Rhymesayers Is An Indie Juggernaut. 20 Years Deep, Atmosphere Looks Back (Video)

Today, Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Rhymesayers Entertainment has not only become a tall-standing music beacon within the Twin Cities, the label has recruited notable outsiders such as MF DOOM, Freeway, Jake One, Aesop Rock, Abstract Rude and Blueprint for releases. These days, RSEā€”like Strange Music, Rostrum, or TDE, knows how to rock the charts. The group’s founding body, Atmosphere, as well as Brother Ali have become international Rap stars, while Doomtree’s P.O.S., Micranots and others have enjoyed their post in the fold.

2015 marks the 20th anniversary of Rhymesayers, a label that would orchestrate distributions deals with Warner Bros., Fat Beats, and Caroline in the years the followed. Slug and Ant (the 2000s and beyond faces of Atmosphere) join label CEO Brent “Siddiq” Sayers, and Urban Atmosphere (as they were first known) co-founder Beyond/Musab. Even without the group the same as they were on Overcast!, these Rhymesayers have remained tight, and challenged the industry from their hideaway.

It’s pretty cool that mid-’90s promotion of Black Moon shows (and other out of town acts) developed into Soundset, in no small way.

The Headshots crew looks back with delight, and they even unearthed a deep Dynospectrum cut (Slug, Beyond, I Self Divine, Swift), as a nice bonus for the ’90s Midwest underground heads:

Related: Atmosphere Release a Visually-Arresting New Video for January on Lake Street (Video)