Dessa of the Doomtree crew took some time out from her busy touring schedule to discuss the past, present and future of her career. From humble origins in the Minneapolis slam poetry scene to selling out shows alongside P.O.S. on the Every Never Is Now Tour, Dessa has emerged as one of the most diverse and talented artists in indie rap. When she’s not on the mic she finds time to write thought-provoking works of creative non-fiction and poetry and teaches a hip hop diploma program at McNally Smith. Also check out the video for “Dixon’s Girl” from her stellar full-length debut A Badly Broken Code at the end of our interview.

URB: Who were your influences when you first got into writing and performing?
DESSA: It was a writer of creative non-fiction named Dave Eggers, who was …