On the Wright Side of Hip-Hop
Headlining the next concert of the Northrop Summer Music Festival series is Minneapolis hip-hop artist Toki Wright. An un-compromising community activist and powerfully articulate lyricist, Toki’s awareness of the diverse world we live in translates through his content driven music. With an active presence in his native Twin Cities hip-hop scene, Toki utilizes his voice to educate and challenge as well as entertain by bringing insightful lyrics balanced by smooth, flowing beats to listeners.
Born and raised in a Buddhist household in Northeast Minneapolis, Toki experienced early on the diversity life has to offer through traveling around town and getting involved in the community. Now, his involvement in the community includes accolades of leading the nationally recognized youth organization “YO! The Movement,” working with war-affected children in Northern Uganda, and traveling this past May to Sierra Leone in West Africa to perform and discuss hip-hop’s positive impacts with their national government. Not often is there an artist who makes noise both on the microphone and as someone who gives back to the local and global community. Toki’s ambitions go even further with his additional role as the program coordinator for the first accredited hip-hop diploma program at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul.
Toki is also the first artist in the newly developed Rhymesayers Spotlight Series, aimed at bringing new emerging, independent artists to the masses. With a powerful stage presence and booming, crystal-clear cadence to his music, Toki creates rhythmic realizations for his audience and goes beyond the barriers of audience’s just listening, but also urging them to think about the messages of his rhymes. The Minneapolis rapper finds agency through hip-hop to freely express his thoughts on current times, believing that “hip-hop is a platform made to make it ok to make the established idea uncomfortable so we can get down to the root of our issues for the better.” The depth of storytelling in his music works as a straightforward narrative, but more importantly an allegory about the relationship between past, present, and future.
Toki will be the featured artist in the Northrop Summer Music Festival’s next outdoor evening concert on Friday, July 19th starting at 7:00pm. Don’t miss out on this free night of global hip-hop with Toki and opening acts Sarah White and DJ Don Cuco on the Northrop Plaza, as they fill the space with experimental, soulful beats. There will also be drink refreshments courtesy of Raising Cane’s and freeze pops provided by Northrop.
In the meantime, here’s the music video of Toki’s hit “Devil’s Advocate,” giving you a taste of what you will experience at the Friday concert!
#rockthemall13
