All Fargo Is a Member

We are rap geeks, [and] all of Fargo is a member of the MeAndYouCrew,” said Kip G of Fargo’s MeAndYouCrew. The hip hop group, which is comprised of North Dakota native Kipp G and Chicago natives Jem P and Scissor Fist, are playing this Friday with Wisconsin natives, The Crest, and South Dakota natives, Truth and Adapt.

Kipp G, a man with more energy and bounce than an atomic reactor, grew up listening to heavy metal and soul, and says the Smiths in particular were a major influence. He began rapping in the fifth grade and a short time later began playing with turntables.

“When I lived in Bismarck, I’d pay $30-$40 a month to help support this flop house where we [friends] constantly freestyled on the constantly available turntables,” he said.
He started doing break beats over old soul records and that, along with a desire for an education, led him to MSUM where he won three straight battles, free style rap contests. He met fellow Crew member Jem P, at one of these battles.
A native of Chicago, Jem P was competing in a battle when Kipp G caught his performance and connected with his rhymes. “He was flipping weird syllable patterns,” Kipp said of Jem’s performance. Jem P lost the battle but Kipp felt his rhymes were better and soon they cemented themselves as the MeAndYouCrew. Jem P began rapping in Chicago and has released a solo album titled, “Hello Fellow.”

DJ Scissor Fist, is also a native of Chicago and he’ll be moving to Fargo this summer. He is a musician who can play most instruments. He records instruments to use in samples for Jem P and Kipp G. “Our shows are a 50/50 mix of prerecorded live music and synthetic beats,” Kipp G said.
“We are deeply based in aesthetics of rapping words; creating patterns, rhythms, melodies, cadences,” Kipp G said. When the MeAndYouCrew create, they sometimes do it as a band, like when they were touring last year and listened to nothing but Broken Social Scene and created beats and sounds while watching the gray highway swim beneath their wheels, or they do it separately, bringing ideas to the other two and letting creativity have its way.
The MeAndYouCrew have the number one myspace home page for any band in North Dakota, a commendable feat for a hip-hop group hailing from a predominately square state.
“We’ve toured all over the Midwest: Wisconsin, Montana, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Chicago,” Kipp G said. Kipp G enjoys touring the Midwest because among hip-hop acts in the Midwest, there is a brotherly connection that fosters creativity and friendship. Local artists often invite other acts into their towns and act as promoters for themselves and the visiting crews.

Songs and album information are available on their website. Their three albums, “Let it Bleed,” “I hate Jem P,” and “A sound as violent as silence can be,” are available at Orange Records.

If You Go

WHAT: MeAndYouCrew
WHERE: Aquarium
WHEN: Sat, Apr 19; 6:30 (all ages) & 10pm (21+ID)
HOW MUCH: $5
INFO: (701) 235-5913