Twenty years ago, Rhymesayers Entertainment – one of my favorite record labels of all time – was birthed in Minneapolis, MN. To help celebrate the milestone, the crew will release a series of viral clips as part of their new documentary series, A Moment In Rhymesayers.
Rhymesayers was officially founded in 1995 – hard to believe how swiftly the years have flown by. However, celebrating our Twenty Year mark isn’t just meant to be a show & tell exhibition, or a way to say, “Look at what we did!” While the anniversary is certainly a feat we are proud of, we also wanted to tell the story of the friendships that have evolved, and the long-standing relationships that have been maintained over that time.
For instance, one thing you may not know is that many of the key players who started the label had already been friends, and worked together previously, as part of an infamous Twin Cities collective called Headshots. Additionally, many of the Rhymesayers staff members, as well as staff of the record store, Fifth Element, have been part of the team for a decade or more. And through those many years of bonding, expansion and perseverance, our foundation has only grown stronger.
Simply put, 2015 is about celebrating these relationships and stories, as well as giving our fan-base an unprecedented look at the label, from the inside out. 2015 presents an opportunity to see how the path we’ve walked has laid the framework for the extraordinary journey ahead of us.
In the first installment, co-founders Brent “Siddiq” Sayers (CEO, Rhymesayers Entertainment), Musab “Beyond” Saad, and Anthony “ANT” Davis & Sean “Slug” Daley of Atmosphere share the stories from The Beginning – whose seeds would eventually grow into Headshots!
On top of The Beginning, Rhymesayers also uploaded a few gems from the early days to their SoundCloud page. Peep Beyond’s “Cash Is Expensive” from Headshots Vol. 3 (1996) and Dynospectrum’s “Industrial Warfare” from Headshots Vol. 6 (1998) – both produced by ANT, of course.
Stay tuned for episode two, arriving February 4th.
