Dance music is mindless, monotonous, electronic garbage that leads teenagers to abandoned warehouses where they pop happy pills, have unprotected sex, and worship a pagan god called Disc Jockey. Indie Rock is a leather bracelet, a cool used T-shirt/mesh baseball cap and the StrokesVinesHives hopped up on emotional problems enhanced by happy hour. Hip-hop is a Jah Rule guest appearance, a beat by the Neptunes and a Sean John jersey stained with Hennesey and cum—and if I subscribed to any of those popular misconceptions, I would probably be working for a successful record label instead of being poor and attempting to disseminate some truth (oh snap)! But honest writing doesn’t always have to be a product of negativity and blame, so before I beat the “most-pop-music-is-a narrow-minded, genre-creating capitalist-machine” horse to death, I’d like to explore a musical world where all the horses are still alive.

The world I speak of contains sadness, beauty, infinite shades of gray, and was independent before being independent was cool. The world I speak of is a place where a black emcee like Ernie Rhodes can hang his mic beside a pair of Abercrombie and Fitch blue jeans without getting %@!#$& from the bling bling hip-hop set. In fact, as long as Rhodes, who is locally based, keeps writing honest, passionate lyrics over beats that are tight as a fist, he can live in this magical world I speak of as long as he wants without ever having to trip over that horrible dead horse. I recently sat down to speak with Rhodes, who is just beginning to shine in the Duece Cities. We talked about beats, rhymes, life, and why Ernie Rhodes just might be the black Harry Potter.

PULSE: Can you recite the first rhyme you ever wrote?

Rhodes: To be honest with you, I started writing stuff when I was like 11 and it all sounded like L.L. Cool J so all I really remember is that I used to bite his style pretty hard.

PULSE: You grew up in Illinois, correct?

Rhodes: I was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois.

PULSE: Was there a hip-hop scene in Springfield?

Rhodes: None at all. The first time I heard a hip-hop track I was six or seven and my brother brought home a vinyl copy of Rapper’s Delight.

PULSE: What brought you to Minnesota?

Rhodes: I moved to Minneapolis in ’98 for two reasons: One, to pursue some hip-hop music and two, just to get out of a small town in Illinois.

PULSE: How did you initially get involved with hip-hop in Minneapolis?

Rhodes: When I first got to Minneapolis I focused on my writing and beats. Finally in late ’99 and early 2000 I started checking out shows and in 2001 I started performing at open mics and then booked my first show at the Red Sea.

PULSE: Has living in Minneapolis influenced your sound?

Rhodes: I definitely think so. I’ve been spending the past few years listening to local cats that I never would have heard in Springfield. Crews like Interlock and Heiruspecs.

PULSE: While listening to your solo debut, This Journey, My Mission, I noticed you employ a very simple rhyme technique much like that of early Tribe and De La Soul. Are you paying homage to the Native Tongues movement or is this a style you’ve just fallen in to.

Rhodes: I think it’s just my style. Technically, my flow tends to be simple whereas my subject matter strays a bit from the norm. I’ve tried before to get more abstract and complex with my flow but that’s just not my thing. I like to give the people something new and different but I also don’t want to step out of my own arena and %@!#$& up.

PULSE: Your album has a very diverse production style bouncing from jazz to sitar samples to old school breaks. How important was it for you to utilize guest producers?

Rhodes: It was important simply because I like to rhyme over different beats. I was really blessed that so many producers were available and wanted to help me out.

PULSE: On This Journey, My Mission you reveal the fact that your dad was an attorney, that you hold a psych degree and that you wear Abercrombie and Fitch jeans. Sounds more like a character from Dawson’s Creek then a hip-hop head. Do you catch slack from other emcees for not fitting into a more stereotypically defined hip-hop role?

Rhodes: Very little. I used to a lot when I first started but part of that is because I was hanging with the wrong people. In Illinois cats would pass mad judgment but I’ve always felt that hip-hop is hip-hop and I’m not going to apologize for being a black man raised upper-middle class.

PULSE: What’s with the multitude of pop culture references on the album?

Rhodes: I think everyone can relate to pop references. It unites listeners when I call myself the “black Harry Potter, magic on the mic” or use a Simpson’s reference even if you don’t agree that I’m the black Harry Potter.

PULSE: Oh but I do. So what’s next for Ernie Rhodes?

Rhodes: My big focus now is performing out of town more. I’m also currently working on a lot of new material. Some of it will go towards my second solo album and some of it will go towards a Dialogue Elevators project (Dialogue Elevators is a small crew Ernie formed with local emcee Geofferywatson MC and DJ Dirk Digs). Overall though, I think it’s just important to keep writing, pursuing and growing.