I’ve got a calendar full of red Xs indicating that the Cadence Hip Hop Series is almost upon us. This Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I’ll be hosting a run of pretty effing cool performances at the Guthrie Theater. On May 5th, Maria Isa and M.anifest will perform. On My 6th, it’s Sims and Toki Wright. On May 7th, Matthew Santos will perform (!) and I’ll headline with a new ensemble. Shane Hawley, my favorite Twin Cities spoken word poet, will perform all three evenings. For the record, that’s a Grammy nominee, a spoken word champion, and a bunch of highly decorated rappers. Here’s what the press has to say about the first performer of the line up:

M.ANIFEST
“What’s a rapper from Ghana who’s as smart as Talib Kweli and as funky as Kanye West doing in Minnesota? Who cares? As proven on his just plain entertaining debut CD, “Manifestations,” (No. 5 on our recent year-end Twin Cities Critics Tally), the 25-year-old African transplant is as at home laying old-school rhymes and Afrocentric grooves as he is at keeping up with the Joneses (as in Nas and Mike), and his songs are positive and thought-provoking.”

-Star Tribune

To get tickets for the show, snag your mom’s Visa and click here.

See you at the the-atah.

Dessa.