On May 9, Minneapolis-bred Dessa, of the hip-hop collective Doomtree, performed one of her final shows for the tour’s west coast leg in Los Angeles. Dessa released her fourth album, Chime, in February and is now en route to bring it to the masses. The evening at the El Rey was illuminated by her expected combination of hip-hop swagger and hipster nerdiness.
Dessa began her set with “Good Grief,” the first single off her new album. After continuing with “Matches to Paper Dolls,” she paused: “All right. Let’s do a little bit of housekeeping. I lost 14 cents worth of bobby pins.” The show could not go on without the pinning back of hair, so a generous fan gave up a few. Dessa called for the band to play “some bobby pin music,” to which she swiveled her hips around to while pinning hair to her head.
With the night’s first obstacle out of the way, Dessa could proceed: Let’s play some sad rap songs. She continued with “Jumprope,” and it wasn’t before long once again that she was chatting with the crowd. In particular, she called out a photographer, asking them if they were at the show for a publication and described the spectrum of actions she sees from her fans during shows: making out, crying, head banging. Dessa also made use of her opportunity and said, “I make funny faces when I rap, so can we stage one where I look cool?” She struck a handful of poses to the cheering crowd and then sang “Boy Crazy.” It would be a while before she chatted again, jamming straight through “Velodrome,” “Ride,” “Call Off Ghost,” and “Fire Drills.”
About halfway through the set, Dessa explained that “this is the time on tour where you’re real short on laundry.” She proceeded to tell a story about using the dry shampoo sample at the Walgreens across the street because there wasn’t any available for purchase. This served as a segue point into a poem that highlighted the pressures of being a woman. And despite the vulnerability and seriousness of it, Dessa still made bits of it funny: “The moon’s gravity is only one-sixth of ours. My tits would be awesome there.”
A highlight of the show came during “Seamstress.” As the song built, characterized by cascading drums, Dessa jumped down from the stage into the audience, who, instead of swarming her, formed a semicircle so that she could finish the song right in front of them. The intensity of the moment could only last for so long. Dessa said, “Rappers are like cats. They can get down from trees… Look at the bar!” Everyone obliged and Dessa had the privacy to struggle back up to the stage. “I did a backflip!” she joked.
When Dessa was getting to the end of her set, she knew it was time to show her gratitude and explained that she had the freedom to put out a record with ballads, pop tunes and hip-hop jams because they are not beholden to big money: “We borrow our money from you… so thank you.” When Dessa and her band came back for the encore, they played the anthemic “Fighting Fish.” “It’s always hanging there over, its own shadow in the dark. It’s own shadow in the dark,” she sang, snaking forward with the last beat. Dessa’s sunshine personality could only mask her truth so far.
Setlist
Good Grief
Matches to Paper Dolls
Jumprope
Boy Crazy
Velodrome
Ride
Call Off Ghost
Fire Drills
Dear Marie
Seamstress
Warsaw
The Chaconne
Dixon’s Girl
Half of You
Skeleton Key
5 out of 6
Encore
Fighting Fish
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