| We Are the Halluci Nation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 16, 2016 | |||
| Genre | Electronic, hip hop, Aboriginal music of Canada | |||
| Length | 50:08 | |||
| Label | Radicalized Records | |||
| The Halluci Nation chronology | ||||
| ||||
We Are the Halluci Nation is the third studio album by Canadian electronic music group The Halluci Nation, released on September 16, 2016 by Radicalized Records, an imprint of Pirates Blend Records. [1]
We Are the Halluci Nation is a concept album built around the "Halluci Nation", inspired by late Native American rights activist, musician and poet John Trudell. The Halluci Nation aims to "[promote] inclusivity, empathy and acceptance amongst all races and genders in the name of social justice. They believe that Indigenous people need to define their identity on their own terms." [2] [3] [4] Trudell was in the process of collaborating with the group prior to his death, [5] and is featured on two tracks.
A Tribe Called Red was inspired to create a concept album featuring the stories of Aboriginal voices, addressing the impact of colonization on indigenous people in the modern world. Among these voices was the story of Chanie Wenjack, an Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) First Nations boy who attempted to escape his residential school and died of hunger and exposure. This was inspired originally by Gord Downie, the lead singer of The Tragically Hip, who brought public attention to Wenjack's story in 2016 with his solo album Secret Path . Ian Campeau spoke about the band's involvement in the Wenjack project in an interview for Q , noting Joseph Boyden's involvement with Wenjack . [6]
The album received acclaim upon reception. We Are the Halluci Nation was nominated for CBC Music's Best Canadian Album of the Year. [7] Pitchfork assigned the album a rating of 8.1 out of 10, calling it "politically thrilling and immediate." [8] Exclaim! 's David Dacks praised the "dancehall-indebted polyrhythms and creative beatmaking", [9] and Now described it as "powerful protest music set to pounding beats." [10]
A Tribe Called Red was recognized with the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award at the Juno Awards of 2017 for their work on We Are the Halluci Nation. [11] [12]
The album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize. [13]
All tracks are written by A Tribe Called Red.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "We Are the Halluci Nation" (featuring John Trudell & Northern Voice) | 2:44 |
| 2. | "R.E.D." (featuring Yasiin Bey, Narcy & Black Bear) | 3:29 |
| 3. | "The Virus" (featuring Saul Williams & Chippewa Travellers) | 3:50 |
| 4. | "Before" (featuring Joseph Boyden) | 1:50 |
| 5. | "Sila" (featuring Tanya Tagaq) | 3:08 |
| 6. | "The Light" (featuring Lido Pimienta) | 4:11 |
| 7. | "Maima Koopi" (featuring Oka & Chippewa Travellers) | 4:14 |
| 8. | "JHD" (featuring Junior Ottawa) | 3:38 |
| 9. | "Eanan" (featuring Maxida Märak) | 2:41 |
| 10. | "The Muse" (featuring Jennifer Kreisberg) | 4:37 |
| 11. | "Indian City" (featuring Black Bear) | 3:37 |
| 12. | "How I Feel" (featuring Leonard Sumner, Shad & Northern Voice) | 4:21 |
| 13. | "For You (The Light, Pt. 2)" (featuring Lido Pimienta) | 3:43 |
| 14. | "Alie Nation" (featuring John Trudell, Lido Pimienta & Tanya Tagaq) | 2:03 |
| 15. | "Soon" (featuring Joseph Boyden) | 2:02 |
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Top Dance/Electronic Albums ( Billboard ) [14] | 7 |
| US Heatseekers Albums ( Billboard ) [15] | 17 |
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario, in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay. They released 13 studio albums, one live album, one EP, and over 50 singles over a 33-year career. Nine of their albums have reached No. 1 on the Canadian charts. They have received numerous Canadian music awards, including 16 Juno Awards. Between 1996 and 2016, the Tragically Hip were the best-selling Canadian band in Canada and the fourth best-selling Canadian artist overall in Canada.
Gordon Edgar Downie was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer and activist. He was the lead singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from its formation in 1984 until his death in 2017. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and popular artists in Canadian music history.
Shadrach Kabango, better known as Shad or Shad K, is a Canadian rapper and broadcaster. He has released six studio albums since 2005. Four of his albums have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, and he won a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2011. In 2013, CBC Music named Shad the second-greatest Canadian rapper of all time. Shad hosted Q on CBC Radio One from 2015 to 2016 and hosts the International Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution (2016–present) on HBO Canada and Netflix.
