In this journal article, Chris Lalonde highlights the work of Hip Hop artist Quese IMC, an Indigenous rapper with a strong footing in political lyricism. What drew me to this article was that Lalonde writes at length about how Quese uses sampling to make political statements. This is is an important piece of the puzzle for my final project for this course. I have read many articles about how Hip Hop is used by Indigenous artists to promote decolonization, I have also read a lot about how Indigenous youth are affected by Hip Hop, specifically Hip Hop that discusses issues they are dealing with. What I am now starting to look for is more specifically how indigenous artists are using technology to promote these ideas. For example, Quese has a song called “Mad” where he samples an angry voice mail message from his father, who was an alcoholic and had issues with rage. as Lalonde points out:
“Mad,” is a message from his father. In that song and elsewhere, Quese chronicles the hard truth of his father’s struggleswith alcohol, with the rage that would boil up at times when a twelve pack would not cause everything to “just fade away.”
Furthermore:
The father’s recorded voice in “Mad” needs to be situated as part of the song’s foregrounding of and emphasis on media and recording technologies. The song begins in the studio, with Quese checking the microphone and asking for more volume in his headphones. The stress on amplification gives way as the conversation continues to an explanation of the song that
Quese, the producer, and the engineer are about to record. However, we only hear Quese’s side of the conversation. As such, the opening of “Mad” serves to highlight presence and absence and how technology can mediate both.
This article has helped me thing about how technology, Hip Hop, and indigenous issues merge. It will be a great source for my final project.
Click the image below to access the article
LaLONDE, C., & CHRIS LaLONDE. (02/01/2015). Mediating indianness Michigan State University Press.