The Halluci Nation

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 (Mohawk, of the Six Nations of the Grand River), and Ehren "Bear Witness" Thomas (Cayuga First Nation). Former members include co-founder DJ Jon Deck and Dan "DJ Shub" General (Cayuga First Nation), who left the band for personal reasons in spring 2014, and was replaced by Hill. Co-founder Ian "DJ NDN" Campeau (Nipissing First Nation) left the band for health reasons in October 2017, with the band opting to remain a duo for the time being. The group's former name was an homage to A Tribe Called Quest, a hip hop group that also had songs that addressed African American social grievances. The group's music has been labelled as "powwow-step", a style of contemporary powwow music for urban First Nations in the dance club scene; popularized by the media as a description of the band's unique style, the term originated as the title of one of the band's own earliest singles. Origins Inspired by parties for Korean and South Asian youth in Ottawa, DJ NDN (Ian Campeau), a nightclub bouncer turned DJ, became interested in a similar event for Aboriginal youth. After discussing the idea with his friend, Bear Witness (Thomas Ehren Ramon), and fellow disc jockey Dee Jay Frame (Jon Limoges), they began the first night at Ottawa's Babylon nightclub in 2007, calling it Electric Pow Wow. Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response, the DJs began holding the event on the second weekend of every month — a schedule that lasted until December 2017. The parties featured a mixture of traditional powwow recordings from Campeau's youth, when he performed as a drummer, mixed with electronic music rhythms and genres such as dubstep, moombahton and dancehall. Bear Witness explained that the group was formed because its members wanted to throw parties for their community, and he also pointed out ATCR's political connotation: "To take over and Indigenize the club space is a really political act [...] As First Nations people everything we do is political".