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Indigenous musicians to watch for in 2022

(January 13, 2021) Indigenous musicians are no exception from the explosion of art currently erupting from Indigenous communities across the country. From pop to rock to country and hip-hop, there’s an Indigenous musician doing it up good for you. The talent is obvious, the perspective is fresh and the words are there to challenge. We sifted through a lot of great music to bring you six Indigenous musicians to watch for in 2022, and one honorary lifetime contribution to acknowledge. Some you may already know. All are worth listening to. Again. And again. Here are your six Indigenous musicians to watch in 2022, and one to honour:

Shawnee Kish 

We’ll start off our list with a song that will get you out from under the covers and out the door- even if it is just the door of your bedroom. Shawnee Kish is a two-spirit Mohawk artist who delivers vocally driven, bluesy pop. Influenced by Nina Simone and Etta James, Kish’s childhood career as a Shania Twain impersonator means that there’s nothing she can’t belt out. 

Jeremy Dutcher

Jeremy Dutcher, a Wolastoqiyik member of the Tobique First Nation, wears many hats- musicologist, classical tenor, activist, composer, and performer. On his website, his music is described as “unapologetically playful in its incorporation of classical influences, full of reverence for the traditional songs of his home,and teeming with the urgency of modern-day struggles of resistance.” Dutcher’s work transcribing Wolastoqiyik (a language with only 100 remaining speakers) songs from wax cylinders grew  informed his album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, showing the incredible things that can happen when art, activism, and scholarship braid together.

Don Amero 

We wish the country music we heard while snow-tubing over the holidays had been half as good as this. Big-voiced and charismatic, Don Amero (who is of Cree and Metis descent) brings an abundant sincerity and warmth to a genre that, often, really needs it. Here, the twang is sweet. Amero also dedicates a portion of his boundless performance energy to youth mentorship and advocacy work.

PIQSIQ (pronounced PILK-SILK) 

“Atmospheric and energized, sensual and percussive- PIQSIQ’s music lives up to the meaning of their name, an Inuktitut word referring to a snow/wind phenomenon in which snow blows upward. Sisters Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay combine ‘Inuit-style throat singing’ with ‘eerie new compositions’. The perfect soundtrack for the coming winter,” says PIQSIQ’s website and we agree.

Snotty Nose Rez Kids (aka SNRK) 

With a lot of energy and a lot of emotion, SNRK’s music  is personal and topical, infused with anger and humor, in the way that only hip hop can do. Hailing from the West Coast of Canada, Haisla rappers Darren “Young D” Metz and Quinton “Yung Trybez” Nyc  are currently on a North American tour- check their website for tickets! 

iskwē (pronounced iss-kway)

It would be a mistake to assume that all Indigenous music must explicitly engage with issues of oppression and Canadian imperialism, but when it does, it’s important that we listen. Iskwē (who is Cree Métis, from Treaty One Territory) deploys her clear and mournful vocals to express grief, erasure, and injustice, over rich instrumentals, showing off her talent as a musician, songwriter, and artist.  Bonus: the stop-motion music video for “Little Star” is a thing of beauty.

Lifetime Achievement: Buffy Sainte-Marie

Indigenous musicians
On November 19 Canada Post issued a stamp celebrating Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, activist, artist and educator.