“Red Man” rides on a hypnotic beat, showing Sto:lo/Tahltan rapper Hope as capable of consuming backing accompaniments and engaging themes. Born in 1984, Hope — the alias of Patrick Kelly — released his first album with hip-hop duo Status Krew in 2011, contributing to the British Columbia hip-hop scene since. “Red Man” is the latest offering, its hypnotic beat and social commentary sticking memorably. Largely devoid of percussion, the beat lets Hope’s lyrical content and hypnotic flow shine.
The track’s album cover is explained in detail below, along with some of the track’s overall themes:
The artwork for Hope’s upcoming album Red Man, while seemingly innocuous, speaks to a very specific moment in the history of the Colonization of Indigenous People; the 60’s Scoop. At a time when indigenous communities and families were still reeling from the impact of residential schools, and before most residential schools had even begun to close down for good, the Canadian government created adoption programs such as the Adopt Indian Métis (AIM) project which promoted the adoption of First Nations children by middle-class, white families in 1967. The AIM Program would post advertisements of Indigenous Babies and Children with a Photograph, Name and Description of the child in Canadian Newspapers to find them homes; these Ad’s were used as a basis for the design of Hope’s Album Cover. This image was chosen due to the fact that the 60’s scoop had a direct impact on Hope and his family, as his own mother was a part of the 60’s scoop and as an elder, continues to struggle with finding connections to her original home territory, culture and family. The act of scooping Indigenous Children from their homes on mass is a practice that still exists in Canada today, an act that many Indigenous People recognize as being parallel to that of placing Indigenous Children in Residential Schools.
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“Red Man” and other memorable tracks released in July can also be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of July 2019’ Spotify playlist.
