Cherokee MC, spitfire rap sensation, and rising hip-hop star, Angel Haze, has revealed details about her upcoming debut album, Dirty Gold, that will feature her collaboration with Indigenous DJ/production crew A Tribe Called Red.
The 12-track album, Dirty Gold, drops March 3 on Island Records and is set to include her massive track "A Tribe Called Red"—the banging ATCR collab that we recently featured in The #NationHood Mixtape.
Now the track has a full album version, new artwork, and a brand new lyric video that you can check below.
Get it in the flow and submit to the blazing fury of Angel Haze.
At last week's New Zealand Music Awards, Maisey Rikatook home "Best Maori Album" for "Whitiora" - congrats Maisey! - and we were stoked to check out all the nominees in the category.
The category celebrates Aotearoa (New Zealand) artists and music that express and reflect Maori culture. Eligible albums for the category don't have to be in Te Reo, but all three nominated albums this year were, which is rad!
Winner Maisey Rika is a soul/acoustic vocalist who has recorded in both English and Te Reo, and her fellow nominated artists were jazz/funk artist Kirsten Te Rito and blues/ jazz/soul singer Ngatapa Black.
Take in the sweet sounds of Rika, Te Rito and Black here:
Did you miss us? It's been a revolutionary minute since we last hit you with a good dose of Indigenous Music Culture. But we're happy to let you know that RPM is back!
The crew has been busy since the winter working on music, touring, songwriting, media arts, land-based education, political organizing and a host of other arts, decolonizing and resurgence projects—all the while planning to get back online to bring you the best Indigenous music from across Turtle Island and around the world.
From the #RoundDanceRevolution to Idle No More to the Indigenous Nationhood Movement, we've been deeply inspired by everything happening in Indian Country, and we're happy to be back up and running with new music, reviews, interviews and artist features.
We've got lots more in the works but for now, enjoy the new music. Thanks for your patience and support of RPM—and please share the good news on all your channels.
On today's edition of The Current, three members of the RPM crew spoke with guest host Duncan McCue about music and the Idle No More revolution.
"Does every revolution have a soundtrack?". We know it does—and it was an honour to discuss RPM, revolution, music along with the recent release of our Songs for Life compilations: Volume 1 and Volume 2.
The ideas of the Idle No More protests may nor may not catch on, but some of the music it's inspired is already part of a new aboriginal songbook. With Idle No More protesters calling for a Global Day of Action on Monday to mark the return of the House of Commons, we chat with three Indigenous artists behind the Idle No More soundtrack.
Everyone's favourite 8th Fire heartthrob, Wab Kinew, surprised George Stroumboulopoulos and his CBC television studio audience—while making all of Indian Country proud—when he led a spontaneous flash mob round dance Thursday night, during an interview taping on George Tonight.
Impeccably clad in a dark grey Mad Men-styled suit, and singing a cappella while clapping out the beat instead of using a hand drum, Wab brought the #IdleNoMore round dance revolution into the living rooms and hearts of Canadians in all the right ways.
Posting photos and video on Instagram and Twitter after the taping, he added: "Let's share the beauty of our culture in a positive way. Miigwetch everyone!"
Here's the video. And what a great choice of song. Aho!
Wab Kinew Flash Mob Round Dance on Strombo - Jan 17, 2013
Now this is a rare moment in Canadian television. Wab Kinew is a First Nations leader and the Director of Indigenous Inclusion at the University of Winnipeg.
While he was in the red chair last night, Wab surprised the audience (and the crew!) by orchestrating an impromptu flash mob round dance in studio.
Catch the full interview with Wab on Monday, January 21st. He'll talk to George about 'Idle No More' and how all Canadians are treaty people.
Here's what Wab had to say about the round dance:
"You guys want to do a flash mob round dance?
This is what it's all about. It's been one of the most popular tactics of Idle No More and what it is, is a traditional dance, a friendship dance. So it's just about showing off our culture. So I notice I have a few sisters in the house today. Would you guys like to help show our non-indigenous brothers and sisters here how to do the round dance?"
