The Indigenous rap group are touring to promote their most recent album, Red Future.
by Nick Krewen
Special to the Star
For Snotty Nose Rez Kids, all roads have led to the rap duo’s latest and most powerful album, Red Future.
The project — their first for a major label, Sony Canada — finds Darren “Young D” Metz and Quinton “Yung Trybez” Nyce, of Kitamaat Village in British Columbia, issuing an angry 16-track rallying cry to Indigenous people to rise and claim their power following centuries of colonialism, generations of mistreatment and the shameful and sometimes deadly agenda of cultural genocide that occurred within the walls of Canadian residential schools.
And true to the credo of these hip-hop artists from Haisla Nation — who headline the Opera House on Friday night — there’s no sugar-coating: “Welcome to My World,” the blistering opening track, clearly articulates the group’s stance.
“Welcome to my world, the darkness live within us,” they proclaim at one point.
“If the lord is our witness, why he cool with killing children?” they seethe later. “We livin’ in a state, ‘n’ it’s run by super villains.”
Their rage is palpable.
“It’s giving people an insight on what it’s like to come from where we come from,” Nyce said in a recent Zoom interview. “You know, we had it all and it was taken away from us. And just to see how the world has s—t on our people for hundreds of years. The way that I opened up my verse, it’s very right to the point. It’s very harsh.”
But Snotty Nose Rez Kids, who formed in 2016, have never shied away from controversy, tackling such issues as racism, clean water, mental health and reconciliation over their six-album career with aggressive electronic-driven beats, inventive melodies and rap discourse that is sometimes humorous but always as profound as it is provocative.
“We understand where we’re coming from, and we understand where we need to go,” Nyce explained. “And we understand what needs to be done to do that. When I say, ‘I see death between my fingers ‘cause I’m capable of killing,’ it’s just letting people know I’m a savage. And no matter what it is that I’ve gone through and that we’ve gone through as a people, it always has made us stronger.”
Nyce also says that there’s a resurgence occurring among Indigenous people that he describes as “a power move.”
“Like this song ‘Kaleidoscope’ — it’s just letting people know that we see the way that society has treated us since I’ve been born, since my grandparents were born, since their parents were born. Now, it’s time for us to move on and reclaim our power.”
While Nyce has seen society begin to acknowledge the extent of the injuries and atrocities inflicted on Canada’s original inhabitants, he also feels more people may be willing to listen more openly to what the Indigenous community has to offer.
“I definitely think so — and I think Red Future is an ode to that.”
The album, he says, is based on the concept of Indigenous Futurism.
“To me, Indigenous Futurism is being able to see ourselves in the future — whether it’s politics, fashion, sports, medicine or music, like us. It’s just being able to contribute to the time where Indigenous excellence is at the forefront. Our people are finally getting opportunities and being able to shine the way they deserve to shine.”
His partner, Metz, agrees.
“It’s us being able to see ourselves in the future: five, 10, 20, 30, 40, 100 years down the line,” he said. “I think that right now, the world is ready to hear pretty much what we’re capable of. And that is why we reclaim our power.”
But the opinions expressed on the album aren’t solely those of Snotty Nose Rez Kids. There’s a slew of Indigenous guests both domestic and international: veterans like Sundance Chief Rueben George (the Tsleil-Waututh Nation), Calgary Plains Cree rapper and activist Jeremiah “Drezus” Manitopyes and influential Afro-Indigenous and Puerto Rico rapper Princess Nokia, as well as newcomers Lakeeysha Marie (a Cree from the Okanagan Indian Band) and Dawson “North$ide Baby” Pastion-Bear (from the Dene Tha’ First Nation).
Metz said it was important for Red Future to include collaborators.
“This album is about bringing the up-and-comers to a bigger platform and just giving them a kick-start in their careers, because they are the future,” he explained. “But we can’t forget about the people that came before us. And that’s where guys like Rueben George and Drezus come in: the features worked out just beautifully because they were our top picks for these songs.
“We all come from the same place,” he added. “But at the same time, we all have a different point of view. Having all those unique POVs is what really made this album what it was.”
Nyce said other artists, like Aysanabee, Travis Thompson and Sebastian Gaskin, all had important roles on Red Future.
“We are very community based and community driven,” he said. “So, the idea of Red Future came from ‘by our people, for our people.’”
Whether it was having two-time Polaris Music Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher speak Maliseet-Passamaquoddy to introduce “Future Ancestors” or Australia’s Electric Fields provide a few verses in Anangu for the album’s title track, Metz and Nyce said the collaborations were largely organic, although they did provide direction when necessary.
“For example, we linked up with (Cree singer-songwriter) Tia Wood sometime early last year and we broke down what Red Future is to her. We were looking for a storyteller; someone to narrate the album,” Nyce said. “Tia’s voice is beautiful and just so powerful. All creative freedom was handed over to her. But at the same time, we did guide her in the studio.”
Nyce said overall, Red Future is an optimistic, positive statement.
“We’re trying to look at the light. We’re trying to look at the hope. We’re trying to see, where are we gonna go from here? We addressed everything that’s going on right here, right now. What are we gonna do for the next long run and the next generations?”
Metz said that for their live show — which includes current DJ Boogey the Beat — Snotty Nose Rez Kids put just as much care into choosing a set list that reflects such Polaris prize short-listers as 2017’s The Average Savage, 2019’s Trapline, 2021’s Life After and 2022’s “I’m Good, HBU?”
“We really dug deep to try put the best possible set together,” he said. “We want to take you on a journey. We want to take you on a roller-coaster ride. And that’s exactly what we do.”
Although it may be some time before the pair return to Toronto to perform live, you won’t have to wait long to see them again. That’s because they’ll be starring in an eight-episode scripted CBC TV series, called “Snotty Nose Rez Kids,” beginning in early 2025.
“You know, me and Q, we come from a small res in Kitamaat, B.C., and we’re just telling a story about two kids from the res with a dream of making it big at hip hop and all the trials and tribulations that come along with that,” Metz said of the show. “It’s about not only trying to make it in an industry that wasn’t meant for you, but just making a big move like we did and changing your lives, going from a small res to a big city like Vancouver. That is the Big Smoke for us, all the highs and lows of making that move.
“And it’s a comedy series, too. It’s gonna be good.”