Canadian Hip Hop - First Nations Hip Hop

First Nations Hip Hop

Hip hop is also a prominent influence on contemporary First Nations youth culture, spearheaded by artists such as Winnipeg's Most, Kinnie Starr, War Party, Eekwol, Inez Jasper, Joey Stylez, Lil Pappie, Plex, Anish, Tru Rez Crew, Samian, A Tribe Called Red and Team Rezofficial. First Nations hip hop artists typically perform a style which blends hip hop with traditional First Nations music.

David Dacoine, a member of Tribal Wizdom, has hosted workshops across Canada encouraging aboriginal youth to take up hip hop as a method of creative expression and self-empowerment. Anish created the first ever First Nations Hip Hop Festival; subsequently, the event was held at Pasqua, Saskatchewan in 2004. The Aboriginal Voices radio network also airs a weekly program, hosted by Plex, devoted to First Nations hip hop.

In 2009, Team Rezofficial became the first aboriginal hip hop group with a song on the RapCity Top Ten. The song "Lonely" went to number one. In the same year, Manitoba's Native Communications radio network launched Streetz FM, a hip hop station in Winnipeg which was Canada's first radio station marketed primarily to aboriginal youth.