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Margret Wander (born May 23, 1981), better known by her
stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
Dessa, is an American singer, rapper, musician, writer, and former record executive. She is a member of the
indie hip hop Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...
collective
Doomtree Doomtree is an American hip hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. The collective is known for incorpora ...
.


Early life

Dessa was born to Robert Wander Jr. and Sylvia Burgos Toftness, and has a younger brother, Max. Her father is white and her mother Puerto Rican. Dessa went to Southwest High School in
Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, graduating from the
IB Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...
in 1999. She attended the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
, where she earned a B.A. in philosophy. Before becoming an artist full-time, she waited tables and worked as a technical writer for a medical manufacturer.


Career


Doomtree

Initially drawn to their raw aesthetics and unique sound, Dessa forged a friendship with
Doomtree Doomtree is an American hip hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. The collective is known for incorpora ...
. Soon after, she was asked to join the crew and did so. Between 2005 and 2019, Dessa toured with and appeared on all Doomtree albums, as well as on the other members' solo albums. She was the CEO of Doomtree; however, she relinquished that post to her label mate, Lazerbeak, to focus on her own career.


Solo career

Dessa's debut solo EP, '' False Hopes'', was released in 2005. Despite being only fifteen minutes long, it was listed as one of the top local albums of the year by ''
Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...
''. Dessa's first solo album, '' A Badly Broken Code'', was released on January 19, 2010. The album’s tracks "Dixon's Girl" and "The Chaconne” were released as singles. The album featured production from Paper Tiger, MK Larada, Lazerbeak, Cecil Otter and Big Jess. MK Larada also designed the album art. In 2011, Dessa released '' Castor, the Twin'', an album featuring new recordings and arrangements of songs released on previous projects, primarily ''A Badly Broken Code''. The original production in the reworked tracks was replaced with live instrumentation. In 2013, Dessa released her second full-length album ''Parts of Speech'' that made its debut in Billboard's Top 200. The singles from this album are "Warsaw" and "Call Off Your Ghost”. On February 23, 2018, Dessa released her third full-length album Chime, that made its debut in Billboard's Top 200, and at #3 on Billboard's Independent Charts. Chime was listed as one of
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
Music's 40 Favorite Albums of 2018 (so far). On March 26 and 28, 2019, she recorded concerts with the
Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...
; the collaboration led to a live album released in November 2019. On January 15, 2021, Dessa released "Rome”, the first title in her IDES Series. The IDES series is a project to release a new single on each 15th for the first half of 2021.


Writing works

At the fourth annual Doomtree Blowout in 2008, and via Doomtree Press, Dessa released ''Spiral Bound'' a seventy-page collection of fiction and poetry. Following that, in 2013, she released a book of poems called ''A Pound Of Steam'', in partnership with Rain Taxi. After having been scouted by the Francis Golden Literary Agency, in 2018 Dessa signed a book-publishing deal with
Dutton Penguin E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 1, ...
, which released her collection of creative non-fiction essays entitled ''My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love'' on September 18, 2018. The book is an uncompromising and candid account of her life in motion, in music, and in love, and was listed by NPR in their guide for 2018's Best Reads. Dessa's work has also been published in periodicals, including a 2009 poem in '' Ars Medica'' and a 2017 article about visiting
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
as a tourist in ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...
''.


