NHCC Celebrates Black History Month in Lyrical Style

A Minneapolis-based hip hop artist was at North Hennepin Community College (NHCC) in Brooklyn Park this week talking Black history.

“We influenced the music, we influenced the fashion, we influenced the food,” said rapper and beatboxer Carnage the Executioner. “We influenced the fight. People know how to fight for their rights because of the blueprint that we put out there.”

Also known as Terrell X, the rapper has spent more than 30 years recording and performing music.

Fans of the local hip hop scene may recognize him from his collaborations with Twin Cities acts like Atmosphere and Eyedea and Abilities. But he’s also shared the stage with world-famous headliners including Cypress Hill, KRS-One, RZA, Method Man and Ludacris. 

Carnage the Executioner performs at North Hennepin Community College.

During his performances, he builds his music on the fly, performing as a one-man band.

He uses effects pedals more commonly seen in the world of guitar players to loop and create beats.

On Tuesday, Feb. 13, he took the stage at NHCC and gave students a lesson on beatboxing.

“I want them to come out with their own unique voice, their own inspiration to do what it is that feels good to them as a person,” he told CCX News. “When I’m teaching it, I don’t set out to have people sound like me. I want them to do their version of what they hear me do … I just want to say, ‘hey, this is how I did mine. How do you do yours?'”

The rapper teachers similar classes at elementary and high schools throughout the metro.

Brooklyn Park