Native American hip hop

Native American hip hop is hip-hop culture practiced by people of Native American heritage; in colloquial terms, this also includes Canadian First Nation hip hop artists. As such 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 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 do not specifically refer to race. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget currently defines "Hispanic or Latino" as "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race". ^[1] Hip-hop is most often described as originating in the 1970s in the inner city African American and Latino American communities of New York City.^[2]

Hip-hop has, in more recent times, grown in popularity not only in urban settings but also on reservations since it has become ubiquitous on television and radio. Political activism and its expression in art has also been of great influence due to the many social issues present in indigenous communities. Activists such as John Trudell with his spoken word poetry and Russell Means with what he calls his rap-ajo music^[3] have been of some influence with their artistic endeavors.

Notable Artists

Melle Mel, the first rapper to ever use the epithet MC, is Cherokee and Ernie Paniccioli, a famous photographer of hip-hop culture who grew up in Brooklyn, is Cree.^[4] Funkdoobiest, Solé,^[5] and Litefoot^[6] (winner of the Native American Music Award), are also well-known Native American hip-hop artists. Wu-Tang affiliate King Just is also of Native American and the Old Dirty Bastard also claimed to be of Native American descent.^[7] Flavor Unit member Apache is also Native American. Except for perhaps a few other artists, the majority of Native American hip hop is to be found in the underground scene, rarely gaining exposure beyond regional hits.

Kemozabi, a Wyandot DJ from the all native FBI crew, is well known in the underground for his participation in many DJ competitions such as the DMC and Scribble Jam. He was consistently placed second and third in many competitions such as the 2004 Montreal and Edmonton DMC competitions,^[8] and the 2005 Moncton^[9] and North Bay^[10] DMC competitions. War Party, became the first native performers to host RapCity.^[11] War Party is one of a number of Canadian groups to gain some chart success, including Tru Rez Crew and Slangblossom.^[12] Hatchet Warrior, the second album by Native American hip hop artist Anybody Killa,^[13] 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.^[14] Reddnation, a group from Alberta has become decorated - having received awards for 'Best Rap/Hip Hop CD' and 'Best Duo/Group'^[15] at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards for their second album Now or Never, Best Rap or Hip-Hop Album at the 2006 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, 'Best Group or Duo' & 'Best Rap or Hip-Hop Album' at the 2007 Alberta Aboriginal Music Awards, and 'Best Group or Duo' at the 2007 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.^[16]

Early Internet Pioneering

Stretching back as early as October 17, 2000,^[17] 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, Red Power Squad, Quese The Emcee, Night Shield, Reddnation, Rollin Fox, Supaman and War Party, giving them a voice online.

In the five years proceeding after the Millennium Year, the website grew in popularity and acted as a 'spring-board' for many of the Native hip hop artists around today.

External links

• Native Hip Hop The original showcase for Native American and Aboriginal Canadian hip hop and rap artists.
• Movement Music: Hip Hop and Aboriginal Youth Activism Interview with Manik of the Native Youth Movement and Skeena Reece

References

1. ^ OMB, Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (1997)
2. ^ Chang, Jeff; DJ Kool Herc (2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Macmillan. ISBN 031230143X. 
3. ^ "Russel Means Homepage". http://www.russellmeans.com/. 
4. ^ Wiltz, Teresa (2002-12-26). "The Ever-Changing Face of Hip-Hop; As It Went From the Streets to the Suites, Photographer Ernie Paniccioli Was There". The Washington Post. 
5. ^ "Solé website". http://www.strictlysole.com/. 
6. ^ "Litefoot". http://www.litefoot.com/music/biography.php. 
7. ^ "Old Dirty Bastard of Shinnecock descent". http://tripatlas.com/Shinnecock_Indian_Nation. 
8. ^ "Montreal DMC 2004". http://www.djgeometrix.com/message_board/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1849. 
9. ^ "Moncton DMC 2005". http://www.brockwayent.com/acnewsletter/20050706.txt. 
10. ^ "North Bay DMC 2005". http://www.vibez.ca/v2.5/msgboardposts.asp?Topic=1107. 
11. ^ "Warparty: The Great Natives from the North". Redwire magazine. Archived from the original on 2006-05-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20060519040711/http://www.redwiremag.com/warparty.htm. Retrieved June 21, 2005. 
12. ^ "Native hip hop poised for breakthrough". Aboriginal.ca. March 5, 2004. Archived from the original on 2004-11-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20041107004520/http://www.aboriginal.ca/portal/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=33. Retrieved June 21, 2005. 
13. ^ Loftus, Johnny. "Review of Hatchet Warrior". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r634567. Retrieved 2 January 2009. 
14. ^ "Charts and awards for Hatchet Warrior". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r634567. Retrieved 2008-08-25. 
15. ^ "Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards". http://www.aboriginalpeopleschoice.com/3200C10_2T4T3T17.dhtm?eid103=62&cs103=Category.Best+Group+or+Duo. 
16. ^ "ReverbNation". http://www.reverbnation.com/reddnation. 
17. ^ "Archive.org". http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.geocities.com/nativehiphop/index.html.  link for the Native Hip Hop website.