Native American rapper Supaman to perform at MNSU April 3
Bill Hamm
Staff Writer
Supaman is an Apsaalooke rapper by Wikipedia definition.
Supaman is being brought to you jointly by MNSU Native American Affairs and Student Events Team. He will be singing Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m. in the CSU Ballroom.
The Apsaalooke people are members of the Crow Nation. Their 2.2 million-acre reservation is in central Montana. Supaman‘s birthname is Christian Parrish Takes the Gun. He was born in Seattle, Washington and was raised on the Crow Agency, Montana.
His journey has been one of poverty, sadness, and hard lessons. Both his parents were alcoholics, which predictably led to spending a good deal of time in foster care before ending up with his grandparents. He began rapping at age 24 and has only improved since.
“I got lucky, and never got caught breaking the law,” Supaman said. He had been involved in some criminal activity, including smoking weed. He got lucky and a record label in Seattle took interest in him and he soon found himself on the road.
After an encounter while on the road, he began to take a more intense view of his life and purpose. One might call it a “born again” experience, that led him to promise his life and his message to God. This led him to turn down a deal with a record label and return to his reservation where he began to work on his creative new message.
He is currently taking his message of hope on the road for all to hear, speaking at schools, reservations, and other venues entertaining as well as evangelizing and speaking about his Native culture. He is also what is known as a “fancy dancer,” which he also weaves into his performance. Fancy dancing is some of his first performance work as a child attending pow wow’s.
“A lot of people think that Native Americans are only in history books. But we are still alive and striving to keep our culture and language alive, so having speakers and performers like this makes it real to other students,” said Awna Cournoyer, vice president of the Native American Student Association.
In 2003, Supaman started the Native rap group “Rezawrection,” who’s first album, “It’s Time,” won a Native American Music Award in 2005. Since then he has released four solo albums and has received acclaim for his song, “Why,” featuring Acosia Red Elk. In his hit piece, “Prayer Loop Song,” he utilizes instruments including the traditional drum and ute remixed with different Native tracks. It was produced for America’s Got Talent.
In 2013, Supaman was featured on a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Since the release on his Gorilla album in 2013 he has been doing many of his songs on videos that have gone viral for him. He is also featured with MAG7 in the Taboo video, “Stand up/Stand N Rock #NoDAPL,” which won an MTV video music award for best video with a social message. His ability to fuse Native culture into his performance through fancy dancing and lyrics has been a winning combination for his fans.