Indigenous Hip-Hop Duo Violent Ground Team Up with Mattmac on New Video “Capture The Flag”
Sibling Hip-Hop duo, Violent Ground, drew inspiration for their artist name from the challenges facing Indigenous communities, adopting a moniker that pays homage to their lived experience, history, and land. Their melodic style of Hip-Hop features instantly memorable rhythms, and catchy phrasing that make their music easy to sing along to. From the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, a remote community in northern Quebec that borders northern Newfoundland, Allan and Christian Nabinacaboo launched their career nearly a decade ago as writers, performers, and producers, inspired by the sounds of Tech N9ne, Bone Thugs N Harmony, and Linkin Park. Despite their aspirations to amplify the voices of their community and Indigenous peoples at large, the duo encountered considerable hurdles in disseminating their music across Canada, stemming from their isolated living situation and lack of a reliable internet connection at home. The brothers are three time Gala de Musique Autochtone Teweikan Award winners and have also received a nomination at the inaugural International Indigenous Hip-Hop Awards for Hip-Hop Album of The Year. Their music has been featured on CBC North, The Nation Magazine, and Say Magazine, and the duo has been invited to share their songwriting and production skills at workshops in support of the next generation of artists. Violent Ground has worked with Grammy and JUNO Award winning producer, David Strickland (Drake, Method Man), and since launching their own production company, 91Base Productions, also self-produce their music. The duo have just released their latest single, “Capture The Flag”, featuring Trap-Pop artist, Mattmac – a melodic and motivational Hip-Hop anthem emphasizing triumph over personal struggles. Their brand new, cinematic video for the song is set for release on Thursday, November 9, 2023.
Written by Violent Ground and Mattmac, the siblings’ production company 91Base Productions arranged and produced “Capture The Flag”. Mattmac composed and mixed the single, which was mastered by Vincent Benezet. The song is off their upcoming album, “Disarranged” set for release in late November.
Uniting the melodic flow of Hip-Hop with elements of Trap-Pop, Violent Ground feat. Mattmac unleash an energetic dose of inspiration with “Capture The Flag”. Vibrant, bouncy, and anthemic, “Capture The Flag” acknowledges personal challenges while also celebrating the journey of overcoming and letting go. Performed by Allan and Christian Nabinacaboo of Violent Ground alongside Mattmac, the cinematic video for the song showcases the brothers pushing through the battle of overcoming drug and alcohol addictions as well as gambling, finding strength in their community and history as a catalyst for them to move forward. The video for “Capture The Flag” oscillates between imagery of being in the grips of addiction to metaphorical scenes of the brothers, draped in black, physically pushing forward against an invisible force of resistance, and joyful scenes of family, friends, and healthy changes. Filmed across the city of Montreal, the video was directed by Mi’kmaq director Sébastien Dubé and Enrick Grand’Maison from Productions MTLA.
“Capture The Flag” is about overcoming the battles we go through in our daily lives, pushing ourselves with music, family, and community, letting go of all the negative from our past and aiming to capture the flag and come out on top!” – Violent Ground
Biography:
Allan and Christian Nabinacaboo are brothers from the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, in northern Quebec who began making music at an early age. Their artist name is inspired by the history of the land we live on and issues Indigenous people face: drug addiction, alcoholism, colonialism, racism, crimes, and violence. They want to give voice to their community and all Indigenous people, and faced significant difficulty in sharing their music across Canada due to being isolated without a stable internet connection at home.
For years they honed their craft, eventually performing shows at reservations across Quebec, such as the First People’s Festival in Montreal and Innu Nikamun in Maliotanam. This was followed by their self-titled debut release in 2014, produced by legendary Grammy-award winning engineer/producer, David Strickland. After moving to Montreal to further their education in music production and business, older brother Allan had a terrible accident that took the lives of a cousin and a friend, leaving him critically injured. After months of physical therapy and a painful journey of recovery, he uses his traumatic experience to overcome hardships, not to give up, and pursue music for the people, sending a message that you can overcome anything.
The duo has been featured in The Nation Magazine and SAY Magazine, along with radio interviews including CBC North and Florida’s Indigenous in Music and Arts with Larry Knudsen. In 2019, Violent Ground released their first studio album titled “Difference”, produced by long-time music maker, Marlon Grant. The record talks about issues the indigenous people face today as well as in the past, covering topics such as the mistreatment of the Indigenous communities and their land, bullying, racism, and daily struggles. The album garnered 4 nominations at the Gala de Musique Autochtone Teweikan in Quebec, winning 3 awards. In 2020, they hosted a workshop in their home community for the youth focusing on songwriting and production. In 2021, they were nominated for Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the first ever International Indigenous Hip-Hop Awards.