"Bobcaygeon" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. It was released in February 1999 as a single from their sixth album, Phantom Power, and has come to be recognized as one of the band's most enduring and beloved signature songs.
"Ahead by a Century" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, Trouble at the Henhouse. The song reached number one on Canada's singles chart, and is the band's most successful single in their native Canada. It was one of the ten most played songs in Canada in 1996. The song was nominated for "Best Single" at the 1997 Juno Awards. The song was certified platinum in Canada in 2016.
The Halluci Nation, formerly known as A Tribe Called Red, is a Canadian electronic music group who blend instrumental hip hop, reggae, moombahton and dubstep-influenced dance music with elements of First Nations music, particularly vocal chanting and drumming. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, the group consists of Tim "2oolman" Hill, and Ehren "Bear Witness" Thomas. Former members include co-founder DJ Jon Deck and Dan "DJ Shub" General, who left the band for personal reasons in spring 2014, and was replaced by Hill. Co-founder Ian "DJ NDN" Campeau left the band for health reasons in October 2017, with the band opting to remain a duo for the time being.
The following is a list of notable events and releases that are expected to happen in 2016 in music in Canada.
The Juno Awards of 2017, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in Ottawa, Ontario the weekend of 1–2 April 2017. The ceremonies were held at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata and televised on CTV with Bryan Adams and Russell Peters as co-hosts. The duo replaced Michael Bublé, who was originally scheduled to host the show.
Man Machine Poem is the thirteenth album by Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip, and the last album to be released before the death of lead singer Gord Downie, as well as their last to be composed of new material. It was released on June 17, 2016 on Universal Music Canada. Produced by Kevin Drew and Dave Hamelin, the album is named after a track which appeared on the band's previous album Now for Plan A.
The Man Machine Poem Tour was a concert tour by The Tragically Hip in support of their thirteenth full-length studio album Man Machine Poem. The tour consisted of 15 shows, the first held on July 22, 2016, in Victoria, British Columbia, and the last held on August 20, 2016, at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario.
Secret Path is a Canadian multimedia art project including a ten-song music album and tour, a graphic novel, and a television film. Released on October 18, 2016, the project is a concept album about Chanie Wenjack, a young Anishinaabe boy from the Marten Falls First Nation who died in 1966 while trying to return home after escaping from an Indian residential school.
Chanie "Charlie"Wenjack was an Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) First Nations boy who ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School where he boarded for three years while attending residential school in Kenora, Ontario, Canada. He died of hunger and exposure at Farlane, Ontario while trying to walk 600 km (370 mi) back to his home, Ogoki Post on the Marten Falls Reserve. His ordeal and his death brought attention to the treatment of children in the Canadian Indian Residential School System and following Wenjack's death, an inquest into the matter was ordered by the Government of Canada.
The following is a list of notable events and releases that are expected to happen in 2017 in music in Canada.
Wenjack is a historical fiction novella by Canadian author Joseph Boyden based on the story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack.
The Juno Awards of 2018, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in Vancouver, British Columbia during the weekend of 24–25 March 2018. The primary telecast ceremonies were held at Rogers Arena. Vancouver previously hosted the Juno Awards in 1991, 1998 and 2009. Michael Bublé hosted these awards after having stepped down from his scheduled hosting the previous year due to his son's cancer diagnosis. Nominations were announced on 6 February 2018.
The 2017 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 18, 2017.
Lido Pimienta is a Colombian Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, La Papessa, won the $50,000 2017 Polaris Music Prize. Her music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, including traditional indigenous and Afro-Colombian musical styles such as Cumbia and Bullerengue, as well as contemporary synthpop and electronic music.
Black Bear, sometimes credited as Black Bear Singers, are a Canadian musical group from Manawan, Quebec, who perform traditional First Nations music. They are frequent collaborators with the group A Tribe Called Red.
Introduce Yerself is the sixth solo album by Canadian singer and songwriter Gord Downie, released posthumously on October 27, 2017, ten days after his death. A double album consisting of 23 songs which Downie has described as each being about specific people in his life, it was the last solo album Downie completed, although his brothers Patrick and Mike subsequently confirmed that additional unreleased material would be released in the future; the album Away Is Mine, which comprises the last songs Downie ever recorded and was completed by producer Nyles Spencer following Downie's death, was released in 2020.
Mike Downie is a Canadian documentary filmmaker. The older brother of late Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, he is best known for his work with the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund.
