Minneapolis Hip-Hop Collective Doomtree Drops New Single "Five Alive"
Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree have officially released "Five Alive," their first single in five years, out everywhere now. Along with the release of "Five Alive," the group has announced two performances in Minneapolis, at First Avenue and The Palace on May 1st and 2nd, respectively.
Doomtree started as a mess of friends in Minneapolis in the year 2000, fooling around after school, trying to make music without reading the manual. The group had varied tastes—rap, punk, indie rock, pop—so the music they made together often bore the trademark of several styles. When they had enough songs, they booked some shows. They made friends with the dudes at Kinkos to print up flyers. They burned some CDs to sell. The shows got bigger. By necessity, Doomtree's seven members (Cecil Otter, Dessa, Lazerbeak, Mike Mictlan, P.O.S, Paper Tiger, and Sims) figured out how to run a small business. Lazerbeak's garage became the merchandise warehouse; P.O.S' mom's basement became the webstore.
Two decades, a zillion tours, and over 100 releases later, the crew and its label have cemented their status as indie-rap forefathers—and after taking the last several years off from crew touring and recording to focus heavily on solo projects, all seven members return in 2020 with “Five Alive,” the first full collaborative song from the gang since 2015’s cirtically-acclaimed album All Hands.
Right from the first few seconds of “Five Alive,” you can tell by the snarling distortion and booming 808’s that producers Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger have found new and bustling energy in recent Doomtree rap-party offshoot Shredders, layering the song with synth stabs, polyrhythmic percussion, and crushing bass. Meanwhile, vocalists P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Dessa, and Cecil Otter each take turns attacking the beat in their own unique and varied ways, showing off what has always made full-crew Doomtree tracks so intriguing: the ability to seamlessly juggle seven completely different approaches, ideas, and personalities into one cohesive three-and-a-half minute banger.
To coincide with the release of "Five Alive," Doomtree has announced their first all-crew shows of the year, taking over their beloved Twin Cities hometown for two nights of music both new and old. The weekend is a nod to their long-running annual Blowout series, which found the group packing in seven sold-out shows in seven straight days in the city's most legendary venues.. After spending years rocking stages all over the world from Lollapalooza and Coachella to Glastonbury and Roskilde, and sharing stages with the likes of Lizzo, Run The Jewels, De La Soul, and Tune-Yards, Doomtree is ready to bring it back home and reignite what the Village Voice calls, "One of the most talented and dedicated rap groups working today."
Listen to “Five Alive” right now, stream the single on your preferred music service and connect with Doomtree on their website and social media.