Minneapolis rap collective Doomtree has released a new video for the song, “Gray Duck.”
Minneapolis rap collective Doomtree has released a new video for the song, “Gray Duck,” off their newest LP, All Hands.
The video follows Doomtree as they ride around Minneapolis, blowing smoke out of their duck masks. The video periodically cuts to a security guard riding a Segway, and when the rappers finally meet the guard, a dance party ensues.
The song, according to rapper Dessa, is based off a kid’s game the rappers grew up playing in Minneapolis, called “Duck, Duck, Gray Duck,” a variation of “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Dessa explains that the kids, “…Grow up and find out that the rest of the country calls that same game ‘Duck, Duck, Goose.’ But by then it’s too late–we already learned it, dammit, and we’re gray ducks.”
Doomtree consists of rappers P.O.S., Dessa, Cecil Otter, Sims, and Mike Mictlan, and producers Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger. Doomtree formed gradually, with most of the members meeting in high school and deciding to record together. As Dessa explains to Faber,
“Doomtree is a rap crew, a record label, and a gang of friends that came up together making music in Minneapolis. Here we’re set apart from the major music industry trends that prevail on the coasts, so we’re free to follow our tastes into whatever territory they lead, making the game as we go.”
The collective has received critical acclaim over their first two albums, their self-titled debut and 2011’s No Kings. Time magazine put Doomtree on their list of “11 Bands You Should Know (But Probably Don’t)” in 2012, and also in 2012, the mayor of Minneapolis declared December 14th to be “Doomtree Day in the City of Minneapolis.”
Although all of the members of Doomtree follow solo careers, with Dessa veering away from music to publish a book of poems and short fiction on Doomtree’s publishing label, all the members come from their diverse backgrounds to make a distinct Doomtree sound. Dessa stated, “Our particular tastes have led us to make propulsive rap music, sometimes dark, but usually with a sense of humor too.”
Last weekend, Doomtree performed its final Doomtree Blowout, an event held in and showcasing the talent in Minneapolis. Although they ended Doomtree Blowout, the collective is as strong as ever, with their newest album All Hands out on January 27th, 2015.
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