Native American Content in Contemporary Music

Ok, so this week I just wanted to share a couple songs from two contemporary artists that in some way incorporate Native American content into their artistic expression. The first one is one of my favorite artists, Damian Marley. But the song is a collaboration that he did with an electronica artist, Skrillex. Damien Marley falls into that weird space of being Caribbean, Jamaican to be exact, and thus he is connected to Africa; however, it also seems as if Jamaicans also share in the Native American heritage, even if just due to their similar situations and experiences. I am not sure of Skrillex's background, and I couldn't find out. Either way, the video for the song features Native American actors and what seems to be a Native American theme, whether accurate or contrived. I'm also not sure if the lyrics even go with the video. In any case, both artists may have had little to do with the video, as the music industry often manages that part of the deal, unless the artist is independent of course, which I don't believe either of these two are. Anyway, I just wanted to share and see what people though?



The next video then is a relatively unknown band. Certainly not as well known as Junior Gong. However, they are awesome just the same. This song has no video, but it is the lyrics that deal specifically with a Native American topic. I'm not sure of the validity of the source the song draws from, but supposedly it's from something a Native American Chief once said. The song also references other Native American topics, concerns, and people. The singer, who I'm also pretty sure is not Native American, sings from the perspective of a that Native American chief whose words are supposedly sung in the chorus. Again, what do you think of this?



Ok, this next one is technically unrelated to the previous two, but I thought I'd include it anyway, because I had mentioned it in my previous post, but did not include it there. This is Nneka's song, "African," and I think that it's content relates to the Native American experience. She is also my favorite female musician! Once again, what do you think?