LIVING IN NIGHTMERIKA

EAGLE BUTTE- Maniac The Siouxpernatural (aka Troy Eagle Chasing Jr.) Has just released his first CD on the Sioux Falls Night Shield label, "Nightmerika." Though the 20 year old rapper has released 3 independant CD's previousley, the album contains all new material with the exception of 1 track.

"Nightmerika" is easily one of the strongest Native American music releases to come along this year. The CD is cutting, lean, and hits every target it aims at. Maniac realizes his hard criticisms and loose language over the human condition ( or maybe one should say "the reservation condition") will make for an uphill battle in the overtly positive world of native music, but he is unflinching in his beleife that he is offering a cure that bears part of the virus. "Maniac/ throughout the land/ the most hated/ no its not exaggerated/ Im triple X rated/ I gots to stay faded."

Maniac was born during the first wave of old-school rap. His father listened to heavy metal and hip-hop, and he was even a breakdancer.

"I started taking rap seriously when I was sixteen," Maniac told Lakota Journal. "These kids used to gather after school and at lunchtime and battle each other, freestylin'. One day I hopped in and started battling other kids, and it got to the point where I was so good that no-one wanted to battle me anymore."

"I used to be a graffiti writer: I was doin big colorful murals. I hit every building in Eagle Butte and finally people recognized I was the only person doing that, so I got caught and thown in jail. I figured music is legal, so I picked up the microphone and started rapping again."

One major criticism heard in the underground (rap, industrial, punk) side of indian youth is how the powers-that-be in native music, which grew out of new age marketing aimed at white people, have become so "positive" that it has castrated the native voice. At the same time Native rappers are being criticized for bringing "black culture" into the native world, implying that they are emulating African-Americans rather then being true to their own race.

What most people dont realize is that Hip-Hop is quickley replacing rock music as the leading commercial style and if you get right down to it, even rock music comes out of black culture, as it was built on the blues.

"Hip-Hop is how we express ourselves." Maniac said, " I appreciate our elders, but I've had trouble with some of them. They always say 'quit trying to be black.' but if you look at hip-hop and you look at our traditional culture, they are pretty much the same, as far as life on the reservation goes. Hip-Hop has graffiti: we have our beadwork. Hip-Hop has breakdancing:we have our jingle dress and our fancy dances. Hip-Hop has DJ's: we have the drum. Hip-Hop has rappers: we have the singers.

"The only differance is our culture and skin color. Blacks and latino's started hip-hop in the ghettos, but when you look at the ghetto there is alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, no jobs-- its the same exact thing as reservations. The ghetto is basically a reservation, and the reservation is basically a ghetto.

"Theres a lot of anger in the indian youth: look at us! Theres a high suicide rate on my reservation. Theres high depression: we cant find jobs anywhere. A lot of the youth have to move to the city to find a job and when they do, they are met with racism. We look to music to express it, and not just good expressions, but the angry side too. There are a lot of indian groups putting out positive messages, and we're positive too, but we're doing it in other ways. You have to have talk about good and evil together to make a balance and to find a change."

For more information on Maniac and for sample downloads visit www.nightshield.net

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