Between drum circles and drum machines: Indigenous hip hop artist is 'all about the feeling'

An Indigenous musicianwho mixed his entire album using his phone has been nominated for a Juno award.

Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie, who lives in Sudbury, Ont.said he wassurprised to hear his album Round Dance & Beats (Pow Wow) was nominated for Indigenous Music Album of the Year.

Kiwenzie, whohas ties to WikwemikongFirst Nation and Indian Brook, N.S., has been performing in drum circles since he was two years old, being influenced by his father, aunts and uncles.

"I've had a lot of teachers who've taught me about the drum and drum etiquette," he said."I've spent my whole life at the drums in powwows ... and I've been making beats since I was a teenager."

"[But when] I started messing around on a keyboard I thought, 'hey, I'm on to something here."

Kiwenzie's album blends traditionalIndigenous music withmodern production methods.

While bands like ATribe Called Redhave mixed hip hop and Indigenous beats, Kiwenzie has something special to offer: he provides the vocalsto every song.

Kiwenzie mixedthe entire album using only his phone, combininghis own drum circle chantswith hip hop and R&Bbeats.

Expression without the words

Drum circle chants don't always have to contain words or tell a story, Kiwenzie said.

"Sometimes it's about expression without the words," he said. "It's all about the feeling."

That feeling can be heard in his track Tara's Song, which Kiwenzie said was written for his partner, who is also a traditional round circle dancer.

"My mom and sister said I should make Tara a song," he said. "We go to powwows a lot, and our drumgroup gets called to do a lot of singing. So I made her a powwow song to dance to."

The song follows the form of a Cree round dance song, he said.

"Traditionally, the songs are about love, heartbreak, or even [simple things like] going to Wal-Mart."

Kiwenzie said he hopes the attention will help himteach others about the music's history and reach a broader audience.

"I want to share songs with anyone, not just our people," he said. "Our songs aren't just for us. It's for everybodyfor humanity."