Words by Jesse Serwer—
Dubbing himself the Wild Apache, dancehall’s East Indian don dada SuperCat made frequent use of Indian—as in Native American—imagery in his lyrics, perhaps most famously on 1994’s “Scalp Dem,” from his Western-inspired collaborative LP with Junior Cat, Nicodemus and Jr. Demus, The Good, The Bad, the Ugly and the Crazy.
A Tribe Called Red—the dancehall-influenced Native American DJ crew from Ottawa, Canada known for (as per our own Eric MacLeod) “taking traditional pow wow music and combining it with the baddest bass around”—have turned “Scalp Dem” on its head, taking Super Cat’s cry of “Indians from all directions!” from “Scalp Dem” (plus some traditional tribal vocals) and turning it into a aboriginal future bass anthem. ATCR’s Deejay NDN, Shub and Bear Witness debuted “NDNs from All Directions” via a video posted here back in August but they’ve since made a bigger and badder version. They’ve given us that version to premiere here as a free download, the first time any version has been available in audio form. Grab it below and, if you like what you hear, be sure to grab their (also free) debut LP here.