Dessa

Dessa is an American rapper, singer, essayist and poet from Minneapolis, best known as a core member of the independent hip hop collective Doomtree. Her work moves fluidly between genres, blending rap, pop songwriting, and orchestral and choral arrangements, and she has described her own sound as resisting easy categorization.

As a solo artist she built a devoted following through albums and songs such as «Fighting Fish», «Congratulations» and «5 out of 6», pairing sharp, literary lyricism with melodic hooks and often somber, introspective production. Her ambitious range extends beyond hip hop: she has recorded a live album with the Minnesota Orchestra, reimagining her songs with full orchestral backing, a rare crossover for an artist rooted in independent rap.

Beyond music, Dessa is known for her writing and public speaking, including a widely watched TED talk and her memoir-in-essays My Own Devices, which explores questions of love, neuroscience and identity. Songs like «Fire Drills» and «Call Off Your Ghost» reflect her interest in feminist themes and self-examination, and her body of work — spanning the Doomtree collective, solo albums, essays and orchestral collaborations — has made her one of the more distinctive and hard-to-classify voices in contemporary American hip hop and songwriting.