Music of shared continents
Music is both pax and protest. In Montréal, Canada, white rappers use a linguistic formula of their own to bridge the traditional difference between French speaking and English speaking Canadians. Add the Indian diaspora into the equation, the mix gets more eclectic. The track ‘Screaming Indian’—native Indian tribes, not our desi immigrant—by the rapper duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids (“Young D” Metz and Quinton “Yung Trybez” Nyce) and producer Skinny Local is a fitting representation of this crossover combination. The rappers are Haislas from British Columbia—the traditional natives of the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Skinny Local, is a Vancouver-based Indian origin Canadian-Indian trapwave producer. Described as ‘a joyous yet rowdy celebration of solidarity’, their fresh Hip Hop track looks at recent events in an increasingly polarising world.
The music of Snotty Nose Rez Kids reverberates fierce community pride. They blend trap beats with intricate lyricism to break away from the cultural stereotypes of their people. Skinny Local is best known for creating upbeat and futuristic music, spun off popular tonalities from existing songs, whose own cultural mocktail has influenced his music greatly. Skinny was born in an Indian family in Durban, South Africa.The track ‘Screaming Indian’ originated during a jam session in the famed Snakes x Ladders studio almost two years ago, between Snotty Nose Rez Kids and music producer Tarun Nayar.
In 2020, Skinny Local breathed new life into the song. The shared pain of their turbulent colonial history drew the Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Skinny Local to collaborate on the track. “Make no mistake; this is not a government-sanctioned display of ‘multiculturalism’. This is an in-your-face vision of what is actually happening right now in our streets and neighbourhoods. It is real, raw and inspiring. Through ‘Screaming Indian’, we are unabashedly reclaiming our voice, and celebrating our culture and identity. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics fly in the face of all the racism that indigenous and Indian people have endured through colonialism,” the talented artists say when asked about the message their song is trying to convey.
Breaking away from the norm, the peppy video features Garba dancers as well as Native American Pow Wow dancers. The track stays true to its Hip Hop roots, while flirting with elements of the melodious instrumentalism that defines Indian music. This creative collaboration ensures a fresh and raw vibe. It is a perfect amalgamation of cultures between the Native American/indigenous and Indian communities, which is highly creative and thoroughly impactful. East or West, India is best.
In a nutshell
The Haisla Nation is inhabited by the Haisla people, who were the traditional inhabitants of the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia At present, there exist only about 1,700 inhabitants that identify with the Haisla community all over the world.The idea of the collaboration came to life when Snotty Nose Rez Kids played at a celebratory event with the ‘Delhi 2 Dublin’ musical group in 2017, for the newly elected NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. The title ‘Screaming Indian’ is inspired by the erstwhile logo of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, which was the ‘Screaming Savage’. The team was forced to retire it because of the outrage of indigenous activists who viewed the logo as racist. The Braves tried to bring it back in 2013, infuriating the community further.