Spanning genres and disciplines, Dessa’s style is defined by tenderness, ferocity, candor, and wit. As a musician, she’s co-composed for large choirs and crowd-surfed at rock clubs. Also, she recorded a live album with the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra and contributed a track to the Number One album The Hamilton Mixtape. Her TED Talk, which recounts her science experiment on how to fall out of love, has notched more than 5 million views. She’s written for The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler. Additionally, she hosted two seasons of a podcast for the BBC. Also, she’s published several poetry books and literary collections including the memoir-in-essays My Own Devices.

Dessa’s musical career began in earnest when she was asked to join Minneapolis’ Doomtree collective. Here, the hip-hop crew is known for bold production, charismatic lyricists, and explosive live shows. Then, she started touring hard as a solo act after her 2010 release A Badly Broken Code. Since then, she’s released five more full-length albums, working across sounds and styles. Meanwhile, she keeps her razor-sharp writing front and center.