Hip-hop music represents an array of different subgenres such as freestyle, boom bap and trap. Some subgenres exclusively represent a community, a region or a culture such as Miami bass, ghettotech of Detroit and even Native American / First Nations hip-hop. The latter has been contributing to the music industry and the genre since it’s inception as break-dancers, DJs, emcees and graffiti artists. Hip-hop has always been used as a tool to raise political awareness or tackle social and economic issues. Considering the longstanding crucial issues between the First Nations and the Government of Canada, music and specifically hip-hop, has been an empowering platform for the communities. One of the fastest growing groups in the Canadian music scene is hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids. In 2021, they released one of their hottest tracks yet, ‘Wild Boy‘ featuring Canadian rapper Polo Brian. To accompany their newest single, the group released an amazing doomsday themed illustrated lyric video.
First Nations hip-hop group Snotty Nose Rez Kids is made up of Darren “Young D” Metz and Quinton “Yung Trybez” Nyce. Both originally from the Kitamaat Village in British Columbia, Canada which is the principal community of the Haisla people, they are currently based out of Vancouver. These two young writers connected in high school over their love of music, wrestling and pop culture. On a personal level, they both faced similar hardships growing up on the ‘rez’ (First Nations reserve) close to a predominantly white town. They decided to combine their love of music, writing and hip-hop and in 2016, SNRK was born. In 2017, they released both their self-titled debut album as well as ‘The Average Savage‘ which garnered a lot of attention. It won Best Hip-Hop Act at the Western Canadian Music Awards, nominated for Best Indigenous Music Album at the Juno’s and made the Polaris Prize Top Ten Shortlist. In 2019, they released their third album ‘TRAPLINE’ which continued the group’s rise to stardom streaming over 3 million times and remaining on Earshot’s Top 10 hip-hop charts for over 20 weeks. In 2019, SNRK received recognition for Breakout Artist at the Western Canadian Music Awards. The trajectory was high and there were no signs of stopping until the unpredictable happened and the pandemic saw the music industry come to a complete standstill. Trying their best to navigate the new circumstances, SNRK faced challenge after challenge after their tour was cancelled and trying to cope with the loss of their friend.
Adapting to this new world and way of life, the pair announced their 4th album appropriately titled ‘Life After‘ being released on October 22nd. Not wanting to leave the fans waiting, SNRK released absolute banger, ‘Wild Boy‘ featuring fellow Vancouver artist Polo Brian (who has released his 2021 album ‘Bad Neighbour‘ via Nyhla Records). Produced by friend and long-time collaborator Boogey The Beat, the duo cite their inspiration for this single to be of an old supernatural legend from their culture. Based loosely on the ‘Bukwus‘, a Kwakwaka’wakw Nation term meaning “Wild Man of the Woods“. The tale tells a story of this long-haired skeletal spirit who eats ghost food out of shellfish or cockle shells and tries to offer this food to stranded humans in the woods. If the humans eat the food, they become a creature like the ‘Bukwus‘ and they are brought over to the ghost world.
On August 27th, SNRK released a spooky apocalyptic themed professional lyric video for their newest hit ‘Wild Boy‘. When watching the music video, fans can immediately sense the influence as the title scene flashes and they whisper “Bukwus“. The illustrations are excitingly nightmarish. We see different cross-hatch sketches of a werewolf / wild creature with long hair, sharp claws and teeth. These drawings correlate perfectly with the lyrics as they flash on the screen and read, “Bukwus, I beast. Watch this, I feast“. The font choice for the hook parallels with the drawings and looks as though it has been hand written or etched into the video. The font choice is dark, bold and powerful which seems to be the underlying theme to this lyric video.
For the verses, we are escorted to what could only be interpreted as the end of the world. These illustrations differ from the sketches in the hook. They are a more traditional cartoon style with solid colours with black outlines around each character and object. The font choice represents these changes as well, featuring a bolder more animated style display. Throughout the video we see different decrepit settings starting with an office. The windows are smashed with roots and vines growing every which way. The desk is overrun by greenery and the only memory of life seems to be the coffee cup that was left behind. There is a line in particular in this scene that stands out to me when they say “I ain’t Canadian fam, know what I am? A Haisla man“. This lyricism is profound, denouncing their connection with Canada’s violent history towards the indigenous communities and paying homage to their Haisla Nation roots.
As the music video proceeds the viewers can’t look away. We are taken through the abandoned mechanic’s garage, where I particularly enjoy the busted car with it’s hood left open and we see the vines and roots enveloping the vehicle. Next is a ramshackled classroom with moss-grown books, the paint falling off the walls and the encompassed globe. My favourite part of this scene is the classic chalkboard and the creative choice to contrast previous scenes and have the lyrics appear here when they say, “SNRK do the most, whoa“. The fans get a never-ending ride through this abandoned city and are brought to a retail shop with creepy mannequins and broken shelves to inside the mall and the food court with old moldy forgotten food. I really enjoyed the diner scene with the happy fast-food mascot. The head on this statue is busted open at the top and we see the aforementioned vines and roots emerging. Next is a bus stop with an old phonebooth and a shot of the city street with a broken down bus and beat up cars. My favourite scene of all of these mesmerizing sequences would be the forsaken playground. This is nostalgic to fans and anytime you contrast a child’s innocense and joy with the darkness of the supernatural or the end of the world, it is very effective. I love the broken tunnel slide and the rocking horse spring rider. My favourite shot would be the rickety merry-go-round being almost eaten alive by the Earth and the lorn swing that is swaying ever so slightly on the side.
The lyric video for SNRK’s ‘Wild Boy‘ is unconventional and creative. The different illustration styles and the out of the box fonts bring the legend of the ‘Bukwus‘ to life. Excitingly, the hip-hop duo are able to play live shows again and you can find them this fall and winter on tour through parts of the US with a few shows in Ontario as well as British Columbia. Follow these fresh new artists @snottynoserezkids and be sure to check out their new album ‘After Life‘ coming October 22nd.
Check out ‘Wild Boy‘ featuring Brian Polo on Snotty Nose Rez Kids’ official YouTube channel here: