About
GUANTE’S ACCOLADES:
~URB Magazine “Next 1000” for 2008
~2008 Independent Music Awards finalist for Best Hip Hop Album and Best Hip Hop Song
~One of City Pages’ “Artists of the Year” for 2008
~2006 Madison Grand Poetry Slam Champion
~2008 Minneapolis Grand Poetry Slam Champion
~2009 St. Paul Grand Poetry Slam Champion
~2009 National Poetry Slam Champion (St. Paul team)
~City Pages’ “Best Slam Poet” for 2009
~People’s Choice for “Best Slam Poet” and “Artist/Activist Award” at the 2009 Urban Griots Minnesota Spoken-Word Awards
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
~Soundset 2009 w/ Atmosphere, the Pharcyde, Freeway, Brother Ali and MF DOOM
~Ripple Effect 2008 w/ Rage Against the Machine, Michael Franti, dead prez and Anti-Flag
~Forward Music Fest 2008 w/ Neko Case and Killdozer
~Homegrown Hip Hop Fest 2007 w/ Brother Ali and Rhymefest
~Homegrown Hip Hop Fest 2008 w/ Kid Sister and Doomtree
~Iraq Veterans Against the War 2008 National Conference
~Manifestation 2009 w/ Sage Francis, B.Dolan, Building Better Bombs and Cecil Otter
~2009 B-Side Jazz Festival w/ Mr. Lif and Dessa
“An activist and rapper as well as an accomplished spoken-word artist, El Guante uses the slick hubris of hip hop to turn heads. But once he has the audience’s attention, he breaks and bends that attitude into lyrical knots, to illustrate forgotten characters like schoolchildren and janitors with astonishing tenderness. Many slam virgins hold a stereotype of slam poetry as angry hollering or overprivileged angst; no local poet can more quickly dispel those prejudices. Whether writing of lost causes or zombie apocalypses, El Guante demonstrates impeccable artistic control; in performance, he has the audience’s undivided attention.” –City Pages “Best Of” 2009, 4/21/09
“El Guante quietly rolled into the Twin Cities’ hip-hop and spoken-word scenes with a hand grenade, and pulled the pin. If you look anywhere in those scenes now, you’ll see his shrapnel buried deep in every wall…” –City Pages ‘Artists of the Year’ 12/23/08
“[EL GUANTE’S HAUNTED STUDIO APARTMENT] is a megaton bomb on local indie rap, bound to be the heaviest breath of fresh air hip hop heads will suck in all year…” –City Pages 3/24/08
“[EL GUANTE’S HAUNTED STUDIO APARTMENT] is an album that’s sure to put El Guante on the verge of national exposure…” –Isthmus 3/6/08
“Equal parts insightful and inciteful, [EL GUANTE’S HAUNTED STUDIO APARTMENT] is an inspiring declaration for those who love hip-hop’s potential for social change but hate how little that potential’s realized” –Twin Cities Daily Planet 4/9/08
“The new album proves expansively witty, El Guante keeping his snarled sense of humor even when harping on the finer points of art and hip hop…” –The Onion AV Club 3/5/08
“Shocking as it may be, somehow between writing plays, literature and poetry and organizing politics, this Minneapolis renaissance man still finds a way to hold down a rap career. Chock-full of biting political commentary, and with all due respect to Slug, this guy is attempting to carry the Twin Cities on his back….” –URB Magazine Next 1000 6/3/08
“Slamming his way through each beat, literally, is the slam-artist, and lyrical slaughter-house known as El Guante with his potent yet poetic new album…” –Rift Magazine 7/9/08
CLICK HERE TO BUY EL GUANTE’S HAUNTED STUDIO APARTMENT ON CDBABY. It’s also on ITunes.
AS AN EMCEE:
Obligatory “played with” list: Talib Kweli, Zion I, Brother Ali, P.O.S., Immortal Technique, Percee P, DJ Vadim, Mac Lethal, dead prez, Blue Scholars, PM Dawn, I Self Divine, B.Dolan, Kid Sister, One.Be.Lo, many others. I was selected as one of the 2008 URB Magazine “Next 1000,” and am a 2008 Finalist in the Independent Music Awards (best hip hop album and best hip hop song). Recently, I played Ripple Effect (the anti-RNC show in St. Paul) w/ Michael Franti, dead prez, Anti-Flag, Rage Against the Machine and many more, the Homegrown Hip Hop Fest 2007 w/ Brother Ali and Rhymefest, Homegrown Hip Hop Fest 2008 w/ Kid Sister and Doomtree, Forward Music Fest 2008 w/ Neko Case and Killdozer, the 2008 Iraq Veterans Against the War National Conference and many other shows. Aside from the higher profile shows, I’ve played everything from outdoor festivals to dirty house parties to coffeeshops to churches to to correctional facilities to hip hop dance parties to high schools to punk shows to poetry slams to conferences to political rallies and more.
AS A SPOKEN-WORD POET:
I’m the 2009 St. Paul Grand Poetry Slam Champion (our team also won the entire National Poetry Slam in 2009), the 2008 Minneapolis Grand Poetry Slam Champion and the 2006 Madison Grand Poetry Slam Champion. Alongside a few friends, I helped found the Talk Story Salon, a workshop/feedback space for Twin Cities artists. I released my first book, SHOTGUN SAMURAI VAMPIRE HIP HOP in 2007 and people seem to like it. I’ve competed in slams, hosted slams, featured at slams and open mics and led workshops across the Midwest and am currently working on a one-man show.
AS A WRITER AND ACTIVIST:
I’ve facilitated university-level courses dealing with racism, sexism, homophobia and identity in general, helped organize countless social justice-oriented conferences and events, written for and edited a number of publications and helped raise money for progressive organizations through benefit shows, compilation CDs and more. I spearheaded the successful “Hip Hop Against Homophobia” series in 2009. I’m currently most involved in performing arts workshops and programs for youth—I’ve worked in dozens of elementary, middle and high schools across the Midwest, doing both one-time guest lectures or longer residencies. I also freelance, and can currently be found at CultureBully.com and my own blog, “Why Is El Guante So Angry?. I’ve been published at DaveyD.com, Isthmus, The Liberator, Women in RedZine and many other publications.
EMAIL CONTACT: guantemail@yahoo.com
El Guante’s Sonicbids EPK
BOOKING INFO: For all bookings, collaborations, adding songs to compilations, getting me to lead workshops, all that kind of stuff, hit up the management: info@truruts.com | 612-288-9491 | TRU RUTS MYSPACE
