Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Sami rapper Nils Rune Utsi

One of the things I find most interesting about doing public readings on anything to do with Scandinavia and the Sami (most recently during my promotion of With the Lapps in the High Mountains) is coming in contact with people's yearning for the Nordic countries based on family lineage, travel, and reading. In addition, people sometimes come up and tell me  that they have always dreamed about visiting Lapland or are interested in Shamanism. There's a romantic aspect to the many questions about drumming, otherworldly journeys, and especially joiking. My interest in the Sami tends to be a little more cultural/historical and political,  but I also love joiking, both historic joiking and more contemporary adaptations. Here's an example of how the Sami language continues as a living tongue through the medium of rap.

Nils Rune Utsi is a Sami rapper from Maze, a village not far from Alta in Northern Norway. There was a recent spotlight on him from the BBC, complete with rap music.