The Current’s Music On-A-Stick Show at the Grandstand, Minnesota State Fair (August 23, 2025)

The Minnesota State Fair is one the largest in the United States, and as mentioned in the preview, there’s a lot of music there, including nightly events at the Grandstand Stage. Local independent radio station The Current hosted Music on a Stick with a long evening of hip hop music, headlined by local Atmosphere.

DJ Abilities (aka: Gregory Keltgen) was up first with turntables and synth. A Twin Cities producer and DJ, he first came to the alternative hip hop scene as part of Eyedea and Abilities. Part of the Rhymesayers Entertainment label, founded by the headliners, he has been involved in producing, guest appearances, and releasing his own DJ mixes. He went across a number of genres, with bits of Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze preceding a small clip form Eyedea. DJ Abilities was an energetic performer moving across his multiple set ups with flair. He used The Doors’ Riders on the Storm as a good base for an extended run of samples and DJ work. The required Prince checkbox clicked, he rolled through some 89’s and 90’s numbers.

The Pharcyde were a good transition from DJ to performers. Well known for their two influential 90’s albums (1992’s Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde and 1995’s Labcabincalifornia), the group still retains three of the four original members. With the three rappers and a DJ (DJ C Brown), they came out with a snippet of Afroman’s Because I Got High which set the mood for Pack the Pipe, which was well rapped but also with a good sense of humor. It was fun to see the energy on stage. Getting the crowd to sing the “aw… sh*t” repeatedly reminded that this was not a concert for the faint of heart or easily offended. Timelesswas a newer number and had a good musical base for lyrics and included some good on stage dancing from those members not actively rapping.

Rolling back to the first album with Ya Mama had the crowd near the stage fully going and the song highlighted that Pharcyde humor (“your mama got a peg leg with a kickstand”). The Pharcyde’s latter section kept moving with seamless transitions. A small bit of banter let the crowd know there was only one more song. Though it was an extremely short set, clocking in at just under thirty minutes, the extended Runnin’ was a good capstone for The Pharcyde as they left the stage.

Next up was Lupe Fiasco, a Chicago raised rapper, producer, entrepreneur, and educator. He has nine albums including 2024’s Samurai. Flying on stage with just a DJ in tow, Lupe Fiasco’s slightly higher toned rap took over. A fan of video games and skateboarding, kick/push let him dance across the stage. He mentioned that his most recent work was a bit of a concept album for the late Amy Winehouse, and launched into the title track Samurai with his DJ getting involved in some of the vocals. An extended thanks to The Pharcyde and their impact on where hip hop is today was a kind moment. Though not flying around the stage like The Pharcyde, Lupe Fiasco had some impressive stretches of quick hitting lyrics.

Getting a small water break “my vocals are parched”, Rhymesayers artist Nikki Jean came out to support Lupe Fiasco on a latter number, providing sung vocals on the chorus of Hip Hop Saved My Life. An amusing interaction with a fan on the front ended with him saying, “Sometimes I like engaging in random conversations”. Another high speed rap followed and included a great bit of breath control to rip through a particularly long part. Fundamentals brought on a new special guest, Billy Blue, whose deeper bass vocals were a good contrast to Lupe Fiasco and was the most driving number of the set. A shortened version of Touch the Sky was both fun to hear Lupe Fiasco, but also awkward considering the tarnished state of Kanye West in 2025. Superstar started with the crowd singing the opening chorus before Lupe Fiasco took over on the verse. Ending on The Show Goes On as a bit of an anthem number, it was a strong finish to his set.

Though not the headliner on this evening, Los Angeles based rap group Cypress Hill was a real highlight of the event for many in the audience. A true giant in the hip hop world, their 1993 album Black Sunday is one of the defining rap albums of all time. The quartet (two rappers, drums, and DJ) came out to raucous cheers and a fair amount of smoke from both the stage and the crowd (unsurprising, given Cypress Hill’s lyrical focus on marijuana).

B-Real hitting a blunt on the second song was perfectly on brand and his higher pitched, slightly nasal tone was countered perfectly by Sen Dog’s deeper, chest heavy bark. They went to work hitting on the vast majority of their hits and it was a delight to watch and listen to Cypress Hill perform. They had a good series of interactions with each other and the crowd, dividing the audience into “this side” and “that side” and getting them into friendly competition. Illusions was an excellent number from their under-appreciated third album III: Temples of Boom, with B-Real getting to nearly sing and an extended turntable set from their touring DJ, DJ Lord (original member DJ Muggs is still with the band, but doesn’t tour regularly).

A great bit had B-Real ask who in the crowd was seeing the band for the first time, and quickly spitting out a “Welcome to the party mother f’ers”, followed by asking who had seen Cypress Hill before and hitting with the hilariously predictable “Welcome back to the party mother f’ers”. Honestly, that combination of crude but fun is a pretty apt description of Cypress Hill’s on stage performance. As the sun set through their performance, the onstage lights started having a bigger impact. Dr. Greenthumbhad the band in full motion and B-Real at center of attention. A section with a major drum solo from Eric Bobo and turntables from DJ Lord gave the two rappers a bit of a breather off stage. Coming back, we had a section with some of the biggest early numbers, including a fantastic Insane in the Membraneand the chiller-paced I Wanna Get High. A late group of songs had a more hard rock/rap feel, including the longer (Rock) Superstar. Ending on a cover of House of Pain’s Jump (that initial version was produced by DJ Muggs) was a perfect send off of the great Latino rap group.

The headliner was local hip hop band Atmosphere with Slug (aka Sean Daley) rapping, Ant (Anthony Davis) on turntables, and a DJ whose name I never did catch (sorry!). They started with Okay, which was a perfect synopsis of the band. Slug’s calm but bright rapping, good beats and music underneath, and those lyrics being a weird mix of many of the negative things one can experience while always looking for the silver lining. While not doing a lot of moving around the stage, especially compared to earlier acts, Slug was very expressive with his upper body. Ant kept the music and turntables moving things along on the third song Shoulda Known. A good joke about the older crowd, “It’s good, I’m old too. We made it, that’s a feat!”, was a good bit of banter.

It was a calmer vibe to end the evening on, but Atmosphere clearly had a lot of fans there to hear the hits. GodLovesUgly got plenty of laughs and Slug had the crowd in his hands. Though I felt he was a little overly verbose between songs, it appeared that most of the crowd was happy with it. Sunshine was a hit with the crowd and was a stand out in the first half of the set. Slug said at the start of God’s Bathroom Floor that it was thirty years ago that day, that they let anyone outside of the band hear the song. As the end of the concert was approaching, Slug stated a special guest was there, and to the excitement of the crowd, Brother Ali came to stage for the last three numbers, which included a freestyle rap. As the State Fair’s nightly fireworks began even during Atmosphere’s last song, it had been a stellar hip hop event. Those fireworks were a great send off and all of the bands had earned a lot of love from the Minnesota Get Together.