Idle No More: The Indigenous Peoples' Movement

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day

#IndigenousPeoplesDay poster by Native artist Jackie Fawn showcasing young Indigenous organizers.

S/O to Remy, Naelyn, MC Rhetorik, Van and all the amazing Indigenous organizers and community members putting in much work for the struggle!

DOWNLOAD: Staying Underground Mixtape – Collaborator 25: Culturite

Download a hype, collaborative mixtape between Staying Underground and RPM’s Culturite.

And it’s only fitting that we drop this new collab on October 12th—Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Let’s make this a time to reorient our attention away from the evils of colonial marauders, and toward the celebration of Indigenous life—and the music that unites us in struggle for a more decolonized world.

DOWNLOAD: The imagineNATIVE 2015 Mixtape, Featuring GlitClit, Madeskimo, and Akkil

RPM is pleased to present the 2015 imagineNATIVE mixtape, as part of the festival’s 16th annual celebration of Indigenous creativity.

On Saturday, October 17, imagineNATIVE will present a live music performance night “The Beat DJ POW! WOW!” — featuring electronic sets from GlitClit (Lido Pimienta), Madeskimo, and Akkil.

To get you hyped for the show, we’ve assembled a fresh, new mixtape featuring all three of the artists performing at the show.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE: http://rpm.fm/music/download-imaginenative-2015-mixtape/

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s advice to young activists 

BUFFY SAINTE MARIE, AT 74, HAS JUST WON THE POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE

That’s Indigenous Music. Indigenous women. Two years in a row.

STAND UP.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip on Unist'ot'en Camp Raid

The RCMP are gathering their troops. The raid could come any minute.

#STANDUP

DOWNLOAD: The Aboriginal Music Week Mixtape by Boogey the Beat

RPM and Aboriginal Music Week are joining forces for an epic closing night party this year. Check our exclusive AMW Mixtape to get a taste of what’s to come.

Featuring Tall Paul, Mariame, Hellnback, Mic Jordan, Exquisite Ghost, Boogey the Beat and more. 

Tansi everyone, I’m working as a producer with VICE on a new documentary television series that will focus on global Indigenous struggles and resistance—and we’re looking for potential hosts for the show:

• Indigenous women and men, age: 24-32 (approx) • Knowledgeable about, and interested in, global Indigenous issues and politics • Articulate, good sense of humour, and able to think on their feet

This is a great opportunity to explore the complex, contemporary realities that Indigenous communities are facing around the world. Please share with anyone you think would be a good fit, and forward suggestions or recommendations to me c/o [email protected].

25 Years After Oka, It’s Still All About the Land

Aboriginal Music Week Closing Night Concert, to Feature Tall Paul, Mariame, Hellnback, T-Rhyme, and Boogey the Beat 

RPM is proud to present an incredible night of Indigenous hip-hop, R&B, and trap music to conclude Aboriginal Music Week 2015.

The closing night of Aboriginal Music Week is the very definition of #IndigenousExcellence.

This year, RPM is partnering with AMW to bring you a concert featuring some of Indian Country’s fastest rising hip-hop stars: Tall Paul, Mariame, Hellnback, T-Rhyme, and Boogey the Beat.

An accomplished young producer with a gift for booming beats and hypnotic melodies, Anishinaabe artist Boogey the Beat will bless us with his trap-infused rhythms. N’we Jinan artist and rising Cree R&B singer, Mariame, will be joining us from Quebec to perform songs from her recently released debut EP, Bloom. And, hailing from Saskatoon by way of Edmonton, self-described femcee T-Rhyme will bring her ‘ATCQ to Jean Grae’-influenced hip-hop styles to the stage.

Rounding out this already incredible lineup, acclaimed Samson Cree hip-hop heavyweight and 2015 Indigenous Music Awards nominee, Hellnback, will give shine to tracks from his brand new record, F.O.E. (#FamilyOverEverything).

And, all the way live from Leech Lake, Minnesota, via the Twin Cities, legendary Anishinaabe MC Tall Paul will be spitting his immaculate flows over fire-filled hip-hop productions.

This is a closing party without compare and a showcase of what’s next in native hip-hop and Indigenous music. You don’t want to miss it.

DECOLONIZE AMERICA.

O Kanata Day: Watch Mohawk Artist Jackson 2bears Break Down Colonial “Heritage Mythologies”

Happy Anti-Canada Day—it’s time to celebrate the country’s Original Peoples.

That’s right, we said it.

In a year of reconciliation, on a nationalized holiday of mostly mindless settler celebration, what better time than now to acknowledge not only the long and continuing history of colonialism that has built Canadians’ Homes on Native Land, but also the strength and resilience of the Indigenous Nations and societies that predated the arrival of Europeans on our shores?

That’s what Kanien’kehá:ka DJ/VJ and multimedia artist Jackson 2bears is doing.

DOWNLOAD: A Tribe Called Red’s Killer Remix of Buffy Ste Marie’s “Working for the Government”

A Tribe Called Red drops a free single on this most colonial of national holidays.

And that song is none other than a 2015 remix of legendary Cree singer Buffy Sainte Marie‘s classic “Working for the Government”. In A Tribe Called Red‘s capable hands, the song transforms from an already upbeat anthem into a rockin’, four-on-the-floor, dancefloor destroyer.

Mixing politics and partying you say? Ironically celebrating Canada, you say? Sounds like a perfect pairing.

And what could be more CanCon than a collab between the first lady of Indigenous song, and one of the newly dubbed Top 10 Canadian Bands of All Time?