Mentor: Litefoot's "Reach the Rez" Tour

Tsalagi rapper, actor and mentor Litefoot has taken mentorship and community involvement through music to a new level with his Reach the Rez tour and unprecedented effort to inspire Indigenous youth.

For the last 19 years, Litefoot and his red-blooded brand of Hip-hop have traveled to countless numbers of Indigenous communities in both Canada and United States. Known for his acting roles in movies like Indian in the Cupboard and Mortal Kombat, as well as for his prolific career filled with numerous album releases as a rap artist, Litefoot has been putting it down for Turtle Island since the 90's. Owner of Redvinyl Records, Nativestyle Clothing and the new FlexArrow Sneaker brand, he has been a monumental force in the Indigenous music game for almost two decades.

In 2005, Litefoot partnered with sponsors to create the Reach the Rez Tour, and traveled to 211 communities in a year's time to perform free shows and conduct workshops with youth, promoting a drug and alcohol free lifestyle as well as the importance of prayer and cultural pride.

While on tour setting a precedent of so many shows and workshops in a year, Litefoot mentored up to fifteen different at-risk youths per day as assigned to him by the Association For American Indian Development (AAID), while also mentoring hundred's of other youth in the communities he traveled to.

On his tourbus with his wife, son and 10-person team, Litefoot did the impossible and managed to accomplish what no other artist in Indian Country has done thus far. With sponsorship from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Jeep/Chrysler and others, this non-profit organization has reached out to 211 communities and covered over 54,000 of miles in just that one year of touring, making it the largest effort of outreach to Native communities in North America by a music artist.

Using Hip-hop music to connect with both youth and adults has proved to be a viable tool for mentorship and creation of movements for social change within Indigenous communities. Litefoot has used his determination and success to promote a cultural and healthy lifestyle over the years and still proves to be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to reaching the Rez on a large scale through music.

To learn more or book Litefoot to your community, be sure to visit Litefoot.com

Do you have an Indigenous music mentor you would like to see on our site? Drop us a suggestion to: info@rpm.fm 

VIDEO: Kinnie Starr - "Sun Again" Live

While looking up tour dates at kinniestarr.net this morning, we came across this amazing live performance of Sun Again by Kinnie Starr.

Kinnie, live, is a presence to reckon with and you can feel it here. Be moved.

RPM YouTube Playlist: North Coast

To accompany our North Coast Podcast, we've compiled some YouTube videos of awesome Indigenous artist from the North Coast on our RPM Youtube Channel. The playlist includes:

Leela Gilday - One Drum Digawolf - The Trapper Samian featuring Shauit - Les Nomades Kronos Quartet and Tanya Tagag - Nunavut The Johnnys

Got a video you would like to see on our Youtube Channel? Drop us a line and let us know: info@rpm.fm

#FrybreadFriday: Keith Secola's Frybread Story

This week's #FrybreadFriday is a story spun by Ojibwe musician Keith Secola. At the 2nd Annual Crystal Shawanda Homecoming Concert, Keith, with the help of some audience participation, tells a story of a fry bread ban, underground fry bread gatherings and the secret ingredient in Anishinabe fry bread. The tale gradually turns into a song and showcases some fantastic dancing by one of the kids on stage. It's all around lovely.

Discreet Da Chosen One's New Album "Magneto"

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation Hip-hop artist Discreet Da Chosen One hits us with his 4th album release "Magneto" this week.

Discreet Da Chosen One has been putting it down in the Vancouver scene for the past decade and has branched out into the national scene as a nominee for the Aboriginal People's Choice Awards and with various tours across Canada.

Now as creative as ever, he releases his newest project Magneto. With 13 songs and artist features like Misha-Q and Dani & Lizzy, the album filled out with club bangers and comic-style storytelling that Discreet has become known well for.

Along side Discreet's constant stream of albums and mixtape releases, he puts much effort into working as a mentor in schools and youth groups, as well as working in the film industry and running his own audio-visual studio based out of the Capilano Reserve in North Vancouver.

Now on his fourth full length album release, Discreet continues to plug away at his love for music and drive to release more product to his audiences.

Available this Friday on iTunes and various locations, be sure to grab this album for your collection and support Indigenous Hip Hop.

Track Playlist:

1. Super Villain (Intro) 2. Magneto 3. My Vibe 4. Heart Cries - featuring Misha-Q 5. Man Of The Hour 6. Dances Wit Wolves 7. Frienemies 8. Unbreakable - featuring Dani & Lizzy 9. Re:Form - featuring Obsession 10. Cobra-Kon 11. Chick Whisperer 12. I Am The Future 13. The Girls - featuring Ali

For more information on Discreet Da Chosen One be sure to check out his VS Crew Website, our West Coast - Vol. 1 Podcast and his release party in our Indigenous Live Music Picks for this weekend. Do you have an album release coming up?