Side projects and non-Doomtree collaborations

Dessa is a founding member of The Boy Sopranos, an almost all-female
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
group, with frequent collaborators
Jessy Greene Jessy Greene is an American violinist, cellist and vocalist. She is a former member of Geraldine Fibbers and the Jayhawks. Career A native of Sheffield in western Massachusetts, Greene started playing the violin at the age of four. During high ...
, Aby Wolf and others. She also taught at the Institute of Production and recording and the
McNally Smith College of Music McNally Smith College of Music was a private for-profit music school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Initially founded in 1984 as the Guitar Center of Minneapolis, it was renamed Musictech College and moved to St. Paul in 2001. The school was renamed a ...
. She was also a member of the indie super-group Gayngs founded by Ryan Olson (of
Poliça Poliça (often stylised in all caps) is an American pop band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 2011. The band consists of Channy Leaneagh (vocals, synth), Chris Bierden (bass), Drew Christopherson (drums) and Ben Ivascu (drums), with Ryan ...
fame), in 2010, along with 22 other musicians including
Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and Lead vocalist, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member o ...
. On March 2, 2012, Dessa presented "Mic Lines: Art, Ethics, and their Contested Connections" at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as part of the three-day Nobel Peace Prize Forum . Dessa was the host of
Twin Cities Public Television Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, trade name, doing business as Twin Cities PBS) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities' two PBS membe ...
's The Lowertown Line, a live music series, from 2012 to 2014. In 2012, she partnered with the "artisan cosmetic house" from Minnesota, Elixery, to create her own shade of lipstick, all of the proceeds of which were donated to
CARE (relief agency) CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, formerly Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) is a major international humanitarian agency delivering emergency relief and long-term international development projects. Founded i ...
. She was a contributing artist on the 2015 Saint Paul-based "Plume Project", a public art installment in which images and colors were projected onto steam rising from a smokestack in downtown Saint Paul and music and spoken-word pieces could be accessed by calling a phone number. Dessa read her poem "Circle Games". She had a flavor of
ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...
named after her on July 27, 2016, by Izzy's Ice Cream, "Dessa’s Existential Crunch". The same year, she contributed to ''
The Hamilton Mixtape ''The Hamilton Mixtape'' is a 2016 mixtape album featuring assorted (and deleted) songs from the 2015 Broadway musical ''Hamilton'' performed by various artists, including Common, Kelly Clarkson, Wiz Khalifa, Nas, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Dess ...
'' with her cover of the song "Congratulations.". Dessa collaborated with RockFilter Distillery in Spring Grove, MN, to release two bourbons, Dessa's Time and Distance and Dessa's Hand Shadow. Dessa has been involved with the popular fiction podcast
Welcome to Night Vale ''Welcome to Night Vale'' is an absurdist supernatural fiction podcast created by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. It is presented as a community radio show in the fictional American desert town of Night Vale, with the eccentric local radio ho ...
as both a contributing writer and musical guest. Her first appearance was on the "Weather" segment of Episode 27, "First Date," which featured Doomtree's "Team The Best Team." She was the musical guest for Welcome to Night Vale's second anniversary live show, performing "Call Off Your Ghost" for its weather segment. She appeared again as part of Doomtree for episode 61, "Briny Depths", which featured "The Bends" as its Weather; her single "Fire Drills" was the Weather for episode 122, "A Story of Love and Horror, Part 2: 'Spire.'" In 2017, she co-wrote and acted in episode 113, "Niecelet," lending her voice to the character Sabina.


Notable performances

In April 2017, she headlined a show with the
Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...
, which featured new arrangements of her songs as well as a story performed in prose. She followed that set of performances with another two sold-out performances in October 2018, this time premiering new material from her album ''Chime''. In December 2018, it was announced that Dessa would return for an additional two performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, on March 26 and 28, 2019; both performances were recorded to be released at a later date in collaboration with Doomtree Records. Dessa sang the National Anthem at the
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...
home opener on April 5, 2018. And on July 28, 2018, she sang the National Anthem at the 2018 WNBA All-star game held in Minneapolis. In August 2018, Dessa traveled with the Minnesota Orchestra as they went on a two-week, five-stop tour through
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, reportedly the first tour of an American orchestra to the country, and helped document the trip for
Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, KNOW-FM, News & Information, KSJN, YourClassical MPR and KCMP, The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper ...
alongside MPR journalist and cultural critic Euan Kerr. U.S. Senator
Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...
used Dessa's song "Bullpen" as her
campaign rally A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...
walk-on song during her 2020 run for the presidency.


''Deeply Human''

Dessa is the host of the
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
''Deeply Human''. The show explores questions about the inner self and takes a deep dive into the psychological, biological, and anthropological explanations of our common traits. Episodes are anchored in her experience discovering the details of her own thoughts and actions. ''Deeply Human'' launched in March 2021 and is a co-production of the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
,
American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...
, and
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
.


