Album: No Kings by Doomtree (2011)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Record Label: Doomtree Records
Format: Album

Description: No Kings is the second all-crew release from the Doomtree collective, the prolific pack of Minnesota musicians known for their explosive live shows, their ferociously DIY ethic, and their blatant disregard for the conventions of their genre.

All seven members of Doomtree have built solo careers as rappers, producers, or DJs. (Roster cheat sheet: P.O.S, Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter, Mike Mictlan, Lazerbeak, Paper Tiger.) Individually these artists receive press from outlets like The New York Times, NPR, Spin, Rolling Stone, and The Utne Reader. When they take the stage together, they’re an unstoppable storm of knuckle tattoos, fedoras, high-tops, and sensible flats—they’re funny together, desperately serious together, and their loyalty to one another is evident to everyone who’s seen a show.

Doomtree has a well-earned reputation for aggressive, innovative production that spans genre and era—borrowing from punk, classical, obscure rock, experimental, and foreign styles. Even for Doomtree, this new project is bold. If No Kings were a movie, it would be a cross between The Lost Boys and Tron. Or maybe a Quentin Tarantino take of Lean on Me: youth and innocence with a surreal and futuristic, pulp twist. Lyrically, the record rejects the youth culture of fashion magazines, and replaces it with stories and images that might be better set at an anarchists’ summer camp: escapades in subversion and free thinking. Contagious synth lines spike and dive, layers of percussion create a constant forward motion, infectious melodies loop on horns and distorted guitars, sub-bass hits your chest, then your gut, then the residents of the apartment below you.

Ultimately the title, No Kings, is a call for both rebellion and respect—obey no monarchs, seek no thrones. There are 808s in Neverland. There are no kings in Minneapolis. And Doomtree continues their ascent the same way they began: one city, one club, one show at a time.

Doomtree toured extensively in support of the album—with a grueling North American routing, a SXSW showcase, and select UK & European dates and festival appearances.

Artist Background: Doomtree is an indie hip hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: rappers P.O.S, Dessa, Cecil Otter, Sims and Mike Mictlan, and producers Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger. The collective is known for incorporating a wide range of musical influences into their work with lyrical complexity and wordplay, and their annual "Doomtree Blowout" events held in Minneapolis venues to showcase their group performances and the Twin Cities music scene. His... Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Hip-Hop movement.

Music Scene: Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Hip-Hop movement.

Tags: Hip-Hop, 2010s, Album, Doomtree Records

Additional Context: Rating score: 8. Based on 2 votes. Available on Discogs marketplace


No Kings is the second all-crew release from the Doomtree collective, the prolific pack of Minnesota musicians known for their explosive live shows, their ferociously DIY ethic, and their blatant disregard for the conventions of their genre.

All seven members of Doomtree have built solo careers as rappers, producers, or DJs. (Roster cheat sheet: P.O.S, Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter, Mike Mictlan, Lazerbeak, Paper Tiger.) Individually these artists receive press from outlets like The New York Times, NPR, Spin, Rolling Stone, and The Utne Reader. When they take the stage together, they’re an unstoppable storm of knuckle tattoos, fedoras, high-tops, and sensible flats—they’re funny together, desperately serious together, and their loyalty to one another is evident to everyone who’s seen a show.

Doomtree has a well-earned reputation for aggressive, innovative production that spans genre and era—borrowing from punk, classical, obscure rock, experimental, and foreign styles. Even for Doomtree, this new project is bold. If No Kings were a movie, it would be a cross between The Lost Boys and Tron. Or maybe a Quentin Tarantino take of Lean on Me: youth and innocence with a surreal and futuristic, pulp twist. Lyrically, the record rejects the youth culture of fashion magazines, and replaces it with stories and images that might be better set at an anarchists’ summer camp: escapades in subversion and free thinking. Contagious synth lines spike and dive, layers of percussion create a constant forward motion, infectious melodies loop on horns and distorted guitars, sub-bass hits your chest, then your gut, then the residents of the apartment below you.

Ultimately the title, No Kings, is a call for both rebellion and respect—obey no monarchs, seek no thrones. There are 808s in Neverland. There are no kings in Minneapolis. And Doomtree continues their ascent the same way they began: one city, one club, one show at a time.

Doomtree toured extensively in support of the album—with a grueling North American routing, a SXSW showcase, and select UK & European dates and festival appearances.

No Kings

Doomtree

Track List

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