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Artist Dessa on music, writing and her unique performance art

Dessa is a Minnesota-born singer, rapper, and writer and a member of a the Minneapolis-based hip-hop collective, DoomTree. A genre-defying performance artist, science advocate and intellectual, her writings have appeared in the New York Times and National geographic Traveler. Her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 Billboard hits. (courtesy photo)
Dessa is a Minnesota-born singer, rapper, and writer and a member of the Minneapolis-based hip-hop collective, DoomTree. A genre-defying performance artist, science advocate and intellectual, her writings have appeared in the New York Times and National Geographic Traveler. Her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 Billboard hits. (courtesy photo)

(This conversation was originally broadcast on November 16, 2022)

Tom's guest today is an artist who defies categorization and whose creative outlets span a number of genres. Dessa is a rapper, a composer, a poet, a writer, and the host of Deeply Human, a podcast about science. She has given TED talks and speeches about entrepreneurship and art and other topics. She’s the author of a memoir in essays called My Own DevicesHer latest book is a collection of poetry with a wild title, called Tits on the Moon.

On this archive edition of Midday, let’s listen to a conversation Tom had with Dessa in November when she was in town serving as an artist in residence at Johns Hopkins University, and giving a concert at the Ottobar in Baltimore.

Dessa joined us in Studio A.

Because this conversation was recorded earlier, we can't take any new listener questions or comments today.

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