Discography


Solo studio albums


with Doomtree

*''
Doomtree Doomtree is an American hip hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. The collective is known for incorpora ...
'' (
Doomtree Doomtree is an American hip hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. The collective is known for incorpora ...
, 2008) *'' No Kings'' (Doomtree, 2011) *''
All Hands ''All Hands'' was a monthly published magazine of the United States Navy for its sailors. It had been published since August 1922 under different names; the current title was established in 1945. Its last issue was published in December 2011, al ...
'' (Doomtree, 2015)


EPs

*''Apple S Apple Z'' (2003) (with Medida) *''Medida'' (2004) (with Medida) * '' False Hopes'' (Doomtree, 2005) * ''Parts of Speech, Re-Edited'' (Doomtree, 2014) * ''Ides'' (Doomtree, 2021)


Live albums

* ''Sound the Bells'' (Doomtree, 2019) (with the
Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...
)


Singles

* "Matches to Paper Dolls ('Castor, the Twin' Mix)" (2013) * "Warsaw" (2013) * "Call Off Your Ghost" (2013) * "Quinine" (2016) * "Good Grief" (2017) * "Fire Drills" (2017) * "5 Out of 6" (2018) * "Grade School Games" (2019) * "Good For You" (2019) * "Tyranny" (2020) * "Rome" (2021) * "Who's Yellen Now?" (2021) * "Bombs Away" (2021) * "Life on Land" (2021) * "Terry Gross" (2021) * "Talking Business" (2021) * "I Already Like You" (2021) * "LYTP" (2021) * "Blush" (2022) * "Hurricane Party / Chopper" (2023) * "Decoy" (2023)


Guest appearances

*
Sims Sims, sims or SIMS may refer to: Games * ''The Sims'', a life simulation video game series ** ''The Sims'' (video game), the first installment, released in 2000 ** ''The Sims 2'', the second installment, released in 2004 ** ''The Sims 3'', the ...
– "No Homeowners" from ''
Lights Out Paris ''Lights Out Paris'' is the first studio album by American hip hop artist Sims, a member of Minneapolis indie hip hop collective Doomtree. It was released July 28, 2005 on Doomtree Records and includes guest appearances from P.O.S, Crescent M ...
'' (2005) * Kanser – "No D in Erogenous" from ''Kanser'' (2005) *
Paper Tiger "Paper tiger" is a calque of the Chinese phrase ''zhǐlǎohǔ'' ( zh, s=纸老虎, t=紙老虎). The term refers to something or someone that claims or appears to be powerful or threatening but is actually ineffectual and unable to withstand ch ...
– "Speedmetal" from ''False Hopes'' (2007) * Mel Gibson and the Pants – "Bit of a Buzz" from ''Sea vs. Shining Sea'' (2007) * Heiruspecs – "Change Is Coming" from '' Heiruspecs'' (2008) * P.O.S – "Low Light Low Life" from ''
Never Better ''Never Better'' is a British television sitcom which started on BBC Two from 10 January to 14 February 2008. It stars Stephen Mangan as recovering Alcoholism, alcoholic Keith Merchant and Kate Ashfield as his suffering wife Anita. The series is ...
'' (2008) * Paper Tiger – "Palace" and "And the Camera" from ''Made Like Us'' (2010) * Lazerbeak – "Bound" from ''Legend Recognize Legend'' (2010) * Gayngs – "No Sweat" "Faded High" from ''Relayted'' (2010) * p-teK – "This Bridge Is Burning for You" from ''Oh! What a Miracle!'' (2011) * Hamilton Mixtape – "Congratulations" from ''Hamilton Mixtape (2016)'' *
Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', and the soundtracks for the animated films '' Moana' ...
– "Almost Like Praying" – Benefit single for
Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...
Relief (2017) * Joey Van Phillips – "Broken Arrow" (with P.O.S.) from ''Punch Bowl'' (2017) * Cover version of
the Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...
' song "Balance" for I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats (2018) *
Sims Sims, sims or SIMS may refer to: Games * ''The Sims'', a life simulation video game series ** ''The Sims'' (video game), the first installment, released in 2000 ** ''The Sims 2'', the second installment, released in 2004 ** ''The Sims 3'', the ...
X Air Credits X Icetep – "Hologramme" from ''Artería Verité'' (2018)


Bibliography

* ''Spiral Bound'' (2009) * ''Sleeping with Nikki'' (2011) * ''Are You Handsome'' (2013) * ''A Pound of Steam'' (2013) * ''My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love'' (Dutton, 2018) ) * ''Tits on the Moon'' (2022)


References


External links

*
Dessa
on
Doomtree Doomtree is an American hip hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. The collective is known for incorpora ...
* *
Deeply Human podcast site
{{Authority control Doomtree members Alternative hip-hop musicians American women singers 21st-century American women rappers Underground rappers Midwest hip-hop musicians Living people 1981 births American hip-hop singers Songwriters from Minnesota American spoken word artists American musicians of Puerto Rican descent 21st-century American rappers Gayngs members Rappers from Minneapolis Hispanic and Latino American rappers