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Native American Hip Hop is hip hop culture practiced by people of (often urban) Native American heritage, including Canadian First Nation hip hop artists. It is not a specific form of hip hop but varies in style along the lines of hip hop in general. Native Americans have been present in hip hop culture since its inception as breakdancers, DJs, rappers, and graffiti artists. The Native American contribution to hip hop can occasionally be veiled by the ethnic umbrella term of Hispanic or Latino, terms that may refer to Native Americans in certain contexts.
Hip hop has grown in popularity not only in urban settings but also in reservations since it has become ubiquitous on television and radio. Political activism and its expression in art have been of great influence due too many social issues present in indigenous communities. Artists such as John Trudell (with his spoken word poetry) and Russell Means (with what he calls his rap-ajo music) [1] have been some of influences with their artistic endeavors.
Melle Mel, the first rapper to ever use the epithet MC, is Cherokee and Ernie Paniccioli, a photographer of hip hop culture who grew up in Brooklyn, is Cree. [2] Funkdoobiest, Solé, [3] and Litefoot [4] (winner of the Native American Music Award), are also well-known Native American hip hop artists. Wu-Tang affiliate King Just is also Native American and the Ol' Dirty Bastard also claimed to be of Native American descent. [5] Flavor Unit member Apache has also been assumed to be Native American, though a reliable source has yet to be found. In the past, the majority of Native American hip hop was to be found in the underground scene, rarely gaining exposure beyond regional hits. However, artists such as Drezus, Frank Waln, Supaman, DJ oTTo and Red Eagle are just a few newer artists that have gained substantial popularity in recent years. [6] [7]
Some Indigenous artists worry that their blend of traditional music with their own may be seen as disrespectful to their ancestors. However, many elders and hip hop listeners are able to appreciate the mixture, as it can bring multiple generations together through music. [8]
Hatchet Warrior , the second album by Native American hip hop artist Anybody Killa, [9] was released in 2003, and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart, #42 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and #98 on the Billboard 200. [10]
The organization Beat Nation is a Canadian not-for-profit Indigenous hip hop collective with the goal of giving public space to Indigenous artists and their listeners. It is run through a website and exhibits which aim to share Beat Nation's work and music, as well as give space for Indigenous hip hop culture to operate. [11]
Rapper Young Kidd from Winnipeg, Manitoba is of Jamaican and Aboriginal heritage, and two of the trio group, Winnipeg's Most, are Aboriginal - Jon C and Brooklyn. Winnipeg's Most have won several Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards. Both Young Kidd and Winnipeg's Most have achieved high levels of local success in Winnipeg.
Florida rapper Denzel Curry, a pioneer of the Cloud Rap and Soundcloud Rap scene, is of Bahamian and Native American heritage.
The first URL dedicated to Native hip hop in the north was Redhiphop.com, [12] which was started in December of 1999. It was unlike other existing online databases in that it was a standalone site with its own domain name. The site had individual artist sections and playable and downloadable MP3s. Unlike the Native Hip Hop Geocities page, this site had working contracts with artists involved - it was started by Manik out of the Redwire Magazine office. At that time there was already a Geocities page which served as the first online database. After Redhiphop.com, the Geocities page followed suit and bought its own URL - NativeHiphop.net.
Stretching back as early as October 17, 2000, [13] one of the main websites promoting Native hip hop performers has been NativeHipHop.net, a collective effort with submissions from various artists and members of the public.
Offering a wealth of website links, artist reviews and MP3 downloads – NativeHipHop.net was, in the early days, instrumental and invaluable in networking with Indigenous North American hip hop artists and groups such as Shadowyze, Atzlan Underground, Anishinaabe Posse, Gary Davis, Manik, Natay, 7th Generation, Red Power Squad, Quese The Emcee, Night Shield, Reddnation, Rollin Fox, Supaman, King Blizz and War Party, giving them a voice online.
In the five years after 2000, the website grew in popularity and acted as a 'spring-board' for many of the Native hip hop artists around today.
Indigenous music of Canada encompasses a wide variety of musical genres created by Aboriginal Canadians. Before European settlers came to what is now Canada, the region was occupied by many First Nations, including the West Coast Salish and Haida, the centrally located Iroquois, Blackfoot and Huron, the Dene to the North, and the Innu and Mi'kmaq in the East and the Cree in the North. Each of the indigenous communities had their own unique musical traditions. Chanting – singing is widely popular and most use a variety of musical instruments.
Nigga is a colloquial and vulgar term used in African-American Vernacular English that began as a dialect form of the word nigger, an ethnic slur against black people. The word is commonly associated with hip hop music and African-American gang culture. In dialects of English that have non-rhotic speech, nigger and nigga are often pronounced the same.
Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and is largely inspired by hip hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music which is no longer restricted to the creative underground, with artists such as The Kid LAROI, Manu Crooks, ONEFOUR, Iggy Azalea, Hilltop Hoods, Bliss n Eso and Youngn Lipz, having achieved notable fame. Australian hip hop is still primarily released through independent record labels, which are often owned and operated by the artists themselves. Despite its genesis as an offshoot of American hip hop, Australian hip hop has developed a distinct personality that reflects its evolution as an Australian musical style.
The Canadian hip hop scene was established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much slower than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained largely an underground phenomenon until the early 2000s.
Gary Paul Davis, better known professionally as Litefoot, is an American business professional, actor, musician, and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He is the Executive Director of the Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA), CEO of Davis Strategy Group and a member of the Forbes Finance Council. As an actor, he is known for his roles as Little Bear in the movie The Indian in the Cupboard, and Nightwolf in Mortal Kombat Annihilation.
Alida Kinnie Starr is a Canadian multidisciplinary recording artist.
Hatchet Warrior is the second solo studio album by American rapper Anybody Killa. It was released on April 8, 2003 through Psychopathic Records. Production was handled by Zug Izland, Fritz the Cat, Monoxide Child and Violent J, with co-producers Eric Koder and Shaggy 2 Dope. It features guest appearances from Insane Clown Posse, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Esham, Zug Izland, Twiztid and Paris.
Rob Wilson, better known by his stage name Fresh I.E., is a Christian rap artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Team Rezofficial was a Canadian aboriginal hip hop group. Founded by former members of War Party, the group included musicians Karmen "Hellnback" Omeasoo, Drezus, Jay Mak, Big Stomp, Lakes Aqui, Tomislav Milardovic and Big Slim.
Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, known professionally as Supaman is an Apsáalooke rapper and ghost/thunder dancer who was born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in Crow Agency, Montana.
The Manitoba Warriors (MW) are an indigenous street gang based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Predominantly based in the Central and North End neighbourhoods of the city, the gang is an exclusively indigenous organization that was established on the Lake Manitoba First Nation in 1993 to rival the Indian Posse gang.
Winnipeg's Most was a Canadian hip hop group, made up of the MC's Jon-C, Charlie Fettah, and Brooklyn. They were based in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jon-C and Brooklyn are both Aboriginal artists, and the group was featured in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary series 8th Fire. The group released two albums and a number of singles and videos, some of which were played on MuchMusic. The group won several Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards in 2010, including the award for Best New Artist, and they won six APCMA's in 2011.
Eekwol is a Canadian rapper from the Muskoday First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Wabanakwut "Wab" Kinew, is the Leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
JD Era is a Canadian rapper and lyricist. He has worked with artists such as Nas, Gza, Kardinal Offishall, The Clipse, and has also cut several tracks with longtime friend Drake. In 2008 he won Best Rap at the Toronto Independent Music Awards, and also won the TAG Records’ Survival of The Freshest competition. He has also released a number of mixtapes and singles, and in the Juno Awards of 2013 his album No Handouts was nominated for Rap Recording of the Year.
Henry Andrade, known professionally as RedCloud, is an American rapper based in Los Angeles, California who creates hip hop tracks recognizably influenced by his spiritual and Indigenous heritage.
Drezus is Plains Cree rapper and activist based in Calgary, Alberta. Drezus' accomplishments in the field of music include awards for Best Music Video, Best Producer/Engineer, Best Rap/Hip Hop Album, and Indigenous Entertainer of the Year. These awards followed the success of his album, Indian Warpath, released in the summer of 2014. However, Manitopyes' life was not always filled with awards and recognition. Growing up as a First Nations person, he faced multiple jail stints and violence in his life. Manitopyes has found meaning in his music and is working to share it with those who will listen.
Jordan Bennett is a multi-disciplinary artist of Mi'kmaq descent from Stephenville Crossing, Newfoundland, also known as Ktaqamkuk. He is married to Métis visual artist Amy Malbeuf.
Jerilynn Snuxyaltwa Webster, known by her stage name JB the First Lady is an Indigenous hip-hop and spoken word artist, emcee, beat-boxer, activist, cultural dancer, and youth educator from the Nuxalk and Onondaga nations. She is currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. JB sees her music as a way of capturing oral history and often writes lyrics about challenging subjects such as the Canadian Indian residential school system and missing and murdered Indigenous women. She sees hip-hop as a tool of Indigenous empowerment and is a prominent voice for decolonization and for inspiring Indigenous women and youth.