Three of our favourite Indigenous artists will be traveling from their Canadian homes to New York this weekend to perform a showcase at APAP 2013.
The Big Apple will have the pleasure of hearing Don Amero, Digging Rootsand Elisapieat a showcase, Native America North, during the APAP 2013 conference. Between the three acts you'll get roots, folk, and pop interpretations of Anishinabe, Mohawk, Inuit, and Métis culture.
If you're in the city Saturday January 12, head to the National Museam of the American Indian from 2-5pm to take it all in - the event is free to the public!
For more info visit aboriginalmusic.ca and get started with the latest video from Don Amero, Turn These Grey Skies Blue:
Late last night, on the eve before one of the biggest Indigenous mobilizations in history, A Tribe Called Red quietly released a new song, The Road, inspired by the Idle No More movement and the hunger strike of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence.
The moody, minimal electronic track incorporates some of the traditional drumming and singing elements that ATCR have used in the past for their more dancefloor-oriented powwow step bangers. But this is something else.
The Road feels like the calm before the storm. A slow-building soundtrack for the dawning of a new era. With prayers and strength to Chief Spence, we give to you the sound of our people rising up and taking our spirits back.
Our guest contributor this week is Ojibway/Métis comedian—turned Idle No More organizer and activist—Ryan McMahon. He reflects on what it is about the rising #IdleNoMore movement that has captured our collective imagination, attention and revolutionary spirit. And how it's taken us from online discussion to a massive mobilization that is literally taking over hundreds of shopping malls, town squares and community centres across Turtle Island—and now the world.
This is the story of how we are reuniting our people through our songs, dances and cultures.
The Round Dance Revolution has arrived.
This was supposed to have been written days ago. When I was asked by RPM to do a guest post I immediately said, “Yes, I’ll write a guest post: Indigenous... music...culture...#IdleNoMore... Sounds great!" And I hung up the phone.
Then I attended the first Idle No More action in Winnipeg and when I got home that night I started writing. Sorta. It was -38 with the windchill that day - so - I think I drank tea for hours and sat under blankets, but, I’m trying to sound responsible here.
So.
I wrote for a few hours that night. I wrote. And wrote. I heard typewriter keys in mind. Much like Hunter S. Thompson, I wrote. Sorta. Like Hunter S. Thompson. Well, minus the whiskey, the smokes and the drugs, so, not like Hunter S. Thompson at all, but, dammit, I wrote.
Now, full disclosure - at best, I’m a below average writer. My words, brain and fingers don’t connect. I can’t articulate myself very well in this medium (I’m writing two books by the way, I bet the publishers are stoked I’m saying this publicly) and I struggled to find a clear sense of what I was feeling.
But I knew I was feeling something. We all were. We all are.
The Idle No More Movement, the politics and the struggle, were providing me with mind-boggling confusion, anger, sadness and happiness. The fact that mainstream media were ignoring the movement as a whole, the fact that one of our strongest leaders is currently on a hunger strike and the fact that I felt like we were Tweeting and Facebooking into a vacuum...everything exasperated my frustration. I struggled to find something that hadn’t been covered yet, when the incredible Métis blogger Chelsea Vowel, my Anishinaabe brother Wab Kinew, and many other journalists and independent media were providing great coverage. So I struggled.
And struggled. No angle. Nothing interesting to say. Nothing informative to add.
Then, two days ago I decided that my piece was going to focus on 'Revolution Music'. I’d call on our Indigenous musicians and artists to find their inspiration in the movement to start building our soundtrack.
We have so much talent in our communities—some of the most exciting musicians on the planet are Indigenous, and I was excited about 'calling them to action'. I talked to many of my musician friends who are working on music right now and, although some are working on new music or have released new tracks recently—there wasn’t much of a story. It seemed like a lazy idea. Maybe it was too obvious. Too simple.
But then it happened.
