Like usual I sit around and think about the Lord Yeezus and what new ridiculous thing he has been up to. Besides all the Kimye boringness, it seems like he might be touring and whatnot and I just think about how I ain’t going so who really cares. But see I follow many Native folk on the Twitter and many of them commented on his tour apparel:
I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.
WHAT THE DAMN HELL KANYE? What does this have to do with ANYTHING about your music? Is it just cool looking? Yeah probably. I’m not even sure if Kanye had anything to do with picking such a design and putting it on a t-shirt that will be sold for probably $50, sorry $35.
I really don’t get the appeal of a skeleton in a headdress. Because it is scary? Intimidating? I think about Plains tribes and how they were murdered by government forces for protecting what’s theirs. I personally don’t like a skull in a headdress since it is essentially saying that those who wore them are now dead. Let me tell you they aren’t: I saw some a month ago at powwow.
Here’s the other thing which I have talked about with my Native peeps: Black Skinhead totally sounds like A Tribe Called Red. The more I listen to it, the more it becomes apparent that this is true.
Exhibit A: Just listen to the beat y’all:
Exhibit B: Then listen to this by A Tribe Called Red:
It could be that it is just a coincidence that there is vocables over a drum beat that may sound tribal. I get that. But as a regular powwow attendee there is a certain familiarity that I only get when I’m at powwow when I hear the drums. I feel the same when I listen to A Tribe Called Red that is why I think their music resonates so well in our community. So when I heard Black Skinhead I was like what? WHAT? WHAAAAT?
So what the damn hell Kanye? Can’t you appropriate your own culture to sell some merchandise? It ain’t right to exploit others.
Inquisitive Indigenous 