You Gotta See This From the Front Row

The days of summer are getting shorter. Soon the trees will decide to sleep and fall off into a deep slumber. As the deciduous trees yawn, so to do the South Moorhead Scratch Dungeon, only theirs is one of awakening.
After an eleven month absence from the stage, the innovative crew known for tag sets, break beats, scratching, battling, rapping, and hip hop artistry, are squinting their eyes in the autumn morning and scratching themselves, wondering how long they’ve been asleep.
Waking a crew is hard. There were a few attempts during the year but entropy continued its long march and policy of scorched earth. Many of the individual members are individual in the most basic sense of the word; they follow their heart and if it leads away from something that was once good, then so be it.

They all have continued producing, recording, and releasing music while waiting for that intangible right time, when the mythical stars would align themselves.

The South Moorhead Scratch Dungeon is a collection of diverse talents that runs the gamut of art. There are members who specialize in different styles of scratching and hip-hop, as well as graffiti artists, writers, connoisseurs of whiskey, cooks, kooks, gardeners, and general eccentrics.

Suddenly the skies cleared, the stars did align, and what seemed liked a near impossibility only a short while ago has now become as easy as taking the first breath of life. The South Moorhead Scratch Dungeon, with all their real life characters, is taking the stage.

“The South Moorhead Scratch Dungeon has had many changes throughout the years, but one things remains the same, we are true to what we love to do. [We] perform for people who appreciate seeing our form of hip hop in its rawest form,” Buck Nastee said.

“Everyone, if they’re getting pissed off, can go off and do their own thing, then they can come back, and that’s what family is, that’s what a crew is. It is family, an adoptive family. You have a definite choice if you want to affiliate yourself with these people for a long time,” Stupid Birthday said of the crew dynamics.

SMSD distinguish themselves from other crews with their breadth of talent. Male Enhancement Pill often composes on a Gameboy, Cheef is a drum and bass specialist, Stupid Birthday can spin any two records together and get them to time-up like he was reading a recipe, and Buck Nastee is battle DJ and producer. Hot Ribs, Johnny Appleseed, Robbie Showgun, and Ivory Dome are all rappers who specialize in free styling.
“We are artists who make music for ourselves, we push ourselves and we challenge each other. We do it to connect with one another. The lucky people are the ones who get to see this shit from the front row,” Buck Nastee said of their sound and live performances.

The sleeping Dungeon has awoken and whether they hold the whip or receive the lashes, they’re rubbing the gunk from their eyes, collecting their records and thoughts, and working their way up the Dungeon stairs, wondering how much time has passed and if there is any whiskey left over from the last time.

If You Go

What: South Moorhead Scratch Dungeon
Where: Plains Art Museum
When: Fri., Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Info: 701.235.1553, 232.3821