The Round Dance Flash Mob Explosion
A Round Dance Flash Mob was planned and executed in Regina, SK. The next night a Round Dance broke out inside West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton (North America’s largest mall) during the busy Christmas shopping season.
Then round dances started appearing everywhere: Saskatoon, Ottawa, North Bay, Regina, Prince Albert...the list goes on and on. There are currently round dance actions, traditional song and game flash mobs, and other peaceful music-based actions planned across Turtle Island.
On Wednesday, we saw YouTube video surface of a group of native brothers and sisters from Minnesota singing the “AIM Song” in the Canadian Consulate office in Minneapolis. Incredible.
The round dance revolution.
It’s happening. Right?
The music revolution is happening. And thank God (if there is a God...c’mon, you know my deal with all that) it doesn’t look like Woodstock. Instead, it’s a beautiful, peaceful and inclusive action. We are being led by our drums.
It’s perfect. It’s accessible. It’s transportable. It’s cheap (hey, we’re on budgets, ya know).
And it's a whole new form of direct action, protest and resistance. As Metro News Saskatoon reported:
With flash mob round dances already occurring in Regina and Edmonton some...say the flash mob has become one of the more effective forms of protest....compared to traditional methods of protest, the flash mob is a more engaging and welcoming way to spread a message.
The rounddances across Canada are amazing. They bring me so much pride and hope. #idlenomore
We are the Indigenous Peoples of this land. We have held unique worldviews and cultural and spiritual practices for thousands of years. So many of these practices included drums.
As kids, we were told that the drum beat represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth. We were told our songs come from Mother Earth. We were told that our communities are only as strong as the sound of our drums.
Then “they” came. And many of our drums went silent. Completely silent. Our songs were banned. Torn from our lives. Forcefully. Violently. But, although they silent for a time, our old people kept their bundles. Some hid them. Some buried them.
Then, slowly, the sound of our drums re-emerged. They started to spread through our communities again. They signalled hope. They signalled our return.
Our drums were being used. And we began to gather again. We danced again. And our communities are slowly regaining their strength.
It's perfect. It makes perfect sense. A Round Dance Revolution. It has reinvigorated and re-inspired our People. It has lifted the spirits of thousands. The act of the “flash mob” can be called “Political/Guerilla Theatre” but it’s not politics in and of itself. It’s a glimpse into who we are. It is perfect.
One Heartbeat: December 21, 2012
At 12:00pm on Friday, December 21st, thousands will gather on Parliament Hill to drum sing and dance—while thousands more will gather in communities across Turtle Island for round dances, songs and prayers in support of all our relations.
Idle No More has called on all Nations to drum and sing across Turtle Island on December 21, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. Central Standard time, for a global synchronized Spiritual Awakening.
We want to honor and recognize the Drum as it represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth and the heartbeat of our people.
Indigenous peoples call on all people and nations to join us in solidarity in “One Heartbeat” through the Drum as we honor the ways of our Ancestors.
We have much to do to sustain this movement. We have long term and short term planning to get underway. BUT. If we need to #SoundtracktheStruggle: it's already here. Our songs remind us that we’re fighting for the land, our languages, our women, our children and for our lives.
Round Dance Flash Mobs That Have Happened To Date:
Regina, SK
Edmonton, AB
Ottawa, ON
Regina, SK
North Bay, ON
Saskatoon, SK
Round Dance Flash Mobs Scheduled To Happen This Coming Week:
Sault St. Marie, ON
Green Bay, WI
Rapid City, SD
Kamloops, BC
Prince Albert, SK
Duluth, MN
Fort McMurray, AB
Akwesasne Mohawk Territory
North Battleford, SK
Winnipeg, MB
Victoria, BC
Vancouver, BC
Kenora, ON
Moncton, NB
Grand Prairie, AB
Sarnia, ON
Tempe, AZ
Hamilton, ON
Brandon, MB
Burnaby, BC
Richmond, BC
Denendeh, NWT
Halifax, NS
Phoenix, AZ
Seattle, WA
Havre, MT 12/22
Billings, MT 12/22
Missoula, MT 12/23
Now the only question is: where will you be?
