There's new music being made every moment, and here are the three newest releases from Indigenous artists for the month of March!
The debut full-length album from A Tribe Called Red has been long awaited and much anticipated to say the least. Released this week as a free download, the purveyors of "pow wow step" flex their creativity through the diverse musical landscapes of hip-hop, dancehall, moombahton and electronic styles. If you don't have it already, get their self-titled album here:
Last but not least, a very exciting release from Delmore Recordings is a recently unearthed recording by Karen Dalton. 1966 features Karen solo on banjo and guitar, plus four duets with Richard Tucker. The recordings are intimate, unfiltered and stirring. You can get 1966 digitally, on CD or vinyl at delmorerecordings.com.
Listen to Reason to Believe, by Karen Dalton from 1966:
Anishinaabe emcee Q Rock has been working with video artist Griz on the Grind to compile a YouTube series of rap videos entitled Graffiti Mixtape Vol.2. RPM asked the duo a few questions about the series.
Pure hip-hop is hard to come by in this climate of commercially saturated pop culture, but every once and awhile, a spirit of the original hip-hop vibration comes through. Q Rock is one of those souls who has stayed true to the form of hip-hop and shares with us, in collaboration with Griz on the Grind, his Indigenous perspective of hip-hop artistry in this video series.
RPM: What's your Indigenous nations?
Q Rock: Ojibway Nipissing First Nations and Haida Nations.
Griz On The Grind: Ojibwe and Huron.
RPM: What crews do you represent?
Q Rock: Dirty Defiant Tribe, Boogie Brats, Ready To Rock, and Mighty Zulu Kings.
Griz On The Grind: I don't rep any crews. I do rep for my Natives, my city (Toronto), and for hip-hop.
RPM: What was the inspiration behind the video mixtape series?
Q Rock: I wanted to make a mixtape that honored what hip-hop means to me. I want to involve all the elements of hip-hop. After I recorded and mixed it, Griz offered to make the video for the Animal Freestyle. The rest is history.
Griz On The Grind: I have a film and project called Griz on the Grind Presents: The Real Native Hip-Hop is Over Here!. We met to film an interview for this project in 2009, after that the rest is history. I've always known Q Rock for his B Boy skills. He gave me a copy of his CD demo after we did our interview for my project. I was hooked right away by his lyrics and flow. I wanted to help get Q Rock's music and message out there because he represents being Native and being from Toronto. I see my Natives repping all across Canada. It was real important for me to have a Native repping from Toronto aka T Dot aka 416 and Q Rock is the one. I told him that I got his back 100% with getting his music out there and we've been good friends from that day on. The Graffiti Mixtape Vol. 2 was ready and we linked up to release our first music video on December 24th, 2010. To this date Q Rock and I have done 6 videos for the Graffiti Mixtape series.
RPM: How has Indigenous culture inspired your music/video creation?
Q Rock: Anishnawbe culture is the foundation of my values, morals and principles. I live traditionally and adapt these ways to the streets. I make hip-hop music, but the spirit of hip-hop is nothing new. It used to be called resistance or the voice of the poor people. The oppressed. I am from a culture that is almost extinct. I am the voice of the Anishnawbe.
Griz On The Grind: Indigenous culture has inspired my video creation because I want to make my Natives proud and inspire the youth. This gives me a chance to learn more about my people and culture. I also want to work and help more Natives to get videos done. Get at me my Natives!
RPM: What are your future plans for music and videos?
Q Rock:Graffiti Mixtape Vol. 3 and then my album will be released in January 2012. Look out for my singles starting in November 2011.
Griz On The Grind: I have directed, filmed and edited 10 music videos this year so far and I am looking to triple that amount next year.
Watch the Graffiti Mixtape Vol. 2 YouTube playlist here:
RPM Records
Revolutions Per Minute is a global new music platform, record label, and boutique agency for Indigenous music culture. RPM’s mission is to build a visionary community of Indigenous artists and to introduce Indigenous music to new audiences across Turtle Island and around the world. Our main site, RPM.fm, has featured the work of more than 500 Indigenous artists and shared their music across our social networks of more than 275,000 followers.
RPM Records is the first of its kind: a label for contemporary, cross-genre Indigenous music, run by Indigenous people. Selected by The FADER as one of “5 New Canadian Record Labels The Entire World Should Know”, RPM Records artists include Ziibiwan, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Exquisite Ghost, and Mob Bounce.
