{"id":36659,"date":"2023-12-08T19:26:09","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T00:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/"},"modified":"2023-12-08T19:26:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T00:26:14","slug":"spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit Lake rapper amplifies voices of Native youth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"likebtn_container\" style=\"\"><!-- LikeBtn.com BEGIN --><span class=\"likebtn-wrapper\"  data-identifier=\"post_36659\"  data-site_id=\"63347fe36fd08b6c05de3d9e\"  data-dislike_enabled=\"false\"  data-icon_dislike_show=\"false\"  data-white_label=\"true\"  data-style=\"\"  data-unlike_allowed=\"\"  data-show_copyright=\"\"  data-item_url=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/\"  data-item_title=\"Spirit Lake rapper amplifies voices of Native youth\"  data-item_date=\"2023-12-08T19:26:09-05:00\"  data-engine=\"WordPress\"  data-plugin_v=\"2.6.59\"  data-prx=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php?action=likebtn_prx\"  data-event_handler=\"likebtn_eh\" ><\/span><!-- LikeBtn.com END --><\/div><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2LARA5JMxac\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30930\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/articles\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/stuart-james-profile-3-1-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-30930\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30930\" class=\"wp-image-30930 size-medium\" src=\"\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-30930\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meet Stuart James, the soundtrack of a movem<span style=\"font-size: 16px\">Stuart James, a hip-hop artist from the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota, raps about important issues that affect Native communities.<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px\">The now 30-year-old started off as a shy kid. Though he liked basketball, James admitted he wasn\u2019t the most athletic person growing up. He had to find a different creative outlet to vent out his frustrations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cSometimes when I was going through things, I didn\u2019t really know how to deal with them,\u201d he said. \u201cI found out it was just bottling up. I had some anger issues and didn\u2019t really know what to do or how to cope with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After hearing his cousin\u2019s song on the radio, he became inspired to try out rap. Instantly, songwriting began improving James\u2019 mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just started writing and it felt really cool to be able to say a lot of the things that I wanted to say musically or just like in life in general, and I turned it into writing poems and stuff. And then I started getting into trying it over a beat and I was like, \u2018Hey, I think I could do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The introduction of songwriting became an infatuation for the young lyricist. James said he became obsessed with writing, to the point where he\u2019d forget to do his homework.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ethan Lohnes remembers his brother listening to random beats and trying to rap over them during high school. \u201cGetting to witness his start from the beginning to where he is now \u2013\u2013 it\u2019s been one hell of a trip,\u201d said Lohanes. \u201cI remember studying in a room with him when we were growing up and he\u2019d have a beat going for an hour or two, he\u2019d just be writing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since he first began rapping when he was 16, James has produced his own albums and singles. Lohnes favorite work from his brother\u00a0 is \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/3jl2rHpKt9OncCbtMgCbtx\">3 a.m.<\/a>\u201d, an 11-song album released in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>While there are a lot of Native rappers, James said he had trouble connecting with their music on a personal level because it copied the mainstream too much. \u201cA lot of Native rap was very gangster driven and I didn\u2019t relate with that because I was just a lonely kid,\u201d said James. \u201cI became basically what I, in my mind, what I was missing in my life when I was growing up looking for Native artists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now he\u00a0 tries to spread good messages and be relatable in his music so he can connect with rez kids. He also creates music about the issues, reality and joy of being Indigenous. In the past, James said others have described his sound as \u201cmood music\u201d or the soundtrack of a movement. \u201cHe\u2019s got one hell of a gift to be writing constantly,\u201d said Lohanes. \u201cThe sound is always evolving, it\u2019s a beautiful thing to witness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of his favorite songs that he\u2019s written is<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2LARA5JMxac\">\u00a0\u201cM.M.I.W<\/a>.\u201d In collaboration with Soufy and Sober Junkie, James worked on this piece to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis which occurs across the United States and Canada. When he heard the piano sample for M.M.I.W, it made him feel hopeless \u2013\u2013 but with a little glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just remember this line I wrote years ago where I said, \u2018imagine waking up and you notice your daughter missing. It\u2019s hard for you to breathe. Tears blurring up your vision.\u2019 And I wrapped that over that instrumental then I was like, \u2018Oh, wow \u2013 that fits perfectly.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>James uses songwriting as a way to tackle serious issues \u2013\u2013 through an Indigenous perspective. His colleague, James Culbertson, a rapper from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, said he sees how James wants to create change in the Native community.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think eventually he\u2019s going to become the go-to guy in Native country as far as providing practicable steps that children can use to expand their career horizons and just build their confidence,\u201d Culbertson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After he moved to Fargo, James still wanted to help kids as he pursued his music career. Eventually he came up with the concept of a multimedia workshop. The purpose of these workshops are to instill confidence in Native youth, demonstrate leadership abilities, help students break out of their shell and try something new.