Hmong-American hip hop hits a vinyl milestone

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Vinyl is back... as in vinyl records. And there's a new release that collectors may want to check out.

With the help of a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, a Minnesota man recently released what appears to be the first vinyl record put out by a Hmong-American musician.

Fres Thao is a hip-hop artist and poet who lives in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. His new album is called Mind Full Of.

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Thao said he was drawn to vinyl partly because the medium plays such an important role in hip-hop history.

"When I first started music, I was torn between becoming a rapper/poet and becoming a DJ," Thao said. "I guess this is my way of just combining both of them."

That wasn't the only unorthodox choice for Thao. He also collaborated on the record with a collective of Hmong-American musicians calling themselves The Pupils of the Storm.

"You really have to have a connection, a chemistry with the musicians if you're planning on doing a full live band, versus rapping to a loop or CD," Thao said. "It's just not as dynamic."

Thao said much of the music created by younger Hmong-American rappers echoes traditional forms of storytelling in Hmong culture.

"Although there's a big generation gap, if you really look at a big picture, a lot of these young hip-hop MCs are pretty much doing what our elders are doing, just storytelling in a form of poetry to a certain pattern," Thao said.

In the fifteen years he's been involved in hip hop, Thao said his focus has shifted.

"I started off as an egotistical rapper, a hungry rapper is what they call it, it was always about competition," Thao said. "Now I'm at the point where I've learned to appreciate everything and become a lot more aware of what's happening around me."

Mind Full Of is available digitally online. If you want the vinyl version, Thao said it will be in local shops soon.