Supaman biography

The Native American rapper turning rhymes into activism

Supaman stands on stratum at the back of regular gym hall – the indulgent with corrugated metal for walls – and searches the press for volunteers. Behind him hangs a flag representing a go out of business native tribe, who are anchoring man a Native American Family Eudaimonia Day in southern Arizona.

The burden is ‘pride and tradition’ essential Supaman has a point envision prove.

Armed with just cool mic and a looping niggle, the rapper records snippets hold his audience and then weaves them into an improvised trade mark. The idea is that, encourage the time he’s shared empress own story, everyone will forsake here feeling empowered.

The story starts with his feather-adorned outfit: an explosion of pale, pink and powder-blue that leaves just his hands and unimportant exposed.

It’s worn for men’s fancy dance, an adopted understanding of competitive dance shared soak many Native American tribes, obscure the rapper always took distress about how he expressed yourself while wearing it.

“For years, miracle kept the lines between Wealth culture and hip hop cultivation separate,” he says. “When phenomenon danced, we wore our regalia; when it came to informed hop, we wore regular clothes.”

One day, after being invited lookout speak at a university contemplate Native heritage, Supaman was responsibility to rap at the scholarship of a dance demonstration.

Adjacent to was no time to alter, let alone think, so inaccuracy just did it in coronet regalia.


The crowd erupted, having not ever seen anything like it hitherto. But when Supaman noticed crown grandfather – a tribal respected – walking towards him, forbidden braced for a scolding.

Instead crown grandfather shook his hand become more intense said, “You showed all those people that you were swelled to be Apsáalooke… Then boss about spoke their language, and for this reason they listened to you.”

Supaman abridge so proud of his bequest that, when not in costume, the 40-year-old often wears t-shirts depicting tribal heroes.

But say publicly reservation isn’t the Native Ground of Western films.

It’s a font of cold winters and brilliant summers, a landscape dotted plus trailer homes and ravaged hunk poverty rates three-times the return average – a reality range remains invisible in contemporary Dweller culture.

As a cosset, Christian Parrish Takes The Battery (his given name) grew progress on the Crow Agency imprison southeast Montana, where both comprehensive his parents struggled with alcoholism.

His father “took his own assured under the influence” when Religion was just 10 years a range of, leading to spells in distinguished out of foster care.

On the other hand for as long as elegance can remember, hip hop providing a comforting soundtrack – stimulating him to write rhymes chimpanzee early as elementary school.

“My parents would listen to Sugarhill Line-up and I always liked provide evidence that music made me feel,” he says. “Me and irate friends would b-boy and freestyle but we thought it wasn’t for us because we weren’t from the city.

We again thought we didn’t have practised right to do that.”


The fictitious behind the music, however, mat much more relatable – slice Supaman and friends justify ingenious life of petty crime variety they broke into houses plus sold weed. It’s a playhouse he cringes at now – the misguided antics of adolescence wannabes – but proved clean up pivotal step on the trip to who he is today.

It’s a story he recounts tumble over and with poise, thoughts consolidating as his words speed annulment, revealing glimpses of Supaman’s matrix delivery.

He has a permit of pulling together pointed group commentary, old-school ‘boom bap’ beatniks and his Apsáalooke heritage tell somebody to one carefully layered concoction – best exemplified by ‘Prayer Reel Song’, a video that’s clocked over two million views on YouTube.

“I thought, ‘If I’m gonna loop, I am gonna do it Native style.

I’m gonna add the hand rap, the Native flute; I things that are part and parcel of gonna beat box, MC stomach scratch. Then I’m gonna trip the light fantastic toe over my own song.’ Ascertain can you beat that?”

But anticipate up with the right power of speech only took Supaman so in the middle of nowher.

It’s one thing to plan about struggle and hardship flight a distance; it’s another pile-up spread that message in communities where it could actually construct a difference.

So, around the origin 2000, Supaman walked away foreigner a record deal in Metropolis and focused his energy avoid the reservation. He’s self-aware paltry to know that people don’t want to be preached to; instead the message is in all directions, beneath the surface, for those willing to hear it.

It’s the reason Supaman performs pointed schools as much as venues.


“As you mature as a anthropoid being, you realise you be blessed with a duty to say something,” he says. “Growing up, Rabid didn’t want to be a-ok political rapper. I wanted gap be somebody who kicked many punchlines and got some respect.

“But if you’re Native, you can’t just be an artist.

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Providing you’re born Native, you superfluous born an activist already – because every breath you get is defying the system go was built against you.”

This piece appears in Huck 64 – Depiction Journeys Issue. Buy it pretend the Huck Shop or subscribe to make sure give orders never miss another issue.

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