We Are the Halluci Nation is a stellar 4.5 out of 5 stars
A Tribe Called Red (ATCR) rose to prominence through their creative amalgamation of sounds that blends powwow drum groups with elements of drum and bass, dubstep, hip-hop, trance, and electro, which some have dubbed “powwow-step.” With their new album We Are the Halluci Nation, A Tribe Called Red delivered political purpose. The group decided to use their platform to voice the Indigenous perspective in a time where Indigenous issues and cultures across the world continue to be silenced.
At the beginning of A Tribe Called Red’s career, Ian “DJ NDN” Campeau noticed, “We had a platform where people were going to listen to what we were going to say, and we should probably use that properly right now and just bring some sort of awareness,” according to a Pitchfork review.
“We Are the Halluci Nation is loud and defiant in its anti-colonial message.”
We Are the Halluci Nation is loud and defiant in its anti-colonial message. Like the powwow drum, the album enters into your core spiritually and speaks to you politically. A mere generation separates us from when the Canadian government sought to silence Indigenous cultures by removing their children. Now in 2016, A Tribe Called Red beats the drum in an apt coalition of electronic sounds and current political critiques to strive for reconciliation and justice.
Words from the late Santee Sioux poet John Trudell open the record stating, “We are the evolution, we are the continuation.” Through their new album, ATCR seeks to evolve and promote Indigenous cultures across the globe, and encourages Indigenous peoples to resist the phenomenon of living in a world that is fundamentally not their own.
“We are the evolution, we are the continuation.”
Two interludes feature Canadian novelist Joseph Boyden giving an emotional and politically-charged monologue discussing the Indigenous plight. The interludes take the form of two phone calls to a prison delving into issues like residential schools and the missing and murdered Indigenous women. Both injustices are caused by and symptoms of colonial rule.
But this project is not only about First Nations culture and sounds—rather it celebrates all indigeneity from Africa to the Middle East. It is cross-national and inclusive. The first single of the album, “RED,” features Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) and Iraqi-Canadian rapper Yasiin “MC Narcy” Alsalman. The track is a hard-hitting rap banger that features political raps over the Black Bear drum group, all coming together to set a defiant and unforgiving tone. MC Narcy then critiques corporate power in our capitalist age spitting, “Coca-Cola soul controller holy waters.”
“It is a testament to a world without barriers where the word ‘Indigenous’ can include all communities, woven together through reconciliation and respect.”
Every track on the album draws from sounds and communities across the globe. From throat-singing in the relentless “Sila,” to joik chants over soft and soothing drums of “Enan,” ATCR does not respect nor abide arbitrary borders. The album is a celebration of globalization. It is a testament to a world without barriers where the word “Indigenous” can include all communities, woven together through reconciliation and respect.
Features from Saul Williams, Shad, Yasiin Bey, and Leonard Sumner give voice to the hip-hop elements of the album and diversifies the soundscapes. In contrast, Lido Pimienta and Jennifer Kreisberg lay vocals down for more traditional electronic dance tracks.
“Members of the Halluci Nation are anybody who is willing to accept they need to learn how to treat other people like humans,” says ACTR’s Bear Witness in a Pitchfork article. At a time when refugees are labelled terrorists, and globalization is seemingly at a tipping point, ATCR graces us with an inclusive treatise that unites us all without catering to the oppressive null of “all lives matter.”