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI realized that this is a way of helping them communicate their feelings and emotions into some form, because I didn\u2019t realize how effective that was for me growing up,\u201d said James. \u201cA lot of these kids have never even rapped or stepped in front of a microphone. It helps them realize they\u2019re capable of a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is James\u2019 first year hosting his multimedia workshops. The four-day workshop aims to teach Native youth different forms of writing. Students will write a rap or hip-hop song, create a beat, then learn how to mix and master the recording. During the week, students also will be collecting footage for a music video they\u2019ll produce.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the course of the workshop, James will check in with students to see how they\u2019re feeling about the work they\u2019ve been doing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think giving them the ability to be heard is a big thing because a lot of the older kids probably feel like nobody is hearing them when they talk,\u201d James said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the future, James hopes to see more American Indian students become lead actors, artists and musicians.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>James\u2019 music can be found on most streaming platforms, including<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/2RNlY2rWNhcjjjYlYgqaMj\">\u00a0Spotify<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/artist\/stuart-james\/1241592257\">\u00a0Apple Music<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC9SHIl21M2QEgi-IJBsxFzg\">\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0and<a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/stuartjames365\">\u00a0Soundcloud<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe purpose of Stuart James\u2019 multimedia workshop to instill confidence in Native youth, demonstrate leadership abilities, help students break out of their shell and try something new.\u201d Courtesy of Stuart James.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany people describe Stuart James\u2019 songs as \u2018mood music,\u2019 or the soundtrack of a movement.\u201d Courtesy of Stuart James.<\/p>\n<p>by\u00a0Adrianna Adame \u00a0<a href=\"mailto:adrianna@imfreedomalliance.org\" class=\"autohyperlink\">adrianna@imfreedomalliance.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/articles\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/\">Spirit Lake rapper amplifies voices of Native youth<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\">Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"likebtn_container\" style=\"\"><!-- LikeBtn.com BEGIN --><span class=\"likebtn-wrapper\"  data-identifier=\"post_36659\"  data-site_id=\"63347fe36fd08b6c05de3d9e\"  data-dislike_enabled=\"false\"  data-icon_dislike_show=\"false\"  data-white_label=\"true\"  data-style=\"\"  data-unlike_allowed=\"\"  data-show_copyright=\"\"  data-item_url=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/\"  data-item_title=\"Spirit Lake rapper amplifies voices of Native youth\"  data-item_date=\"2023-12-08T19:26:09-05:00\"  data-engine=\"WordPress\"  data-plugin_v=\"2.6.59\"  data-prx=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php?action=likebtn_prx\"  data-event_handler=\"likebtn_eh\" ><\/span><!-- LikeBtn.com END --><\/div><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/articles\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/\" target=\"_blank\">Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"likebtn_container\" style=\"\"><!-- LikeBtn.com BEGIN --><span class=\"likebtn-wrapper\"  data-identifier=\"post_36659\"  data-site_id=\"63347fe36fd08b6c05de3d9e\"  data-dislike_enabled=\"false\"  data-icon_dislike_show=\"false\"  data-white_label=\"true\"  data-style=\"\"  data-unlike_allowed=\"\"  data-show_copyright=\"\"  data-item_url=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/\"  data-item_title=\"Spirit Lake rapper amplifies voices of Native youth\"  data-item_date=\"2023-12-08T19:26:09-05:00\"  data-engine=\"WordPress\"  data-plugin_v=\"2.6.59\"  data-prx=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php?action=likebtn_prx\"  data-event_handler=\"likebtn_eh\" ><\/span><!-- LikeBtn.com END --><\/div><p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Meet Stuart James, the soundtrack of a movemStuart James, a hip-hop artist from the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota, raps about important issues that affect Native communities.The now 30-year-old started off as a shy kid. Though he liked basketball, James admitted he wasn\u2019t the most athletic <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/\">Read More<\/a><br \/><img alt='' src='https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/files\/avatars\/1541\/5d01b3efac7c3-bpthumb.png' srcset='https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/files\/avatars\/1541\/5d01b3efa3bc2-bpfull.png 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' loading='lazy' decoding='async'\/>  Shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/membership-directory\/nativesunweekly\/profile\">Native Sun News Today<\/a>  December 8, 2023<\/p>\n<div class=\"likebtn_container\" style=\"\"><!-- LikeBtn.com BEGIN --><span class=\"likebtn-wrapper\"  data-identifier=\"post_36659\"  data-site_id=\"63347fe36fd08b6c05de3d9e\"  data-dislike_enabled=\"false\"  data-icon_dislike_show=\"false\"  data-white_label=\"true\"  data-style=\"\"  data-unlike_allowed=\"\"  data-show_copyright=\"\"  data-item_url=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/spirit-lake-rapper-amplifies-voices-of-native-youth\/\"  data-item_title=\"Spirit Lake rapper amplifies voices of Native youth\"  data-item_date=\"2023-12-08T19:26:09-05:00\"  data-engine=\"WordPress\"  data-plugin_v=\"2.6.59\"  data-prx=\"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php?action=likebtn_prx\"  data-event_handler=\"likebtn_eh\" ><\/span><!-- LikeBtn.com END --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[10105,6658],"class_list":["post-36659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-archive","tag-more-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}