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Created by members of Minneapolis rap supergroup Doomtree, Shredders is a propulsive side project consisting of rappers P.O.S. and Sims and producers Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger. The quartet formed in the summer of 2016 as a creative outlet to stay active in between Doomtree and solo efforts. With even more cross-genre influence than Doomtree proper -- think Run the Jewels' aggressive production blended with Major Lazer's dancefloor-friendly beats -- Shredders issued their self-titled EP in early 2017. The three-song set included "Ions" featuring Doomtree emcee Mike Mictlan. Later that year, Shredders' debut full-length arrived. Dangerous Jumps again featured Mictlan on "Style Boys" and "Heater Season," as well as singles "Xanthrax" and "Flipping Cars." ~ Neil Z. Yeung

Andrew Sims -- known simply as Sims -- is a Minnesota-based rapper and member of the alternative hip-hop outfit Doomtree. Raised in the Minneapolis suburb of Hopkins and the son of two musicians, Sims was musically inclined from an early age. By his teens he had gravitated toward hip-hop and begun recording his own music at the local home studio of rapper/producer P.O.S. In 2002, after graduating high school, Sims, along with P.O.S. and a group of like-minded rappers, formed the underground hip-hop collective Doomtree, releasing several albums including 2003's False Hopes XIV. Buoyed by the group's growing profile, Sims released his debut solo album, 2005's Lights Out Paris. He then returned with Bad Time Zoo in 2011. In 2014, Sims released his third full-length album, Field Notes, featuring the single "Uh Huh." More Than Ever arrived in 2016 and became Sims' highest charting effort to date, debuting on the Billboard Heatseekers and R&B/Hip-Hop charts at number 18 and 34, respectively. ~ Matt Collar

A self-taught bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, and drummer, P.O.S. (which stands for a variety of things, including Product of Society, Piece of Sh*t, and Promise of Skill) spent most of his childhood influenced by the energy of punk, drumming for Cadillac Blindside and singing and playing guitar for Building Better Bombs. At 14, however, he was introduced to hip-hop via Company Flow and Oddjobs, and began rapping for fun, performing at small venues around Minneapolis. In 2004, P.O.S. put out his first solo album, Ipecac Neat, with the label/collective (that he co-formed) Doomtree, whose studio was in the basement of the house that many of the members shared. Rhymesayers was so impressed with it that they immediately signed the rapper and re-released the record, as well as the successive P.O.S. releases Audition (2006) and the sprawling Never Better (2009). Filled with political rhymes and anarchist attitude, We Don't Even Live Here followed on the label in 2012. He retreated from the music scene for a few years after being sidelined by kidney issues (he received a transplant in 2014) and made his return in 2016 with the song "sleepdrone/superposition," which featured Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill, the Julie Ruin), Lizzo, Allan Kingdom, and his son, Hard_R. His fifth full-length, Chill, Dummy, arrived at the start of 2017. ~ Marisa Brown