# Desdamona

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{{short description|American rapper}}

{{About|the singer|the ''Othello'' character|Desdemona}}

{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Desdamona
| image           = Desdamona.jpg
| image_size      =
| caption         = Desdamona performing in [Minneapolis, Minnesota](/source/Minneapolis%2C_Minnesota).
| birth_name      =
| birth_date      = 1973
| birth_place     = [Mount Pleasant, Iowa](/source/Mount_Pleasant%2C_Iowa), U.S.
| origin          = [Minneapolis](/source/Minneapolis), [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota), U.S.
| genre           = [Hip hop](/source/Hip_hop_music), [spoken word](/source/spoken_word)
| occupation      = [Rapper](/source/Rapping), [poet](/source/Spoken_word), [Teacher](/source/Teacher)
| years_active    = 1994–present
| associated_acts =
| Label           =
| website         = 
}}

'''Desdamona''' is a [hip-hop](/source/hip-hop) and [spoken word](/source/spoken_word) artist from [Minneapolis, Minnesota](/source/Minneapolis%2C_Minnesota), [United States](/source/United_States). She has won five [Minnesota Music Awards](/source/Minnesota_Music_Awards) for 'Best Spoken Word Artist' in the years 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 (the awards were not hosted in 2001 and 2002).<ref name="cd">{{cite web|title=Desdamona|url=http://cdbaby.com/cd/desdamonamusic|publisher=[CDBaby](/source/CDBaby)|year=2007|accessdate=2008-06-05}}</ref> For that reason, and her strong standing in the male-dominated hip-hop scene, she is considered to be the best female spoken word and hip-hop artist in the [Midwest](/source/Midwest).<ref name="cd" /><ref name="mpr">{{cite web|title=Desdamona: The back story on a B-girl|last=Roberts|first=Chris|date=2006-06-29|accessdate=2008-06-05|publisher=[The Current, KCMP Twin Cities](/source/KCMP)|url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/06/29/desdamonaprofile/}}</ref>

==Background==
Desdamona, her Emcee name, comes from [Desdemona](/source/Desdemona_(Othello)), the wife of [Othello](/source/Othello_(character)) in [William Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare)'s [tragedy](/source/tragedy) ''[Othello](/source/Othello)''.<ref name="mpr" /> She was born and went to school in Iowa. A childhood inspiration for her music, she said, was her father who would dress up as [Count Dracula](/source/Count_Dracula) and tell bedtime stories to her and also her grandmother who was a poet and artist.<ref name="cp">{{cite web|title=Lady Speaks the Blues|url=http://citypages.com/databank/26/1296/article13738.asp|last=Scholtes|first=Peter S|date=2005-10-05|accessdate=2008-06-05|publisher=[City Pages](/source/City_Pages)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220135014/http://citypages.com/databank/26/1296/article13738.asp|archive-date=2008-02-20|url-status=dead}}</ref> In college, Desdamona and her friends formed a band in which Desdamona was the [rapper](/source/rapper), inspired by the [R&B](/source/Rhythm_and_blues) group [TLC](/source/TLC_(band)).<ref name="mpr" /> The group performed around Waterloo, Iowa and had a few shows in Iowa City. When she moved to Minneapolis, she found an audience for her work. She began to go to [open mic](/source/Open_mike) nights to perform her poetry. In this way, she became known as a spoken word artist, which was not her original intention, but which, she says, "made me a better writer."<ref name="mpr" />

==Career==
thumb|100px|left|Ill Chemistry
Desdamona wrote and performed guest vocals on [Brother Ali](/source/Brother_Ali)'s ''Rites of Passage'' on the track titled "We Will Always B" in 2000.<ref name="cp" /> Her lines criticized male dominance of hip hop and [chauvinism](/source/chauvinism) in general.<ref name="cp" /> Desdamona's first official[CD](/source/Compact_disc), ''The Ledge'', came out on 5 June 2005 on the Zlink Entertainment Label.<ref name="amazon">{{cite web|title=The Ledge Desdamona (Artist)|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CAKGIO|accessdate=2008-06-05|publisher=[Amazon.com](/source/Amazon.com)}}</ref> It included twelve songs.<ref name="amazon" /> Prior to that she had independently released three projects (Alive @ First Ave, Resilence, A Prelude to the Real Thing. She frequently collaborates with [Twin Cities](/source/Minneapolis-Saint_Paul) [beatboxer](/source/Beatboxing) [Carnage the Executioner](/source/Carnage_the_Executioner), also known as Carnage.<ref name="cp" /> On Desdamona's second disc, ''The Source'', which came out 26 June 2007, the duo do the first track, "Infinity", together.<ref name="cd" /><ref name="amazontwo">{{cite web|title=The Source Desdamona (Artist)|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011Z690I|accessdate=2008-06-05|publisher=[Amazon.com](/source/Amazon.com)}}</ref> The two have formed a group called [Ill Chemistry](/source/Ill_Chemistry), which was noted as a rising hip hop group at the 2007 Minnesota Music Awards.<ref name="cd" /> Desdamona has noted that they're working on a collaboration on her [blog](/source/blog).<ref name="blog">{{cite web|title=princess of the poem: desdamona|date=2008-04-16|accessdate=2008-06-05|author=Desdamona|url=https://princessofthepoemdesdamona.blogspot.com/}}</ref>

Desdamona co-founded a female-based music festival, called B-Girl Be, which incorporates all the aspects of hip hop and spoken word; [emceeing](/source/Rapping), [break dance](/source/break_dance), [DJing](/source/Disc_jockey) and [graffiti](/source/graffiti).<ref name="cd" /> She also works with schools, teaching students, as well as in the [Stillwater](/source/Stillwater%2C_Minnesota) Prison program, ''In the Belly''.<ref name="cdb">{{cite web|url=http://cdbaby.com/cd/desdamona|title=Desdamona The Ledge|year=2007|publisher=[CDBaby](/source/CDBaby)|accessdate=2008-06-05}}</ref> In 2010, Desdamona was invited by Ursus Minor to collaborate on their third album. ''I will not take ''but'' for an answer'', now been touring with Ursus Minor along with [Boots Riley](/source/Boots_Riley) and ill chemistry since 2010. She is working on a new solo project titled "No Man's Land" that is a CD-book project and she is also collaborating with a French recording artist{{Who|date=March 2015}} for a project in 2015.

In September 2019, Desdamona appeared in the [Visual Collaborative](/source/Visual_Collaborative) electronic catalogue, in an issue themed ''Vivencias'' which translates to "Experiences" in Spanish. She was interviewed alongside 30 people from around the world that included [Kelli Ali](/source/Kelli_Ali), [Dakore Akande](/source/Dakore_Akande) and [Adelaide Damoah](/source/Adelaide_Damoah).<ref>{{cite news |title=Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Swaady Martin, others catalogued in Vicencias |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/08/dakore-egbuson-akande-swaady-martin-others-catalogued-in-olufekos-vicencias/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|accessdate=7 September 2019 |date=27 August 2019|newspaper=[Vanguard](/source/Vanguard_(Nigeria))}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Desdamona special feature interview on Visual Collaborative |url=https://www.visualcollaborative.com/desdamona |website=visualcollaborative.com |accessdate=7 September 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://thedesdamona.wordpress.com/ Official blog and website of Desdamona]

{{Authority control}}

Category:American spoken word artists
Category:Living people
Category:Rappers from Minneapolis
Category:21st-century American rappers
Category:1973 births
Category:21st-century American women rappers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Desdamona](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desdamona) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desdamona?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.