Stories and art unite at Twin Cities Hip-Hop Day celebration
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Ryan Dillard is a respected DJ, graffiti writer, author and hip-hop activist. Within the Twin Cities hip-hop community, he’s known as DJ Stage One, or Stage.
He’s shared a stage with hip-hop artists in the Twin Cities for more than three decades, performing with national and local acts alike. For the past several years, he’s turned his attention to documenting the work of fellow artists and activists.
On a late Friday afternoon in early October, Dillard dropped in to visit Tim Wilson, the owner of St. Paul’s Urban Lights, a record store on University Avenue. The two men greeted one another warmly. It’s been almost ten years since Dillard last visited. The store itself is a monument to Twin Cities hip-hop history. The walls are festooned with music posters, record covers, and autographed photos of Wilson next to legendary national and local acts.
Dillard remembers first visiting the record store at the age of 15, the place where his own collection began.
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Wilson is one of many people Dillard honored this year at Twin Cities Hip-Hop Day.
Dillard has organized the annual event to recognize his peers and elicit from them the stories that make up their shared history. For him, it’s an opportunity to pause and reflect on hip-hop’s contribution to the region’s cultural identity.
"I think it's really important, especially today where we're just in this cookie cutter thing where we're onto the next thing all the time,” said Dillard. “We're not able to sit down long enough and smell the flowers or give the flowers.”
DJs, emcees, radio hosts and music journalists were among the more than forty honorees who accepted recognition at a ceremony held at the Minnesota History Center Sunday.
“I'm going to give the flowers until I can't. But I also want people to also believe in themselves and think, ‘You have a story.’ That's hip-hop,” Dillard said.
‘Representing the culture well’
Underneath the stone and granite of the Minnesota History Center’s vaulted atrium, honorees greeted one another with a handshake and heartfelt embrace.
A’nia-Nicole Rae, Minnesota History Center’s community engagement manager, said the event feels “like a family reunion.”
Rae, who has helped to coordinate the gathering for several years, was met with cheers as she welcomed guests to the third annual event on Sunday.
“You all look great. You’re representing the culture well.”
Rae also took a moment to honor Dillard for his work in gathering honorees. Rae says the history center isn’t taking ownership of the event but making space at a public institution for community leaders like Dillard to lead.
“I want to make clear that this is not possible if we did not have community leaders like DJ Stage One, who has been actively pushing our institution to make sure that this story is held,” Rae said.
Rae emphasized that the event is an occasion for critical dialogue.
“I think I'm sure there are folks, when they see Twin Cities Hip-Hop Day, they probably think we're having DJ music, that sort of celebration. But, what I appreciate with Stage is that it's not only that. It's presenting critical thought and theory, analyzing the culture, evaluating what people want to do moving forward,” Rae said.
As the recognition ceremony began, Dillard addressed the artists and creatives who assembled to receive recognition.
"I see a lot of people in this room who are very important. There’s a lot of people who aren’t in this room who are just as important. Community is important. History is important,” Dillard said.
One by one, Dillard introduced each honoree pausing every few minutes to encourage the room to praise one another.
‘We hand it off to the next’
Another one of this year’s honorees is Austin Owen, known as DJ AO.
Like Dillard, Owen’s journey started when he began collecting by joining a record pool as a teenager. He spent countless hours as a youth shopping at Cheapo Records and the DJ Music Emporium — the latter lives through his stories. Also, like Dillard, Owen has had mentors who have encouraged him and spaces that have welcomed him.
Today he's a DJ, an emcee and a music producer who travels throughout the Midwest to spin records.
Inside the latest iteration of Cheapo Records in Minneapolis, Owen browses through CD collections. The music industry has changed. And, like other DJs, Owen has changed along with it. He posts his music and playlists to a streaming service, but he laments that a site will sometimes clip or edit his playlists.
As one of the youngest Twin Cities hip-hop honorees, Owen finds himself reflecting on the changes to the culture brought about by technology.
“I’ve kind of been wanting to just go back to buying CDs and owning my own physical copy again. Plus, you're supporting the artist.”
He said it’s time-consuming but worth it. The commitment to artistic craft is also something he appreciates in his fellow artists.
“You got to really put yourself out there," Owen said. “There’s the contrast of who you are as an artist, right? You have your mysterious part of who you are and what you keep to yourself, but you still have to market and promote yourself. You are the business, right? Like, you are selling yourself."
In addition to supporting artists, he values sharing space with fellow artists.
“So that's all we can do as artists, right?” Owen said. “I know some artists can get jealous or feel some type of way. But we have our time, we have our moment, and then we hand it off to the next. That's the way the culture is supposed to go — I feel in any culture, but especially hip-hop.”
During the recognition ceremony, Dillard told Owen he’s a part of a living hip-hop tradition.
"You’re part of this thing here — you the future.”
The celebration was punctuated with the shutter of camera lenses as Dillard, Owen and honorees gathered on the steps of the Minnesota History Center for an annual photo to document the occasion.