Let us know by dropping us a line at: info@rpm.fm

Canadian Country Music Awards: Indigenous Artist Nominations

Cree country artist Shane Yellowbird and Métis Terri Clarke, recieved a handful of nominations for the 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards, announced today.

Shane Yellowbird's track Watching You Walk Away from his album It's About Time is in the running for Single of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. Antonio Hrynchuk, who directed the song's video, got a Best Music Video nod.

The CMT doc Shane Yellowbird: Music City was also nominated for Country Music Program or Special of the Year.

Terri Clarke is up for Fan's Choice Award and Female Artist of the Year.

Good luck Terri and Shane!

Read the full list of nominees at ccma.org.

Here's Watching You Walk Away:

Grand River Powwow 2011: Photos and Video

#PowwowWednesday! The 32nd Annual Grand River Champion of Champions Powwow took place this past weekend in Ohsweken with over 200 dancers from Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and the U.S.

The Hamilton Spectator interviewed 70-year old Evenlyn White Eyes in Generations of dance at Grand River Powwow:

White Eyes, who is from the Walpole Island First Nation, continues to attend the powwow each year because it affirms that their tradition is “alive and well.”

“I just think that (it’s) the perpetuity of what we do, preserving our way and (we’re) happy to show it to people who are interested instead of the stereotypical (images) you see on TV,” said the dancer, who participated in the women’s traditional category.

“There’s a lot of people who still think we live in teepees … What we want to perpetuate is the real thing. This is the real thing.”

Ain't that the truth? The real thing. Our traditions, our culture, are not trapped in the past - they are current, active and alive.

Check out the whole photo gallery here: Grand River Powwow.

Fast Deer Video captured much of the weekend on video - with short interviews and many of the dances and drummers:

Tansi Oleg for keeping the camera rolling!

See you next week for another #powwowwednesday.

Ernie Paniccioli: Cree Hip-hop Photographer

Cree photographer, artist, author and activist Ernie Paniccioli has been bringing us photos of the hugest names from the Old School of Hip-hop era and other icons in the world of entertainment for three decades and still bringing it full force.

When we think of the Old School era of Hip-hop, certain names like Slick Rick, Grandmaster Flash, Rock Steady Crew, Doug E. Fresh, Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, Salt-N-Pepa, and so many more come to mind. Aside from the stars on stage that bring us the music we bump to, there are people behind the scenes that bring us the vision of all of this. One of these people is Ernie Paniccioli.

Ernie's adventure into the world of Hip-hop starts in 1973 where he and a 35-millimetre camera started to document the graffiti culture of New York. From there he has brought us images of a developing artform from the streets of New York to the multi-billion dollar industry as all know so well. When reading through Ernie's accomplishments as a photographer, it reads like a who's who of Hip-hop history. All the places Hip-hoppers have dreamed of being in the early days of the craft, Ernie was there to witness and bring the images to life for posterity.

Not only is Ernie regarded as the premiere "Hip-hop photographer in America", he is also a renowned artist, author, activist and public speaker, sharing his knowledge at universities and forums around Turtle Island. He was chosen by Hip-hop legend KRS-One to speak on behalf of the Temple Of Hip-hop to the United Nations at the Hip-hop Peace Summit in May of 2001.

As the Chief photographer of Word Up! Magazine since 1989 and when Biggie Smalls was still reading it, he has been the eyes of the Hip-hop movement since before some of the newest Hip-hoppers were even born. His work has appeared in publications like  The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Life, Rolling Stone, Spin, Vibe, Ebony, and The Source and XXL Magazine. Outside being a Hip-hop photographer, he has photographed people such as Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, and John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Britney Spears just to name a few.

As a member of the Hip-hop institution entitled the Universal Zulu Nation and the Temple of Hip-hop, he has gained acclaim from the Grandmaster himself, Afrika Bambaataa who had this to say about him:

“We the Hip Hop World Nation and Beyond Earth must always respect our brother for what he has offered to our World Hip Hop Nation and that is his science of taking fantastic pictures of our Hip Hop World. All praise Due to the Supreme Force for our warrior, father, thinker, teacher, speaker, historian, powerful photographer. The Hip Hop Photo King”

In today's world of commercialized Hip-hop industry, we are quick to lose touch with the roots of where this art came from that we all appreciate so much. It's amazing to have the documentation and knowledge from someone like Brother Ernie Paniciolli to keep these days of purity before corporations were watching accessible for people to learn from.

For an extensive look into Brother Ernie's career, check out this link below: The Ernie Paniccioli Fan Club

Here's a video portfolio of some of Ernie's work:

New 'Potlatch Music' Blog Shares Cultural Videos

The Potlatch Music blog has brought together a great compilation of west coast potlatch videos from a large group of nations within the 'Potlatch Coast'.

