Like any good Minnesotan, when I venture back home I make it a point to head to all the usual old stomping grounds. The Turf Club in St. Paul has a rich history when it comes the Twin Cities music scene and I happened to venture to back on the right night. Astronautalis, (Andy Bothwell) rapper, accomplished freestyler and cat lover, this Jacksonville, FL native who now calls Seattle home was performing. Bothwell started freestyling when he was a preteen, and thank god he was afraid of girls and needed something to occupy his time because I can genuinely say that his rhymes and his tempo are of the same caliber as Atmosphere and Aesop Rock.
The Turf Club was half full as I wandered up to the bar to order a whiskey-ginger ($4, I love it here). Most people seemed to be crowding the bar area, and I had only hoped that by 9pm when Bothwell was to take the stage it would thicken up. It did, the placed filled about 3/4 full and to my delight sitting next to stage right was Stef Alexander, aka P.O.S, local hip hop genius and Doomtree family member. That is one of the great things about the hip hop scene in Minneapolis, it's a close family, and once you are involved even if you aren't a Minnesotan, you have support here. Hell, they don't call it, "Minnesota nice" for nothing. Sure it's wasn't an uncommon sighting, considering the two are best friends and are releasing an album, The Four Fists based on the work of F. Scott. Fitzgerald due out at the end of this year or early 2011.
Donning a black fedora, jacket and white button down Bothwell mingled through the crowd with ease before he took to the stage. But let's face it, it really doesn't matter what he wears (women would agree here, the less articles of clothing the better-i digress), but it's all about what comes out of this mouth. Before the show Andy joked with me, "I've got to go rap now. Maybe when I'm done you can rap and I can take notes." Little does Andy know that this Mexican/Russian Minnesota native has a sharp tongue and the wit to match. We'll schedule a battle for next time, just make sure my friend Jim Beam is invited.
As he took the stage he encouraged the crowd to move from the bar area and get close. So close that he wanted to be able to steal the contents of your pockets. Also he gave a PSA announcement, "I want you all to keep your windows open a crack. I am going to climb in and give you all a kiss on the cheek...and then I'm going to steal your X-BOX. You'll get a kiss on the cheek and a slap on the ass and I'll get an X-BOX.". Note to self: buy X-BOX. Standing upwards of 6 ft. this blonde haired, blue eyed Floridian has a voice equal to that of Tom Waits. He started his set with a pound thumping beat and rhymes that spouted out of his mouth as if he were a word geyser. I don't know how this man finds a beat to breathe, I surmise that is in part due to the care and time he puts into his writing. If you are familiar with the iambic pentameter you can follow his rhymes and you know exactly when he is breathing and on which beat. If you are not, it's almost magic that he is still standing after each speedy verse.
This man most certainly doesn't lack confidence when on stage. In between songs he would joke with the crowd. "You should quit your jobs and become a rap musician." "This is the part of the night I like to call the freestyle." Bothwell took suggestions from the audience his only terms were, "They have to be something no one has ever rapped about before, and something that wont get me arrested. I gotta be up tomorrow to buy cheap suits and get tattoos." The crowds suggestions were:
- Garbage Pail Kids (Muscular Molly to be particular)
- Ragtime
- Ford Pinto
- The Silk Road
- The Bar at the beach that used to brew their own root-beer in Florida (before they started buying that IBC..)
- Hard Salami
Freestyling over the beats of Outkast's Miss Jackson, he did everyone in the crown proud. Leaving no suggestion untouched, especially about the hard salami Bothwell's freestyling skills went mad. This man is a freestyle magic machine. "Sometimes you have to talk about hard salami." He said afterwards. Rapping about everything from eating doughnuts with 2 Pac to his grandfathers karmactic stroke, and now hard salami there is no word, or phrase that it too challenging for him. He even invented a new dance, "Do the hand sausage." -I guess you have to see it, but you all have imaginations. His shows have proven to be all about audience participation, engagement and making everyone happy. Every single ounce of his body is in involved with each performance. It's easy to see and understand just how much heart and love is placed into each intricately chosen word.
Eager to meet, greet and give praise fans lined up at the merch booth he was manning. He greeted every fan warmly, signing albums, shirts, and engaging in friendly conversation. "Dude that was some sick energy up there." , one fan spouted out. As the crowd subsided Andy and I spoke a bit more about music, and after a series of about 5 "Choose Your Own Adventure"-esque questions he helped me figure out a name for my new kitten, Sir David Attenborough. We decided to call him Sir, for short.
If you have the chance to see Astronautalis perform live, do it. If you live somewhere close to a town where he is playing, drive, take the mega bus, take a plane, find a winged unicorn. I don't care how you get there, (although I prefer you carpool, ride a bicycle, or use public transportation for nature's sake) you wont be disappointed. Bothwell channels his inner spirit animal, which seems to be a wild, yet smartly tamed beast. Everything you thought you knew about freestyling will change, you will have developed a crush and you will leave inspired. If you are disappointed, you are at the wrong show, and you are not doing the hand sausage dance properly.
As a nostalgic Minnesota native (living in OH) and avid fan of the MN scene, I really enjoyed this piece!!
Posted by: Mylynda | 10/27/2010 at 03:32 PM