RED CLOUD
Red Cloud is a member of
the Huichol Tribe of Northern
Mexico. He was raised in California and currently lives in Los Angeles. He is an extremely talented and creative Native American hip hop artist. This year he was named Freestyle Champion five weeks in a row by Power 106, the world’s most popular hip hop radio station. Along with Crystle Lightning, he formed the hip hop group Lightning Cloud and won the 2012 Aboriginal People’s choice Best Hip Hop CD
Who was your inspiration when you were growing up?
My inspirations growing up were always musical. As a youngster I was really into Elvis Presley—I thought he was the coolest dude in the world and I wanted to be just like him.
One of my inspirations growing up was Dr. Dre—I just thought he was the best thing that ever happened to music since Elvis. He just completely changed the whole scene. Everything was so colourful and bright; then he comes in with this reality check. “Hey it’s not all beautiful. Check it out ... we’re struggling out in Compton.” Which you could relate with coming from the rez. Everything is all cute and beautiful then you look at parts of Indian Country and it’s like, “Hey ... red flag ... help!”
Were there any issues you dealt with as a young per- son that you see young people dealing with today?
I know that there’s a lot of bullying going on and I hated it as a kid, and I always stood up for the little guy, and defended the victim from bullies. I have a soft spot in my heart for victims of bullying. It happens a lot, and I don’t stand for it at all.
I’m really big on self-defence, and on jujitsu, to really help break down a bully. I think that every person should learn to stand up for themselves, and if the person can’t stand up for themselves, then someone that can, should. Bullies are jerks. Bullies are
also a sad case, because they probably have stuff happening to them. Those people grow up to be adults and become even bigger bullies. I had a rough childhood, which has helped shape me into being a person that can’t stand bullies.
What is the role of a leader in the community?
A leader in a community won’t stand for any injustice. A leader sees things going one way and the people are blindly
like, “Oh well, that’s the way.” And a leader will say that it doesn’t have to be like that. Leaders are driven for change; they are there to put an end to injustice. Their role in the community is not just to lead by example, but to have a strong voice and to be able to gather, and command, and speak—not only with force, but also with love.
What advice would you give to young musicians who want to make music?
There’s no better time to be alive than right now. Look at what happened in our hip hop group. We tried, and we tried, and we tried. We’ve been rocking it forever and now we are finally blowing up. We are finally going to work with Timbaland. We are finally going to be on the radio—just a couple of Native kids making it happen in Los Angeles. And the reason why is because we set our boundaries high.
We are blessed to be in a big city where I’m not competing against just Natives; I’m competing against this Black kid over here, this Mexican kid over here, this Asian kid over here. I live in a world where if you’re dope, you’re dope; if you’re blessed, you’re blessed. In my world, maybe I’m naïve, I live in a place where it doesn’t matter the colour of your skin. It matters how you throw down. That’s what hip hop is, and I’ve always believed that.
I’ve been trying to beat the best of the best, that’s what I’ve been doing with Crystle and DJ Hydro. My first rap battle was in sixth grade and I competed with everybody that rappedin my school. I grew up in a city next to Compton where everybody and their mom raps. I went to high school with the Dogg Pound and Snoop Dogg’s crew, and I rap battled every day. People would line up to battle me every day, because I was hungry. I wasn’t trying to be some kind of carbon copy of someone else. I was trying to be an original MC. I was trying to find myself and sharpen my craft.
I think every Native youth, no matter what they do . . . basketball, rap, or produce beats, there is no better time than now. One of the greatest golfers is a Black guy. One of the greatest basketball players is a Chinese guy. One of the greatest rappers in the world is this white boy from Detroit. There’s no better time in the world to be Indigenous than right now. Give it all you got. Give it all your heart—it’s our time to shine.
We are on the radio right now and we are planning on taking over the world. When you have people like us, and Joey Stiles, A Tribe Called Red, and Winnipeg’s Most . . . those are some dudes from the rez getting down. Their talent is to make moves; that gets my blood going, and makes me so happy. Let the youth know that. We are Aboriginal. We are the first people. We are the originals, which means we are original.
We need to come up with some original stuff in this music business; whether it’s R&B, rock, rap, or whatever, we just need to keep killing it, because there’s no time like right now.
We finally have that space. I feel that our ancestors have treaded the waters to give us this space. The seventh generation . . . it’s a prophecy. Ask your elders. It’s a prophecy that the people will be reborn through the arts.
What is your vision for your community?
I don’t believe in the reservation. I don’t believe in puttingus all in this little hole and hiding us from the entire world. I believe that this entire continent from the top of Canada to the bottom of South America belongs to the Red Man, andI think we should be able to migrate and move wherever the heck we want. I don’t stand for “Oh this is just a Native thing.” I think we sacrifice that piece of crap land that they gave us... scraps from their table, and I say we exchange that for the entire continent. This is the movement called 1491. We need to think forward. We are fighting over little things, and I believe that we need to fight for our continent. Not in an evil or hurtful way but in a peaceful way. We are the true collective owners of this continent. If we could find a way to be one—like Idle No More—we need to be one nation, one tribe, and have one voice.
What role should our traditions and culture have in the lives of our native american youth, both in an urban and rural setting?
We cannot forget our culture; we cannot forget our roots. We should to do everything we possibly can to soak up any knowledge that came before us—the knowledge from our ancestors. I need to learn my language; I need to learn to bead. We have the best beadwork on the planet. Everyone should take the time to have their culture be a bigger part of their lifestyle. It doesn’t necessarily mean walking around in moccasins and buckskin. It’s about learning your language, knowing your history, and sharing it with your little brother and your friends. Culture needs to be a bigger part of your life, no matter what you do.
Why is education important for our young people and their communities?
You have to know what the heck you’re talking about.You must be educated; it’s mandatory. Did you knowin Tenochtitlan, Mexico in the 1400s before any of the Europeans came here, school was mandatory? That’s not something new to us—education has been Indigenous forever. Whether you’re a warrior or a farmer, everyone was educated. So don’t think education is uncool or non-Native or anything ridiculous like that. Education is something that the enemy would love to see you not have so they can keep taking away everything you have.
Did you have to overcome specific challenges to get to where you are today?
Oh man, everything, everything. I was abused by my birth mother’s boyfriends; I ended up being adopted. Like a lot of people I didn’t have a relationship with my dad. Also being Native and brown in a Black high school and junior high school. But everything that I’ve ever been through helpedme become the man I am today . . . with sensitivity and understanding for certain subjects. That just makes you the person you are when you’re big, and it stems from little things that happened to you when you were growing up.
I really think that the youth need to keep their heads up.No matter what you’re going through it’s only going to make you stronger, and it’s only going to teach you what you need to learn for the path that Creator has chosen for you. Your challenges will transform into your strengths, so keep your head up.
It’s important that our young people know they are not alone. That’s a definite plus. Creator is there with them weeping right there next to them. I really believe that nobody is alone. Everybody has such precious story. No matter what you go through, learn from those lessons—whether it’s what to do, or what not to do. I learned a lot of what not to do; I learned a lot of things the hard way.
A lot people in my family struggled with crack, so just watching what it does to people, I learned. I saw that, and sadly that’s what it took for me to never try anything like that. My daddy was never there for me; my mommy was never there for me. Now I have a son, and I can’t be away from my kid for more than a day. He is the most precious, beautiful thing. I almost cry just thinking that somebody could let this kid go. What dad can let his little boy go? What kind of mom could let her little boy go? Sometimes you learn from bad things how to be a good person.