Just across our desk here today at RPM.fm, the Potlatch Music blog is a new blog site that compiles a large number of amazing potlatch videos from nations like the Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nisga'a, Kwakwaka'wakw and Coast Salish peoples.

The potlatch is a ceremonial gift-giving festival that has been practiced since time immemorial on the northwest coast of Canada and the United States. In 1884, the potlatch ceremony was banned in Canada and became a criminal act until the 1950's when it started to make a resurgence in the northwest coast Indigenous cultures.

Now thriving within this resurgence, videos and other media have been circulating on the internet and the culture grows as the population of Indigenous nations grow as well. Like the powwow videos that hit YouTube on the Sunday night of the powwow, potlatch videos are showing the strong energy of co-creation through music and culture in these ceremonies.

A lot has changed in societ'y since the early to mid 1900's when Indigenous cultures were illegal and Indigenous people couldn't gather in more than a group of three without intervention of the authorities. Now Indigenous people can enjoy their gatherings as well as invite their loved ones remotely through the comfort of the internet.

The Potlatch Music blog features videos old and new, some from archival footage and more from the newer potlatches of today.

Here's a video from the 2010 Hobiyee Nisga'a New Year celebration's Chiefs entrance:

Hychga to Manik for letting us know about this blog site.

Do you have an Indigenous music blog or website you'd like to share?

Drop us a line at info@rpm.fm or leave us a comment below.

New Robbie Robertson Biography: For Kids

It's never too early to teach our children about our musical legends! Sebastian Robertson, Robbie Robertson's son, is writing a picture book bio of his dad, aimed at 6-9 year old readers.

According to Galley Cat - The Band’s Robbie Robertson Gets Children’s Book Biography:

Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group will publish a biographical picture book profiling rock legend Robbie Robertson...

The book will include photographs and other material from Robertson’s personal collection. Editorial director Christy Ottaviano negotiated the deal with literary agent Ryan Harbage at the Fischer-Harbage Agency.

Here’s more from the release: “The book will focus on Robbie Robertson‘s early years growing up in Canada and, later, living and working in America. The son of a Native American mother and Jewish father, Robbie Robertson spent time as a child at Six Nation Indian Reservation where he received guitar lessons and excelled quickly. By the time he was sixteen, he was offered a guitarist spot with Ronnie Hawkins’s band, and then went on to become the lead guitarist and chief songwriter for the acclaimed music group, The Band.”

Hoka!

Meanwhile, Robbie's How To Become Clairvoyant Limited Edition Collector’s Set ships on July 29th. It includes both a CD and vinyl with 10 bonus tracks, a multi-track DVD, 5 pieces of custom art and even 8 original tarot cards. You can order it in his online store.

He Don't Live Here Anymore, from How to Become Clairvoyant:

VIDEO: Billy Joe Green - Honey Girl

Anishinabe rock guitar legend Billy Joe Green hits us with a new video for his song "Honey Girl" that brings the tempo up to the dance floor levels for you to "put-one-on" and "cut-a-rug" to.

Billy Joe Green aka 'Osawi Kinew of the Anishinabe Aki-ing Territory' is a legend of the rock circuit here on Turtle Island. His heavy hitting guitar licks and high energy shows have kept him working for three decades and more.

Billy started out in a group called the Feathermen just out of high school with his mentor and friend Martin Tuesday. Still in his teens, he rocked a fake I.D. and started chopping it up with his Les Paul guitar in the flourishing barroom scene that at the time was the maker or breaker of young rock bands.

Since then Billy Joe has become one of the premiere blues guitar singers earning multi-awards including Juno nominations and a 5 win sweep at the Winnipeg Blues Awards in 2006.

Now Billy Joe comes out hard with this amazing video and high energy song that'll get your Aunties and Uncles movin'...and you too. The video is produced by StrongFront A/V Productions Inc., the Winnipeg-based audio/video company and was directed by Jesse Green, who himself is an accomplished guitarist from the group X-Status and who also happens to be Billy Joe's son!

For more info on Billy Joe Green and his legacy of rock guitar, check out his website.

For more on Strongfront and their creations, also check out their website.

VIDEO: Crown P & Phenom - "Fuel To The Fire"

New video from Crown P & Phenom featuring Stattis entitled "Fuel To The Fire" bringing some heat into the video realm from the Prairies.

Here's a new video from a new group project called Clockwork that includes Crown P from Flying Dust First Nation and Phenom who is known for his work with the Alberta rap group Redd Nation and even produced some stuff for Memphis Bleek.

The song is called "Fuel To The Fire" and was produced by Stattis from the Heatbag Records crew who also raps on the track and the video was directed by Charlie Stumble who is a rapper and videographer for Heatbag Records.

The duo of Crown P and Phenom that form Clockwork are now working on an EP to be followed by a full length album. Be on the the lookout for more from these two.

Got a music video you'd like to see featured on the RPM.fm website? Drop us a line to info@rpm.fm