jay Z, Nelly, Mos Def – I’ve done all of them. So, my background is hip-hop and hip-hop shows,” explained Morrow. “90s hip-hop, to me, is the best era of hip-hop, it was amazing. It just brought back happy memories of great music and a great time in my life and a lot of others too.” 

Morrow’s close relationship with the Minneapolis hip-hop community during her time as a promoter brings us to this year's theme for the show, the 90s.

Before the Hip-Hop Fashion Show got its name, it was the “Hollywood Fashion Show.” It was initially a part of the Black Film Festival, which Morrow also runs. Eventually, they expanded it to Black Fashion Week and introduced the Hip-Hop Fashion Show. “Our very first year, we sold out every event. And we just keep doing it,” said Morrow. 

“Black Fashion Week is a platform for creatives of color. We really want to be able to have a space to showcase their talents and arts and projects that they are working on,” said Morrow. Black Fashion Week is a week-long event running from May 5th until May 13th, with the Hip-Hop Fashion Show on May 12th. In Black Fashion Week’s 16 years thus far, it has showcased big names such as Diddy with his Sean John Couture line and Adidas for last year’s show. However, Black Fashion Week’s main focus is showcasing the talent of designers in Minnesota. 

The show features the top six designers that are making a splash in Minnesota each year, “We pick those people that really worked hard and are pushing themselves to reach their goals,” said Morrow. This year’s show will feature 

 , and Grave ClothN. Their designs will hit the runway in style at the W Hotel in Foshay Tower.

The Hip-Hop Fashion Show will also feature live performances. You can expect performances from local legends Truth Maze and Muja Messiah. “Truth Maze was definitely one of the biggest names back then, and Muja Messiah. Then our DJ is DJ Huh?What? We are so excited because he’s one of the best hip-hop DJs here,” raved Morrow. The show is all Minneapolis from head to toe, literally.

The rich culture showcased at the show draws big names outside of Minnesota like this year’s sponsor Puma, who will have a stylist create looks for the runway. “I’m really curious to see what Puma is going to send up there, I’m excited to see Puma’s salute to that era,” said Morrow. 

If you want to witness the greatness of hip-hop and fashion in the 90s showcased during Minnesota’s Black Fashion Week, get your tickets while you can! Morrow recommends you get your tickets early so you can have the chance to experience a night at the Foshay full of fashion, music, and community. 

The 50 Years of Hip-Hop Tribute Fashion Show will take place on Friday, May 12 at W Minneapolis. 

Joely Kelzer

The 50 Years of Hip-Hop Fashion Show will celebrate the role of music and fashion in Black culture.


Natalie Morrow's Black Fashion Week Celebrates 50 Years of Hip-Hop

Each week, we add new music, older tracks, which are known as “Gold adds”, and tracks that might not fit our general format, but still deserve a place in rotation because they serve our mission of showing the depth, breadth, and influence of Black musical expression - These are known as “Variety adds.”

. If you make music and want it considered for rotation, 

 If you want to give feedback directly, reach out to me at jgreen@mpr.org.

Tune in to hear our host Sanni B. live on The Message from 10 AM to 1 PM Monday through Thursday!

Keep all these tracks in one place with the 

 Spotify playlist. This playlist is updated weekly with all the new adds. When that playlist is cycled with new tracks, the tracks live forever on the 

 playlist. That playlist contains all of the music that we've added since the week of July 11 in chronological order of when it was added. All of the tracks available on Spotify, at least.

Julian Green built and manages the music library for Carbon Sound and oversees content creation.  


Julian Green

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the weeks of May 8, 2023.


Image for New on Carbon Sound Spotify playlist

Natalia Toledo

New on Carbon Sound

Old on Carbon Sound

New Music on Carbon Sound - Week May 8, 2023

Carbon Sound caught up with Femi Koleoso, band leader of Ezra Collective, before his concert at The Dakota in Minneapolis on Friday, March 31. Watch the full interview here and listen to his DJ set on Carbon Sound on Saturday, May 6 at 12 PM. 

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more.

Carbon Sound caught up with Femi Koleoso, band leader of Ezra Collective, before his concert at The Dakota in Minneapolis on Friday, March 31.


Carbon Sound

Femi Koleoso (Ezra Collective) talks Gorillaz, Faith, DJing, and more with Carbon Sound

Femi Koleoso of Ezra Collective talks Gorillaz, Faith, DJing, and more with Carbon Sound

 live for the first time was an experience. Decked out in sunglasses and diamond hoops, the local rapper strode out with little preamble to a packed 

 in January. At the time unfamiliar with his work, I watched with fascination as groovy, bass-laden cuts “Warrior” and “Settle Up” brought down the house, Shahid himself navigating the stage with singular cool. Unbeknownst to us all, this was Shahid’s first time performing with a live band, and he’s been on a roll since, dropping his new single 

 as well as playing stints all over, including at 

Despite this recent rise, Shahid (pronounced “shy-heed”) kept things humble during our phone interview, preferring to dissect his influences: “Music was literally the only way to calm me down [as a kid]. To put me to sleep, my dad would take me out on car rides. Out on the whip, listening to Scarface, Ice Cube, Jay-Z. My mom would sing me to sleep… songs from Donell Jones. Boyz II Men.” 

Having grown up around music, Shahid initially turned to songwriting and poetry as more of a cathartic exercise. After high school graduation, a friend asked Shahid to feature on a track, and Shahid realized he “was investing a lot in studio time. This was my first time creating, and it was all new, being able to both express myself and release it all on the mic. It was amazing. I fell in love with it all. Producing, editing, doing it myself.” From then on, the rest was history.

A self-professed alternative hip-hop artist, Shahid’s work dabbles with a vast array of sounds, be it jazz, psychedelia, or R&B. Though Shahid cites the greats Kendrick Lamar and Outkast as inspiration, much of his work recalls the best of 

 or the frank delivery of Vince Staples’ 

 play around with distorted, vaporwave-esque synths. Deep cut “Broken Dreams” interpolates jazz chords and faint woodwinds, lyrics cutting: “Community the ones that hold it down for their people / Fuck a tax bracket, after death we all legal.” 

Throughout our interview, Shahid was remarkably transparent about the recording process, going in depth about vocal effects and demo-making. There’s unseen, painstaking work in sifting through beats, arranging studio sessions, and setting up mixing and mastering. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. I get tunnel vision, sometimes I’ll be up until 4 AM recording, just doing all these takes, trying to get things right.” 

“He’s a self-starter for sure,” frequent collaborator and friend Connor Anderson shared over the phone. “The vision is always clear in his head. He’s always refining, he’s always strategic.” 

Performing, on the other hand, is less methodical. Shahid has a host of unorthodox shows under his belt, including performing on top of a frozen lake as part of the 

“It was sub-zero out, but it’s okay, they had heated areas!” he reassured me. “It’s weird for me because I’m not super outgoing, I’m not an extrovert… I started out with lots of garage shows, open mics. Now I feel super comfortable, like I’m at a place where I kind of blackout onstage, then snap back to reality when I’m off.” He laughed.

Outside of music, Shahid juggles a host of ongoing projects, including clothing line 

, which includes minimal, athleisure-type fits. An unintentional creation, Shahid revealed he started the line only after people began asking him where he got his merch samples. “It’s just another creative side to me. I want to create comfortable, high quality designs. Nothing too flashy, but it makes you feel nice.”

In the future, Shahid plans to get behind the camera. Having co-directed past music videos with friend Connor Anderson, including “Knock Knock” and “Come Home,” Shahid plans to delve into short film making. What else is next? “More shows! I’m planning on releasing an album sometime late this year or early next year. I will for sure release ‘Warrior’ as a single. And for sure continuing to join in on jam sessions.”

“If somebody doesn’t know RZ, they will definitely be hearing of him soon,” Anderson shared before ending our call. “He is definitely deserving of his flowers. He’s putting in the work. It’s time for him to take off.”

Fatima Rahman

A self-professed alternative hip-hop artist, Minneapolis-based rapper RZ Shahid’s work dabbles with a vast array of sounds, be it jazz, psychedelia, or R&B.


Man in blue beanie and black vest poses 9

Get to Know RZ Shahid

 to talk about what it was like to be an older member in the crowd of tweens and their parents at Yeat's concert at The Armory in Minneapolis on Saturday, April 15.

Liam Armstrong

Carbon Sound linked up with Kelvino of WaterWaveTV to talk about what it was like to be an older member in the crowd of tweens and their parents at Yeat's concert.


going to the yeat concert as a 24 year old

Minneapolis-based artist XINA visited Carbon Sound's studio for an interview and live performance of three tracks. Watch the full video above and visit our YouTube channel for videos of her performances of “Lullaby by Whitenoise,” “Runnin,” and “Emotion.”

Background Visuals: Rhianna Hajduch and XINA

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more!

Watch Minneapolis-based artist XINA do an interview and live session in the lab with Carbon Sound


XINA in The Lab with Carbon Sound

XINA - "Lullaby by Whitenoise" (in The Lab with Carbon Sound)

XINA - "Runnin" (in The Lab with Carbon Sound)

XINA - "Emotion" (in The Lab with Carbon Sound)

View Awa Mally’s photos from redveil’s sold-out show in St. Paul


Photos: redveil brings fire to St. Paul

The fairytale theme, costumes, and each performer made the night one to remember. A wish come true.


Stories

Chiiild talks "Bon Voyage," Creativity, Inspiration, and more with Carbon Sound

Photos: Larry June touches down in Minneapolis

Natalie Morrow's Black Fashion Week Celebrates 50 Years of Hip-Hop

Get the Carbon Sound app

New Music on Carbon Sound - Week May 8, 2023

Femi Koleoso of Ezra Collective talks Gorillaz, Faith, DJing, and more with Carbon Sound

Get to Know RZ Shahid

going to the yeat concert as a 24 year old

Connect with Carbon Sound

XINA in The Lab with Carbon Sound

Photos: redveil brings fire to St. Paul

Review: Once Upon A Time at Ratchet St Entry was a Fairytale

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