MTV Rebel Music: Native America (review)

i, along with many indigenous people, waited with enthusiasm for the November 2014 premiere of the MTV Rebel Music: Native America. In a renewed moment of Indigenous activism in North America, seeing the nationally televised documentary, especially the combination of hip-hop and Indigenous activism, was truly a historical event.

The entire advisory board to the production team for Rebel Music consisted of Indigenous people, ranging from Cherokee to Esselen/Ohlone, from both Canada and the United States. In a time where Indigenous people are challenging colonialism in a variety of ways, including through social media and film, the documentary helped contribute to that struggle by showcasing contemporary artists who are not bound by settler imaginaries. There are many hip-hop-themed documentaries of the culture itself and individual artists, but this is the first to focus on Indigenous acts.

The documentary features the artists Frank Waln (Sicangu Lakota), Inez Jasper (Kole First Nation), Nataanii Means (Dakota, Dine, Oglala Lakota), and Mike “Witko” Cliff (Oglala Lakota). They cover issues of youth suicide, activism against the construction of the Keystone Pipeline through Indian Country, the missing and murdered Indigenous women, the #NativeLivesMatter movement, and how those issues influence their art. Frank Waln argues, “I definitely think there’s a connection between traditional storytelling and hip-hop. My people have been storytelling for thousands of years, and this is just a new way to tell our stories.” This is a powerful point. Indigenous artists’ engagement with hip-hop culture illustrates that they are informed by history but not confined to it.

The documentary, though, is not all about hip-hop. Its presentation of the struggles of Native people on reservations and its connection to hip-hop is commendable. Those challenges include the many missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, youth suicide, and police brutality. As Inez Jasper suggests, “It’s the system that’s to blame, and the system needs to take responsibility.”

Although the production was great and the music excellent, there are at least three lingering questions for the documentary. First, what is the history of Indigenous hip-hop in North America? There are more than a few hiphop history texts, but we still know very little about the origins of hip-hop in Indigenous North America. While we want to show that Native people are products of the present—perhaps we might call this modernity—we cannot overlook that history.

My second question is this: how does urban space influence these artists? We know that, today, in both the United States and Canada, the majority of Native people live in cities. Yet there was no discussion of the importance of urban space, and how that contributed to the development of these artists. Yes, they come from reservation communities, but they are also influenced by other spaces. If hip-hop is anything, it is tied to the urban, and there are several urban scenes in the documentary. In fact, the artists attended a climate change march and recorded some dope songs together in New York City, the birthplace of hip-hop culture.

Finally, what is the link between blackness and Indigeneity? It is difficult to understand any form of hip-hop without a clear discussion of blackness. Indigenous hip-hop presents for us an opportunity to examine the intersections of blackness and Indigeneity that remain narrowly confined to certain academic subjects. For instance, while Cliff is speaking to youth on his rez, one cannot help but notice that he is wearing a T-shirt that has on its front the cover of the late Notorious B.I.G.’s album Ready to Die (1994). What is it about Christopher Wallace with which Cliff might be able to identify? Perhaps it is the ubiquitous presence of death that is always a part of black and Indigenous men.

This brilliant documentary is timely and necessary, and a welcome contribution to Indigenous popular cultural studies, Indigenous studies, hip-hop studies, and the public. Yet we need more. Hopefully MTV Rebel Music: Native America is the beginning of a host of works...