- "Khary Kimani Turner's writings have appeared in The Source, YSB, Vibe, XXL, Rap Pages, Blaze, Columbia House Music magazines, and The Detroit News, and he contributes regularly to Metro Times. -

Minneapolis is looking for a general, and Rob “Young General” Watson, 27, is ready to assume the position. But first, it’s important to know where he’s coming from. The Midwest town known for its multicultural composition contends with its fair share of misperceptions. As is often the case with Midwest metropolises, the widely accepted myth is that Minneapolis is little more than the home of Prince, the site of the most horrific bridge collapse in recent U.S. history, and a haven for jungle fever.

Little could be further from the truth. The reality is that Minneapolis is, as DJ Quik might say, just like Compton…Detroit…or Chicago. Like those cities, it’s got hoods, and the urban angst that is connected, part and parcel, to it. An underclass consisting of black, Latino and Asian youth is mired in gang activity and violent living that, on the north end alone, claimed the lives of seven youth during the first quarter of 2007. Bridges in those hoods, the kinds that link intelligent young people to opportunities, collapsed a long time ago.

Minneapolis hip-hop takes root here, in these hoods, as well as in the multicultural, well-to-do sections of town. And there is hunger, for opportunity and respect, on both sides. The talent pool is primarily underground, and Young General knows it well.

“You have to understand what’s valuable in Minneapolis,” Young says. “You have to have lyrical content. You have to understand what emceein’ is about. You have to understand what being in the executive’s seat is about. People don’t know how to rock a crowd anymore. Be open! Let people see you get into the music.”

Young General’s Message Music Movement operates under the belief that much of the country, and the world, want what the people of Minneapolis want, “lyrics that are saying something over beats that make you wanna listen,” he says. “I don’t call it conscious, but awake.”

Young General’s debut release, Best Kept Secret, is a masterful balance between non-preachy message music and street-ready hip-hop. The accompanying mixtape, Message Music Movement, Vol. 1, is more of the same. Both are produced primarily by Juice of Minneapolis based JDP productions. The emcee born and raised in Michigan moved to the Twin Cities as a teenager, left to go to school, and then returned in 2003. With a college degree in hand, and gainful employment under his belt, he’d escaped the pitfalls of his hood, but still hungered for hip-hop. He’d been introduced to the culture through his older brother, Perry “BlackMyst” Watson. Perry was the first of the two to get into rapping and breakdancing. Between big brother and BET, Young found the inspiration to build his own skills.

“I would go to Sam Goody and buy singles with the instrumental on them,” he says. “And I’d be recording on two tape decks, onto the blank tape, playing instrumentals and rappin’ into a microphone.”

He was a reader, and started thinking of fresh ways to phrase words. His first studio recording was a song called “Wanna Get Wit That.” It was a rough demo, but his friends were impressed. Their reaction turned something on, just as he was in the process of moving to Minneapolis in 2003. Once there, he hooked up Sean Frison and Mike Collins, two friends who also rhymed. Within a year, he got to be better than them. His progress got to the point where, every place he ventured, friends and rivals began to recognize that his skills were undeniable. Young and Perry formed a rap crew called Metamorphosis. They recorded an album, but never released it. Young says they hadn’t learned how to market a project.

He hit the gym, honing his skills by battling in spots like the Loring Pasta Bar, The Red Sea and Quest. His rep developed to the point that he became a known problem for emcees trying to come up in the same space. And now, after ducking into the lab to craft his formal announcement, he’s ready to become the leader of the troops.

Young recognizes the organization of crews like Minneapolis collective The Rhymesayers, whose leader Brother Ali has built an international underground following. He respects their organization, but says his personal swag is built more for mainstream fare, with underground appeal. With influences like Jay-Z, Andre 3000, Camp Lo and T.I., he is poised creatively to reach mainstream audiences without betraying his underground roots. He’s also used his full-time gig as a Marketing Manager for Medtronic to travel the world and build a marketing network for Best Kept Secret. Brother Perry is now his business partner, helping to run Let’s Get It Records Inc.  the machine that will push his music to a global audience.

You emcees are like excuses/ You all sound the same.
And most do the same. “I can judge how good an album was by how much I knew about the person after I listened to it,” Young says. “I’m not gonna tell you that I’m ridin’ anything other than a Jeep Cherokee with the tires scratched up. That’s me.”

Given his city’s musical legacy, it should come as no surprise that Young General is hell-bent on eschewing gimmickry so that he can be judged on his talent. Even with his albums done, he still spends an average of four days a week in the studio. Always writing, always recording, always preparing. When the battle for Minneapolis goes national, Young General will be in the middle of the fray, giving fans another taste of how the Midwest rocks.