Native American hip hop
Crow Reservation, near Billings, Montana
Photo courtesy of the artist
Returning to the Richmond Folk Festival to celebrate the festival’s 20th anniversary is Christian Takes Gun Parrish, who performs under the name of Supaman. While the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana appears to be as far removed from the city streets of the Bronx as possible, Supaman speaks to the shared social struggles of both communities, combining hip hop beats with Native American music and dance. The hybrid sound and image he creates, which he has termed Crow Hop, demands an audience’s rapt attention when they first see this enigmatic, rhythmic, and striking collage. He is, simultaneously, a Fancy Dancer, a hip hop artist, a beatboxer, a DJ, and an ambassador for the Crow Nation.
The Crow—Apsáalooke in their own Siouan language—are a federally recognized Native American tribe. For centuries, they called the Yellowstone River Valley home, an area that extends through Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota. Since the 19th century, the Crow people have been concentrated on their reservation south of Billings, Montana. Supaman grew up on this reservation, and has successfully participated in Fancy Dance competitions since he was a young child. A champion dancer, it was only when he began to merge hip hop with traditional Apsáalooke forms of expression that he found his own creative path, accentuating his samples and beats with drums, bells, and bird calls.
Combining Native American and hip hop themes and imagery seems natural to Supaman. “Native Americans grasp that culture of hip hop because of the struggle,” he explained to NPR. “Hip hop was talking about the ghetto life, poverty, crime, drugs, alcohol, teen pregnancy; all that crazy stuff that happens in the ghetto is similar to the reservation life. We can relate to that.”
Supaman stumbled accidentally into his unique synthesis. He used to dance and perform hip hop separately, until one performance ran long. Unable to change out of his Fancy Dance regalia before his hip hop performance, Supaman spun records and beatboxed in traditional attire. He never looked back. In the ensuing years, he has been nominated for and received multiple awards for his work as a DJ, singer, emcee, beatboxer and Fancy Dancer including the Tuney Award, which he won seven times, the Aboriginal Peoples Music Choice Award, and the North America Indigenous Music Award.
With an arresting mix of elements—vivid regalia, sacred dance steps, drum loops and break beats, and percussive beatboxing—Supaman has crafted a voice entirely his own that powerfully embodies the experiences of members of the Crow Nation.