M1 P3: Snotty Nose Rez Kidz

For my third post, I am drawn back to the question of how to amplify Indigenous voices, especially for the youth. I have heard a lot about the hip hop group Snotty Nose Rez Kidz. Growing up on the Kitamaat Village reservation in northwest BC, they fuse indgenous culture with a modern hip hop sound. They have acheived immense success, most recently winning Hip Hop Album of the Year at the first ever International Indigenous Music Awards.

They counter indenous stereotypes by embracing them and taking ownership of them:

Though they’ve heard of kids being sent home from school for wearing a T-shirt with their band’s name on it and had a (now former) manager who insisted they change it to something more palatable, the Rez Kids say it’s important to embrace negative language that has been directed toward Indigenous people in Canada and claim it as a point of pride.

“When we interact with these slurs, we are confronting them, deconstructing them and regurgitating them to create our own impressions that exemplify us as the strong, creative, and intelligent Savages we know ourselves to be,” they wrote in liner notes to their album, The Average Savage.

Not only do they amplify indigenous culture, they produce fantastic hip hop, using impressive flow to communicate ideas. Some of my favourite lines so far:

“Smudging before judging.”- Screaming Indian

“She not pochahontis, more like Buffy Saint Marie,” (refering to his wife)-Boujee Natives

As I continue to encounter new modern Indigenous music, I look forward to learning more about this genre which is terribly under appreciated.

CBC Article:

Click below to read more about their recent award for Best Hip Hop Album at the first ever International Indigenous Music award:

Friend, David. “Snotty Nose Rez Kids Lead First-Ever International Indigenous Hip Hop Awards Nominees | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 26 Jan. 2021, www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/indigenous-hip-hop-award-1.5888427.

Kurjata, Andrew. “How Haisla Hip-Hop Duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids Took on Stereotypes and Won Fans in 2017 | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 1 Jan. 2018, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/snotty-nose-rez-kids-2017-1.4468282.