City Natives is a hip-hop
group from the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia area.
They were also mentioned
in the Tom Barnes article, but the biggest influence on my perception of them
was University of Alberta's Indigenous Canada class, which had a module
on life off the reservations and in the city. I completed that pretty recently,
and seeing the name City Natives immediately went back to that. It makes sense
to me that they are from Canada, despite urban-dwelling indigenous people not
being a uniquely Canadian thing. That was my context.
The other primary
influence on my listening was their song "Hip Hop Heads". Being less
into rap myself, when I am reviewing rap groups I often struggle to identify
influences and musical currents.
City Natives lays out
their journey in the song, starting with NWA, and referencing the East
Coast/West Coast conflict, but then transcending it. (Which they should; it's
overly reductive of scenes and rappers.) So I found the track helpful in terms
of understanding the band better, but also it feels very personal and easy to
relate to. That's especially true for the part about the father saying to turn
it down, and resistance to turning it down.
Starting with NWA could
raise certain negative expectations about the music but I don't think they
apply. It's not that the tracks are void of despair, but there are also threads
of appreciation of success, love of family, and especially love for their
children which provides a link to the future.
Most of my favorite
tracks were on 2017's Dream Catchers.
"Intro" set the tone and led to more thinking about the material, but
the tracks are also pretty solid.
Hip hop fans should check
out City Natives, but there is enough musicality to allow some crossover for
those that are not devoted rap fans.
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