If an allegorical consideration of man's plight seems like unlikely subject matter for a typical hip-hop MC, that's probably because Dessa isn't one. Born Maggie Wander, Dessa picked up a degree in philosophy, joined the Minneapolis-based Doomtree rap collective and published a work of nonfiction — all before releasing her first full-length solo album in 2010. In "The Beekeeper," Dessa slows the tempo to a theatrical waltz and draws the curtains on an elaborate drama. Full of heart-pounding piano, swooning cello and mellow vocals, "The Beekeeper" takes an evocative approach to a weighty question: What are we really doing here?
Manipulating her cast of characters like so many marionettes, Dessa narrates the story in a cool monotone. Using decadent imagery, she voices an appeal for mankind, "the envy of Eden," who has lost his fire. We were created with such promise — "Made on the sixth day to rest on the seventh / and now we just try to survive" — but, really, we're all just worker bees. ("And in the shadow of the mountain / we work when work abounds.") In desperation, Prometheus, the Greek god famously punished for introducing fire to man, is entreated to rekindle humanity's spark of creativity.
Punctuated by howling cries and cavernous echoes, "The Beekeeper" is dark and bewitching, and yet Dessa's voice conveys compassion as well as mourning. As the curtain descends, we finally catch a glimpse of the narrator herself. The last note is a tremulous cry, a breaking point — an unfinished story.
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