By Isabella Lopes

Meet Snotty Nose Rez Kids (SNRK): the duo of Haisla rappers who express their Indigenous experience through hip hop

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We took some time off on our homelands to do what we needed to do to reground ourselves and refocus after an amazing year of touring 🌹 2020 has already proven that we have a fuck load of work to do!! The vision is clearer than ever ✊🏽✊🏽 Big things to come 🙅🏽‍♂️🧢 #minaymovement

A post shared by 🧪Snotty Nose Rez Kids🧪 (@snottynoserezkids) on Jan 6, 2020 at 11:21am PST

Photo courtesy snottynoserezkids via Instagram

Darren “Young D” Metz and Quinton “Yung Trybez” Nyce are Indigenous rappers from Kitimat, B.C. The duo grew up on a reserve near a predominantly white town and bonded over music, writing, and the similar challenges they faced growing up.

In 2016, they sought refuge in hip hop and began making music about the unwelcoming world to Indigenous peoples. This month, they will be headlining at the nearly sold-out Fireside Festival in Kelowna, B.C.

In 2017, SNRK released two albums, a self-titled debut album in January, followed by The Average Savage in September. They started gaining public attention after their single “Skoden” — a phrase used in Indigenous communities meaning “Let’s go then” — made CBC’s list of 2017’s top 100 songs.

The song focuses on Justin Trudeau’s approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. Lyrics in the song include, “Put a fist in the sky for the Sioux Tribe. Middle fingers up to the pipelines.”

Video courtesy Snotty Nose Rez Kids on YouTube

Their album The Average Savage was then shortlisted for the 2018 Polaris Music Prize and for the 2019 Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year.

SNRK aren’t the only Indigenous artists on the rise, which is evident in Juno nominations. There have been several Indigenous nominees and winners outside of the Indigenous music category.

In 2018, A Tribe Called Red, an electronic music band composed of Indigenous peoples and based out of Ottawa, won the Juno for Group of the Year. Buffy Sainte-Marie, an Indigenous singer-songwriter from Saskatchewan, won the Juno for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year in 2016.

Within hip hop, artists like Frank Waln, JB The First Lady, Mic Jordan, DJ Shub, and SNRK, have earned thousands of streams on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Music.

SNRK’s most recent album, TRAPLINE, dropped last spring and has been streamed over 3-million times. The album kept on the Earshot Top 10 Hip-Hop charts for over 20 weeks and was shortlisted for the 2019 Polaris Prize, making them one of three artists to ever be shortlisted in back-to-back years.

Video courtesy Snotty Nose Rez Kids via YouTube

A statement on SNRK’s website says they are spending a lot of time in the studio this year to create new music.

The duo will be playing this weekend at Lot42 in Kitchener, Ont.

By: Andrea Josic & Raizel Harjosubroto Toronto’s TDOT era is coming to a close after rappers like Kardinal Offishall and Rascalz coined the term “T.O.” a decade ago. When artists like Drake and The Weeknd put the city on the map, The ‘6ix’ became Toronto’s new nickname. 6ix Rising, a new documentary by VICE, follows the journeys of the city’s emerging rappers and how they made a name for themselves on the rap scene.

The documentary features artists Prime Boys, Friyie, Big Lean, CMDWN, Jazz Cartier and Pressa. Director Shawney Coney explores their stories, how the city influences their music and how they are on the verge of fame.

It opens with Jimmy Prime of Prime Boys, a rap collective consisting of himself, Donnie and Jay Whiss. A rap collective is different from a rap group because while the rappers collaborate to make music, each artist has their own discography as well. Growing up in the Esplanade, Prime and his friends created Prime Boys and focused on rap in order to stay out of trouble.

“I invented the ‘6’,” says Jimmy Prime. “The ‘6’ is a new brand for the city. I felt like no one was taking the city seriously.”

Rapper Friyie was inspired by the different cultures and musical sounds in his neighbourhood of southside Jane and Finch to make music.

A few months after he graduated from York University, Friyie performed his hit single Money Team at the T-Mobile arena before the Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor fight in August.

“It’s crazy how life works,” said Friyie after watching Mayweather working out to his music. “I was a young kid just working and trying to spit motivational music and it was able to motivate a legend like Floyd Mayweather.”

In December 2015, rapper Big Lean lost his close friend, Lotto Max, in a drive-by in Parma Court, a public housing project neighbourhood in Scarborough. Although he lost the partner with whom he created the rap collective Da Degrees, Big Lean stays motivated to pursue music.

“I’m going to go hard for what he wanted and what I wanted,” says Big Lean. “He’s working up there and I’m working down here until we meet again.”

CMDWN, pronounced “come down,” a Toronto rap collective consisting of Fiji and Ca$tro Guapo, was originally known for hosting house parties in a one-bedroom apartment above a bar.

Ca$tro Guapo’s family is from South Jane and Fiji’s mom lives on Parliament and Shuter. Coming from rough parts of the city, CMDWN uses music as an escape.

“Music, to us, is a gateway to freedom to do what we want and live how we want,” said Fiji.

As the duo’s personalities gained laughter from the audience throughout the screening, it’s evident that CMDWN’s chemistry attracts various crowds.

“We’re opening doors for people that are different,” said Fiji. “Our fans vary from hipsters to weirdos, to hood n*****.”

Toronto-born Jazz Cartier claims the city as his home. He looks down upon artists who leave Toronto for the U.S. to pursue music because when they return, he feels they can’t claim the city as their own.

“Your city has to f*** with you before anyone f***s with you,” said Cartier, in regards to creating music in your hometown.

Despite the respect he has for the city, Jay Whiss of Prime Boys feels that an artist needs to go to the U.S. in order to make it big.

“We get caught, we can’t go to the States,” Whiss stresses the importance of keeping a clean record. “That’s the number one market. So if we can’t get there, it’s useless. There’s only so much you can do in Canada.”

Pressa originates from the Driftwood neighbourhood near Jane and Finch. Pressa has been unable to tour in the U.S. because of a criminal record.

His career started as an opening act on Drake’s Boy Meets World tour. Last May, Pressa’s show in London, England was cancelled due to negative press around his arrest in early 2016.

“I have better things and better plans for my future,” Pressa said when reading his allegations. “I’m just trying to work and have a better life than where I came from.”

While these rappers have gained local attention, they have yet to take their fame outside of the country.

Whiss acknowledges that it’s difficult to break through. “A lot of people in Toronto have a spotlight as if they’re a big artist already,” said Whiss. “The pressure of having to take it to that next level and getting there, it’s hard.”

In a Q & A session after the screening, Coney said that he is looking into making a documentary about music producers who are more established, with 10 or more years of experience in Toronto’s music industry.

The full Noisey documentary can be viewed here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmEfBgESjKk