A Tribe Called Red collaborates with Black Bear Singers, releases short doc

A Tribe Called Red has released a short documentary called The Manawan Session, a behind-the-scenes look at their musical collaboration with Black Bear Singers, an Indigenous drum group from Atikamekw Nation in Quebec.

Tim '2oolman' Hill, one of the three DJs who make up Tribe, spoke to CBC's Jamey Ordolis about the session with Black Bear, which was the first time the band was able to record in-studio with a live drum group.

Normally, said Hill, the band lays beats to audio samples, but this time they were able to work with Black Bear to create the drum and vocal tracks — something they've always wanted to do.

While on the Manawan reserve, the band bonded with the community, visiting families and celebrating with a special show, which is featured in the documentary.

'Born into politics'

"As soon as you're born, being Native, you're born into politics," said Hill, discussing his reluctance to celebrate Canada Day.

While he is happy to see the latest Canada Heritage Minute, which acknowledges the horrors of residential schools by telling the story of Chanie Wenjack, Hill would like to see more action taken to help suffering communities, such as Attawapiskat.

Hill shares the band's intolerance for abuse in any form, including misogynistic lyrics in hip hop. Recently the band chose to boycott musicians guilty of abuse, such as James Brown, even though Hill had been a devoted fan of his music.

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"Our music doesn't really have words in it. When it's time for us to speak on things ... we like to bring light to the things that matter to us ... especially within our community. It's something we take very seriously."