There's not a lot of crossover between hip-hop and postmodern novelists like David Foster Wallace, but Minneapolis MC Dessa found a connection: she's cited Wallace and Dave Eggers as favorite authors for the way they emphasize literary voice over theme and even meaning.

It's a practice that carries into her music on "Call Off Your Ghost," which Speakeasy premieres today. The song, from her forthcoming third album "Parts of Speech," draws from real life. Dessa wrote the tune after running into a former lover...