For Snotty Nose Rez Kids, the wait for Red Future was worth it
Haisla rap duo are nominated for 3 Junos and set to play at the awards show in Vancouver on March 30
Snotty Nose Rez Kids' recent album, Red Future, was ready to go over three years ago, but the pandemic prompted a change in direction.
However, the wait seems to have been worth it, with the album earning the rap group one of three award nominations at the 2025 Junos — which happen to be taking place in their home city.
The group, made up of Quinton "Yung Trybez" Nyce and Darren "Young D" Metz, say they're stoked to be attending and performing at the Vancouver awards show on March 30.
The duo, originally from from Kitimaat Village in northern B.C., performed in Toronto at the 2022 Juno Awards. But Metz says performing at the Junos in Vancouver is "definitely a special moment for us, to be able to do what we do here in front of our hometown."
Red Future, the group's sixth album, is nominated for Rap Album of the Year. Snotty Nose Rez Kids are in the running for Rap Single of the Year with BBE, which stands for "big braid energy," and Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year.
While being nominated in the Indigenous category might seem like an obvious choice to some, Metz says nominations in two rap categories feel like "it should have happened years ago," acknowledging the confidence that it takes to be a rapper.
The rap category at the award show was first introduced in 1991, and the Aboriginal recording category, now known as Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year, debuted three years later.
Red Future
Growing up without exposure to Indigenous artists because of slow internet access on the reserve and no social media at the time, Snotty Nose Rez Kids say that their music is meant to inspire future generations of Indigenous youth.
Red Future represents the future generations of Indigenous artists to come. As Nyce describes it, the album tells stories of Indigenous futurism and excellence.
The album was initially slated to come out in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a different release, Life After, which represented life after the pandemic.
After that came "I'm Good, HBU?" showing the world that the pair was good now. Now, Red Future looks into the future.
Committed to creating space for Indigenous art, the album features 12 other Indigenous artists, including Tia Wood, Dreezus and Travis Thompson.
"We wanted to have as many Indigenous voices as we could because we all come from the same place, but we all have different points of view," said Metz.
"A lot of people don't make music like we do. For us, there's only so many people that are out there that are able to digest our music. We make music for a certain demographic of people, and the way that we represent them, we take that very seriously," said Nyce.
Nyce says opportunities to perform were rare for an up-and-coming rap group in Vancouver. Because of this, the group worked to create that opportunity for themselves and others.
"We didn't have a lot of opportunity to be able to showcase what we were capable of in this city, but what we did have is each other, and we had a community that followed us anywhere we went."
Soon, they'll be performing again on one of the biggest nights in the Canadian music calendar.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
