Tru Ruts presents See More Perspective’s ARCHITEXTUAL DESIGN

SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE moved back to the Twin Cities after an eight-year stint in Chicago as a youth organizer, hip hop artist and all-around troublemaker in 2007. Since then, he’s played the shadows of the TC hip hop scene, emerging here and there to perform with label-mate Guante at the Soundset Festival, produce and record tracks for some of the scene’s top artists, release an indie-pop Halloween album as one half of Strange Perspective, beatbox for KRS-ONE and take part in countless other traditional and not-so-traditional events.

He also worked on his debut full-length, ARCHITEXTUAL DESIGN, a sprawling, ambitious concept album featuring Chicago’s broad-shouldered swagger, St. Paul’s down-home realness and Minneapolis’ forward-thinking drive. Three years plus in the making, that album is set to be released on November 30th, on rising label Tru Ruts/Speakeasy Records’ Bandcamp page and in record stores after December 3rd.

Armed with a raspy, Lyrics Born-style drawl capable of both rapping and singing, a quick-witted positivity that never comes off as sugar-coated or phony, and an unapologetic earnestness that’s so rare in indie hip hop today, See More has created an album that quite literally sounds like nothing else out there. The album flows from heartbreaking storytelling tracks with real lyrical depth to party songs that celebrate hip hop’s roots to Gnarls Barkley-esque pop songs to wildly funky instrumentals to much more. Featuring Chicago rappers and Twin Cities spoken word artists, ARCHITEXTUAL DESIGN is always anchored by See More’s voice—in both the literal and literary sense of the word.

And it’s that voice that makes the album so special. See More Perspective is attempting to bring sincerity back. This isn’t ironic dance pop, tongue-in-cheek underground rap or faux-European synth music; this is a statement about culture as communication—not just the background noise of our lives, but the real foundation and structure on which we stand.

‘ARCHITEXTUAL DESIGN’ is available for download at Tru Ruts’ Bandcamp.

New Download: Pyramids (Ganzobean Remix)

November’s installment of ‘See More Perspective’s Boombox Emporium’, an eclectic, monthly free music series, presents a spectacular remix of a Chicago underground classic. ‘Pyramids’ interweaves loose cultural allegories of See More’s Mexican heritage and its relationship to African history while drawing parallels to ancient civilizations and modern day hip hop. The inspired, electro-funky remix, featuring an upgraded chorus and a new verse, delves deeper into these multicultural undertones and brings out the idea of how hip hop and its practitioners are building cultural monuments for the ages. Just the kind of casual, big picture yet party appropriate philosophy you can expect from SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE. Ganzobean has been busy producing tracks for local legend Musab, touring with the likes of Abstract Rude and just released a free EP dedicated to Jack White.

SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE’s First Impression

Featuring full hip hop songs, beatbox vignettes, remixes and one wild ride of an instrumental track, “First Impression” is emcee/producer/vocal percussionist SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE’s formal re-introduction to the Twin Cities musical landscape.

A St. Paul native, SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE returned to the Twin Cities in 2007 after a seven-year stint in Chicago. Mixing the lyrical density and attention to detail the Chi-town underground is famous for with the free-flowing boom-bap of the burgeoning Twin Cities scene, See More’s music is a product of both communities while sounding little like neither of them. Instead, the resulting hybrid sound is reminiscent of the late ‘90s West Coast indie scene, where acts like Blackalicious, Lyrics Born, Souls of Mischief and many more flourished.

Kicking off with the aptly-named title track, a lighthearted and effortlessly cool meditation on connection and community, the EP never loses speed. “What’s Up” is a Friday night houseparty, “Anchor’s Away” the late-night philosophical debate that follows. And where many rapper/producer’s instrumental tracks are self-indulgent throwaway songs, See More’s “Speak to You” is perhaps the highlight of this EP. An undulating mass of funk and soul grooves, this five-and-a-half minute journey into hip hop’s unconscious is dynamic, impressive and—most importantly—fun to listen to.

And more than anything that’s what SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE’s music is: refreshingly fun. Following in the Tru Ruts tradition, it’s free of pretension without being free of meaning; it’s intelligent hip hop you can dance to. If “First Impression” is any indication, the forthcoming re-release of See More’s Chicago underground classic “Architextual Design” should be a welcome breath of fresh air for indie hip hop fans nationwide.

The official release of ‘First Impression’ will be June 30th through rising indie label, Tru Ruts/Speakeasy Records. For more information or interviews, contact Shá Cage at press.truruts@gmail.com or info@truruts.com.