Ryan McMahon is an Ojibwe/Métis comedian, actor and writer hailing from Couchiching First Nation. He runs the weekly comedy and current Indigenous events podcast, RedManLaughing.com, and his comedy can be found at RyanMcMahonComedy.com
Leave it our boys Mob Bounce from the West Coast to drop one of the first Indigenous hip-hop tracks to draw directly from the spirit of the emerging #IdleNoMore movement and turn it into music. One half of the duo, Heebz the Earthchild, dropped this new joint on SoundCloud yesterday.
We'll let the lyrics speak for themselves, but we can already hear crowds gathering with a repeated, melodic chant of "Idle No More".
"Idle No More" Lyrics:
Put your coat on, this is a cold song. With the heart of my elders, this is an old song. We have to go strong when they hold bonds. Those politicians with there souls gone. We row on the river that we flow on and keep showing the world what we know is wrong. My eagle eyes are sharper then the scissors held by the barber, cutting the braids of our rivers. That's a cut to and from Stephen Harper. Your treason is harder then the stone in your heart SIR. I see more pride as we fight Bill C-45. We'll make you mortified that you ever tried to attack our people who stand fortified. This land is for the lives who stand for truth and not for lies. I know what I'm fighting for, and what I am fighting for, you know what I am fighting for, for this I IDLE NO MORE.
STREAM: Heebz the Earthchild - "Idle No More"
This is our first installment in an RPM series that seeks to #SoundtracktheStruggle. Submit your music to be featured — and tag your tracks on SoundCloud, Tumblr, Twitter and social media with #SoundtracktheStruggle
In communities across Canada, thousands of Indigenous Peoples braved freezing temperatures to take part in the growing #IdleNoMore campaign—an Indigenous resurgence movement dedicating to restoring the rights, responsibilities and strength of Indigenous nations.
The new Astral Radio Artist-in-Residence program at Calgary's National Music Centre is currently hosting electro-cellist Cris Derksen and hip-hop chanteuse Kinnie Starr for a week of collaboration and experimentation.
The National Music Centre (NMC) kicked off the Astral Radio Artist-in-Residence (A.I.R.) earlier this year with Kurt Swinghammer and last week welcomed Cris Derksen and Kinnie Starr to collaborate, record and perform with the NMC collection - a collection that boasts over 2,000 instruments and artifacts.
From nmc.ca:
The National Music Centre (NMC) and Astral Radio are thrilled to welcome the fifth installment of the NMC Astral Radio Artist-in-Residence program with Toronto’s Kinnie Starr and Vancouver’s Cris Derksen tackling the amazing NMC collection for a week of recording and sonic experimentation...
Together, they are launching their new collaborative project, BEAMS. Sharing a strong interest in landscape and heritage both physically and sonically, they are a perfect match for exploration and creative discovery.
“We are extremely excited to work with the instruments at NMC” says Derksen “to expand on what we’re already doing, but to also delve into a whole new world of experimentation with instruments we’ve only heard about, but never had the chance to actually play.”
The goal of the residency is for Starr and Derksen to use these new and innovative instruments to collaborate in creating something unique and fresh. “It’s an incredible opportunity to be able to expand the perimeters our tools can take us,” says Derksen “I think KStarr and I are a perfect match – we instantly speak the same language about music and how to take it to the places we want to go, seeking the same path and outcomes.”
We're big fans of both Derksen and Starr here at RPM (in case you hadn't noticed) and are thrilled about this new project. The outcome is sure to be fantastic.
For more information on the NMC Artist-in-Residence program including how to apply, visit nmc.ca/musicians.
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.
This was supposed to have been written days ago. When I was asked by RPM to do a guest post I immediately said, “Yes, I’ll write a guest post: Indigenous... music...culture...#IdleNoMore... Sounds great!" And I hung up the phone.
