Freesome by Daygot Leeyos Edwards explores ideas of "freedom" through sound bytes and beats. Check out this tune by a young Oneida lyricist and music producer, Daygot Leeyos, who loves to collect samples of powerful words along her travels and make them into beautiful music. DOWNLOAD: Daygot Leeyos - "Freesome"
Our host Ostwelve speaks with three artists who are working on revitalizing their ancestral languages.
Miss Christie Lee of the Musqueam Nation raps in Hun'qumi'num' and shares what her culture means to her and how she sought guidance from her elders on creating music in her language.
Tall Paul, of Point of Contact, raps in Anishnaabemowin. Tall Paul describes discovering more of his culture through his college language course and using hip-hop to adapt Indigenous languages to new avenues.
Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, who sings in the language of Haida, hopes listeners can get to a different place, even if they don't understand the words, and she shares how by singing in our Indigenous language we are connecting with our ancestors.
DOWNLOAD: RPM Podcast #012 - "Revitalization"
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The RPM podcast is produced & engineered by the amazing Paolo Pietropaolo.
Photo illustration created by the talented Joi Arcand.
Jana also speaks about her work as a mentor and the creation of her non-profit organization Jana's Kids, which you can read more about in our feature Music Mentor: Jana Mashonee, Lumbee Musician.
Get her new single Stay With Me Baby on iTunes.
Listen to the Jana Mashonee interview here:
Nolan Warden, a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at UCLA, was blown away when he first came across A Tribe Called Red (ATCR) and contacted them to see if they would be interested in giving archival field recordings a new life. ATCR, being the sweethearts they are, enthusiastically agreed. After sifting through various recordings to find just the right match, they settled on an archival wax recording of Cayuga chief Alexander J. General (Deskáheh).This seemed liked the destined fit since both Bear Witness and DJ Shub are Cayugan and DJ Shub's name is Dan General. The possibility of a family connection got them all excited and they created this incredible collaboration which starts out with a clever sample of the archive indexer's voice.
Listen to their collaboration here:
STREAM: A Tribe Called Red - "General Generations" General Generations by A Tribe Called Red
Anishnaabe poet, actress, vocalist and visual artist Lena Recollet, from Wikwemikong, Ontario, on Manitoulin Island, released her first EP this year - Soul Speaking. A poetry film of the track Historical Landmark premiered at the 2011 imagineNATIVE festival and Lena opened for Buffy Sainte Marie that same week. This is our favourite track from Lena, a spoken word piece about finding her own Personal Power. Be inspired. DOWNLOAD: Lena Recollet - "Personal Power"
Sandy Scofield is a Cree singer, guitarist, pianist and leader of the band Iskwew. She recently spoke with Matador Network about music as entertainment, education and political act.
The interesting and in-depth interview covers how Sandy got into traditional music with Iskwew, her Cree culture, current issues that pertain to Indigenous peoples of Canada, and performing on the international circuit.
In Music as a political act: Cree musician Sandy Scofield Sandy is quoted:
"...when we get to go play international festivals it’s really important because, you know, one of the girls that sings with me, she went to Italy and some guy said to her, ‘Where are you from?’ and she said, ‘Well, I’m Cree Indian from Canada,’ and he was just aghast, he was saying, ‘No. They were all extinct. They don’t exist,’ and she’s going ‘You’re crazy!’ You know?
But there’s crazy ideas out there, so especially if we’re on the international stage, we’re trying to show the very best of who we are. And in Canada, half of our work is in what we call Indian Country, which is all of the country except dominant society doesn’t see us. So we perform for other native people or we perform for dominant society, and so when we perform for dominant society, it’s the same thing again. We’re trying to show the really fantastic things about our cultures, our collective culture which really concerns community, egalitarianism to a certain extent, just pride, culture, the interconnectedness of all life and that we’re interconnected with one another — things like that.”
Read the whole article at matadornetwork.com and enjoy this track Waniska by Iskwew.
STREAM: Iskwew - "Waniska"
Rosebud Sioux hip-hop artist Frank Waln of Nake Nula Waun has just released a new track called Swagged Out Brave Heart of a Lion that focuses on the warrior spirit. This electrified hip-hop track is sure to pump up your lion hearted energy and adds to the ever-growing catalogue of this Native American Music Award winner. DOWNLOAD: Frank Waln - "Swagged Out Brave Heart Of A Lion"
Chase Manhattan is a hip-hop/rap artist based in Twin Cities, Minnesota, who music reflects his urban and Indigenous (Pine Ridge Oglala, Leech Lake Anishinaabe, and Muscogee Creek) roots. We first heard about him at RPM from our friend Ryan McMahon and Chase has since become one of our favourite artists. A NAMA and NAIIA nominee, Chase has been putting out consistently powerful and well-produced music since his 2008 debut album Red Skin in a Black and White World. This track is from his recent/4th album Alientated. STREAM: Chase Manhattan - "Put 'em Up"
Kari Denny-Flynn aka Writtyn is a Din'e hip-hop artist from the Navajo nation. After living through a difficult childhood, Writtyn turned to poetry at the age of 14 as an outlet. Drugs and dropping out of high school derailed the young artist temporarily, but after returning to finish school she began to learn more about herself through creating music. She now shares her experiences, and how she survived them, by telling her story through music and public speaking. Her upcoming album I'm Not Perfect speaks to her honest exploration through her lyrics. Check out this track Writtyn sent us and look forward to hearing more. DOWNLOAD: Writtyn - "A Song for Ma Ft. Tacara" >
Fronted by the charismatic presence of six-foot, leather-clad Cree Veronica Johnny (vocals/rhythm guitar) and fueled by the frantic drumming of her husband Dave Johnny, The Johnnys' sound is an eclectic mix of punk, garage, '70s hard rock and '50s rock'n'roll. This track will make you smile and dance. It's also based on the true story of when Veronica and Dave moved into a Toronto apartment that turned out to be infested with bedbugs. They became a Bedbug Banquet. Hear more from The Johnnys in RPM Podcast #009: “Indigenous Rock”.
18-year-old Alex Wilson from the Oglala Sioux Lakota tribe may be young, but he finds his musical inspiration in such established artists as Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. His melodic pop/rock is backed by sub-bass organs, gospel choirs and waves of drums while his vocals carry a raw strength above the layered accompaniment. And these are just his demos! Alex sent us this track to check out and we're excited to see what else this young artist continues to create. DOWNLOAD: Alex Wilson - "In the Morning"
This killer track from hip-hop artist Miss Christie Lee is mostly in her Indigenous Musqueam language. The hook translates to "there are no words that can express how much you mean to me" and speaks to Christie's passion for empowering her people, in particular Aboriginal youth, to be proud of their roots. A member of Vancouver's all female hip-hop First Ladies Crew, Christie is a strong, positive voice in the Indigenous hip-hop scene and her music has taken her around the world, from performing at the Beijing Olympics to opening for K'Naan in Vancouver. She sent us this track to check out and we're stoked to share it with you. DOWNLOAD: Miss Christie Lee - "Experience"
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.
