Prof joins Rhymesayers as only Prof can do

In a decadent and grandiose fashion befitting the artist, Rhymesayers announced tonight its rather no-duh signing of Prof, the devilishly tongued south Minneapolis rapper who has brandished a mini-kingdom all on his own but has also already been in cahoots with his new label.

"I'm just trying to do what Macklemore would do," Prof joked in a mock press conference featured in a promo video to announce the signing. The video – which starts with Rhymesayers co-founder Slug taking Prof to town on his private plane – is too vulgar to post here. So is Prof's new single "The Reply," which Rhymesayers also dropped tonight to accompany the announcement. Prof also hosted a live Q&A via Ustream tonight, which isn't archived but probably was also too profane for our purposes.

The news caps off what was already a breakout year for the real-life Jacob Anderson, 29, who (in order): made in-roads nationally on the Road to Paid Dues Tour in the spring; sold out a two-nighter at First Avenue and made the cover of both the Star Tribune A&E sections and City Pages in April; marveled the crowd from one of the big stages at Rhymesayers' Soundset festival in May on literally an hour's notice (filling in for no-show Busta Rhymes); and then packed the Cabooze Plaza in September.

Some of Prof's earlier successes were also under the Rhymesayers umbrella, starting with the first Welcome to Minnesota Tour in 2000 and a subsequent national trek on Atmosphere's Family Values Tour.

Look for a new Prof record next year, which looks to be something of a reboot year for Rhymesayers. Slug's Atmosphere also has a new disc on deck, and the label also recently signed a fresh newcomer to its roster, St. Paul wiz kid Dem Atlas.