I interviewed the CEO of Homi, Philip Xiao, ahead of this article and he told me, "Homi has always been about relationships. Momoh understood making stronghold relationships — we talked music and inspiration, and he told me that he derived it from his experience, the people he meets and conversations. I asked him if he rapped about anything other than the streets, North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park area, and he said, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' so I took him into the tech scene."

A couple weeks back, on a cool Wednesday evening, I deviated from my daily routine — go home, eat something, write something, watch GOT (I'm late to the hype) and call it a day. I was invited by my friend, Phil Xiao (more on him later), to check out Momoh's listening for his upcoming album with Black Bag Entertainment. If Momoh doesn't sound like a household name, lemme paint you a picture of the Minnesota rapper on the come up: he's big, black, 'bout 7 feet tall (he's closer to 6'7") — in other words, Momoh's a hard man to miss.

Phil and Momoh first met in Uptown, at a Korean BBQ spot called Hoban (it's a dope spot!) through some mutual friends. Afterwards, they both ended up at the same party. While at the function, Momoh started rapping as Phil was making his rounds introducing himself to folks (typical Phil). Momoh caught Phil's attention, and Phil asked him about the song, to which Momoh replied, "It's my song." Promptly, Phil invited Momoh to Homi's office in downtown Minneapolis, where they had a meal and talked about life and music.

Homi (short for Humans of My Institution) isn't your ordinary start-up; it is a corporation run by recent college graduates whose mission is to assist colleges in fostering stronger relationships between enrolled students and alumni. To do that, Homi developed an app that allows college students to ask alumni questions and request advice.

Phil explains that with Momoh's help — through his music — Homi could attract diverse communities to connect and interact with Homi, while allowing Momoh to grow his listening base. Soon, Phil and Momoh could be seen together playing tennis at Lifetime, attending Timberwolves games in VIP Suites, and even attending industry conferences.

"[Momoh] went to a Virtual Reality conference and he broke the global high score on unreleased virtual game," Phil says. "Everything he saw in our world he brought into his world and music."

Bringing on Momoh was an easy although risky decision, but Phil and Homi knew Momoh's potential and wanted to build a partnership with the Minneapolis native.

Some would say partnering with a little-known rapper like Momoh makes zero sense, but in other ways it was a brilliant move for both parties. As a start-up run by a young team of businessmen, marketing executives and computer-science engineers, Homi had many hurdles to overcome before emerging into one of the most anticipated start-ups in the Twin Cities.

The same could be said of Momoh. As an independent artist, the talent was always there, but the vision that is ever so important for budding artists needed new sites to set its eyes upon, so when Phil and his team approached Momoh, everything just clicked. Both Homi and Momoh embodied the underdog — together they aim to rise above everything and make everyone acknowledge their presence.

On that Wednesday evening, they did just that. Together with Black Bag Entertainment (Momoh's label), they booked the downtown Minneapolis club, Privé, for the evening, and invited some of the most influential movers of Hip-Hop for Black Bag Entertainment's Listening party. The event featured their main artists, Momoh and LA and it was a star-studded party, hosted by the owner of Privé, Tayo, and DJ'd by Go95's lead man, Mr. Peter Parker.

When I say it was a star-studded affair, I ain't playing. Some local phenoms — J Plaza, Bobby Raps and KenSoul — were in the building to show Black Bag Entertainment some love. As teasers of the album resounded across the room, accompanied by snippets from Black Bag Entertainment music videos (oh yeah, they had a music video with Rick Ross; no big deal), more than a hundred people — artists, journalists, businessmen, and fans of Hip Hop — filed into Privé. Guests ordered drinks and mingled, anxiously waiting to hear what all the hype was about.

Spoiler alert: it wasn't just hype.

The president of Black Bag Entertainment, LA, invited the crowd to the front of stage and explained the purpose of the event. "We got to represent Minnesota the right way," he said. I can attest that they did just that. As soon as LA passed the mic, there was no turning back: Momoh and Co. shut down the whole venue. Hit after hit after hit, I let loose and started Milly rocking halfway through, it was so live. The album, a collaboration of Black Bag Entertainment artists, features established artists like Rick Ross, Yo Gotti, Nipsey Hustle.

The whole damn album was FUEGO, the event was live, the vibe was right and Momoh and Homi were at the heart of it all. As Momoh and Co. did their thing on the mic, you could spot Homi's Phil Xiao, surrounded by an entourage, getting hyphy on stage. It was a night to remember, and one more reason to get excited if you're a fan of hip-hop in the Twin Cities.

The album is expected to debut later this month. Once I know more, I'll keep you posted.
Till then, stay wavy.

Much love, Jeff.

Jeffrey Bissoy-Mattis is a researcher at APM Reports. He's a Twin Cities native by way of Yaoundé, Cameroon. When he's not in the zone researching, you can find him binge-watching Master of None, perfecting Spanish, or working on his podcast, Maintainin', which debuts this summer. Follow him on Twitter @JefeThaNomad.

Resources

Momoh (Soundcloud)

Homi - corporate website