How Black and Indigenous communities have connected through rap

For Canadian hip-hop, 1991 was pivotal. Not only did it mark the debut release from the first Canadian woman MC, Michie Mee, but also the debut from jazz-rap pioneers Dream Warriors. It's when the "Northern Touch" hitmaking group Rascalz formed. And it's the year the Juno Awards introduced a category for rap music.

It was also the year that the godfather of Canadian hip-hop, Maestro Fresh Wes, released the critical song "Nothin' at All." The fiery track explored the parallels of how systemic racism affected both Black and Indigenous communities:

Listen, I want an explanation,
Why are Mohawks being kicked out of their reservations?
And being put in misery,
You're stealing the land to create sporting facilities.

The Native man of the land is who you're killing,
And then got the nerve to celebrate Thanksgiving,
Claiming every man is equal,
I hate to see what y'all got planned for my people.

"I think about Maestro's 'Nothin' at All' and it's such a tradition in hip-hop, to acknowledge those links," says rap artist Shad, who has collaborated with Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Tanya Tagaq and more. "The solidarity is a tradition of that. That's what consciousness means to me, in music and hip-hop, [it's] raising these histories and raising these connections that are often covered up."

Since hip-hop's early years, Black and Indigenous musicians have used their music as a way to spotlight inequality. One of hip-hop's early trailblazers was Black and Cherokee MC Grandmaster Melle Mel, a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The American rapper penned socially conscious songs about marginalization, including one of the genre's most influential tracks, "The Message."

"If you go all the way back to 'The Message' [by] Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, they were talking about what was going on in New York at the time and in certain neighbourhoods that were just left to rot, really, and talking about it in this direct, really frank way that I'm not sure music had really seen before," says Shad.

"That's why [hip-hop] exists, as a tool for oppressed people to be heard," says Afro-Indigenous rapper Mamarudegyal MTHC.

Although Maestro, Michie Mee, Dream Warriors and other Black artists were some of the first to find success in Canadian hip-hop, Indigenous artists such as Kinnie Starr, War Party and Rez Official were also making waves when the genre started to gain momentum in the country during the '90s. They each released candid songs tackling similar themes of racism, injustice and more.

In 2019, Mamarudegyal MTHC explored these connections between Black and Indigenous musicians in The Foundation: Indigenous Hip-Hop in Canada, a documentary that analyzed the rise of Indigenous rappers.

Hip-hop has always lent itself well to speaking directly to power and speaking in a really bold and candid way.- Shad

"We have the drum and we have the DJ, we have MCs, we have storytellers, we have the break dancers and the fancy dancers and the powwow dancers, and so there's quite a bit of parallel," she says of the cultural similarities.

"In the film, there was a shot of [rapper Mama 'S'] who says, 'Hip-hop is our voice, it's the voice of our generation.' And because we don't have a connection to our language because it was taken from us, we feel drawn to hip-hop because it gives us an outlet and it gives us permission to speak angrily," she says. "It gives us permission to speak our angry thoughts in a way that's healing, builds community and is productive."

"Hip-hop has always lent itself well to speaking directly to power and speaking in a really bold and candid way," adds Shad.

Black and Indigenous rapper Boslen also says the shared connection between the two communities is "as real as possible." 

When the Indigenous and the Black communities come together, I think it's a beautiful thing because you can see the history of Canada through the stories of both of our people.- DJ Shub

"Specifically Black and Indigenous people, they've been fighting [for equal rights] a lot of their lives," he says, adding that it's natural for them to come together to make powerful music.  

In 2020, Mohawk DJ and producer DJ Shub collaborated with rapper Phoenix Pagliacci on the impassioned track "The Social," which details the ongoing trauma in both Black and Indigenous communities. Some verses speak directly to the repercussions of colonialism and others detail the significance of the Black Lives Matter movement, with Pagliacci spitting scorching lyrics that apply to both groups: 

You think we just cause all the problems,
You tell us that we caused them so we should solve them,
But when we ask for help to resolve them,
They take our identities and dissolve 'em.

After explaining the concept of a social to Pagliacci — Indigenous communities gathering to have fun, spend time together and check in on each other — Shub says she found "all the similarities about looking out for the community and what we need to do to keep our communities safe" and began writing the words.

"The connection was made there, and she understood what this whole thing was about," he says.

"When the Indigenous and the Black communities come together, I think it's a beautiful thing because … you can see the history of Canada through the stories of both of our people," he adds. "I just think it's very important that things like this are talked about and music is shared."

All proceeds from the track went to organizations supporting Black Lives Matter and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

From connecting in the studio to uniting in activism efforts, Shad says both communities continue to intersect. "Oftentimes we're not actually talking about different stories. It's the same story," he says. 

"There was precedent for that for me," he says. "I think about Maestro."

It's been more than 30 years since the release of "Nothin' at All," but Maestro's message of Black and Indigenous solidarity has persisted.

"When we come together collectively and listen and learn from each other's struggles, we can make this place better for everyone," Maestro said in a 2020 interview with Canadian Dimension."That's what I was saying in the early 1990s. That's what I'm still saying today. Without togetherness, we've got nothing at all."

The Block is counting down to hip-hop's anniversary by airing 50 stories over 50 days that focus on significant artists, events and moments in hip-hop history. The 50 stories will air nationwide each night on The Block on CBC Music until Aug. 11 to coincide with The Block Party.