HIPHOP SPREADING A MESSAGE IN INDIAN COUNTRY Indigenous Youth in Oregon Tell a Different Story About “Rez Life” OCT 6, 2015, Portland, OR - Last March in Seattle, a small group of young Native American musicians met for a 3-day songwriting retreat led by legendary recording engineer Uncle Rick Clifford (former chief engineer at Death Row Records), where they wrote and recorded what would become the first single on the new project by Blue Flamez, “Rez Life,” coming out on Portland-based Ibori Records this month. Scott Kalama AKA Blue Flamez, has been a mentor in training with the music empowerment program Beats Lyrics Leaders, and on this track youth from the program join Scott to tell the world about life on the Indian Reservation, strictly from their perspective. It’s a hard-core West Coast Hiphop song reminiscent of Too Short, punctuated with flute, drumming and Native humor. The five minute music video draws on footage from all over the Pacific Northwest, keeping with a cultural vibe that could only exist somewhere between contemporary West Coast Hiphop and thousands of years of Indigenous wisdom and history. As copies of the debut EP wait to hit online distribution centers like Apple Music and Spotify, the video is spreading like wild-fire on Youtube and the songs can be streamed and downloaded for free during the pre-release on Soundcloud. Creative oversight on the video was left to Eat Cho (one of Portland’s most revered visual artists: http://eatcho.com) and the video features acting by a rising star, Talia Reasoner, also based out of Portland. Music production was led by Yamio263, and includes session work by Tony Ozier, Portland’s King of Funk. The project was recorded at Orbit Audio in Seattle where Macklemore cut his biggest record. “Rez Life” gained momentum when, after a year of artist development training through Beats Lyrics Leaders (which was made possible through the Oregon Arts Commission’s World of Work program, The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and PDX Pop Now!), the youth were encouraged to take their vision into fruition through support from the Meyer Memorial Trust. The young MCs on the song were able to involve close and extended families while the production team travelled all over the state to capture the artists’ vision on film. Lead artist Scott Kalama says, “The most significant thing about this project to me is the message in the lyrics, which tell the truth of reservation life and the situations we as a people are living. I love how the video shows us in a fun, positive atmosphere.”