BEMIDJI — "The story of the crow and how crow had to be brave to go get the fire. And he made that sacrifice," said Thomas Barrett Jr., aka "Thomas X," of the Red Lake Nation.
He said this origin story of the crow was the inspiration behind his latest album, Always Be Brave, during a recent interview at the KBXE studio in Bemidji.
"And I thought it just lined up with the kind of music I was making and where I was at in life."
The Red Lake rapper's fourth studio album opens with Katie Northbird reciting the story of "Aandeg," the Ojibwe word for crow.
Beautiful in color and voice, the crow traveled to the sun to bring back fire for the other animals during an especially harsh winter. The crow was successful, but the fire scorched his feathers and voice on the journey home, giving us the crow as we know it today.
That story hits home for Barrett, who is no stranger to representing his culture through his love for hip-hop. He said it was a perfect metaphor for his mindset going into the album.
"When the early phases of this album were being put together, a lot of my lyrics, messages and energy was [focused on] talking about going through a lot of tough times in life, because I have gone through a lot of tough situations and tough times in my life these last couple of years," Barrett said. "And I've had to have resilience and humility. There were a lot of lessons and a lot of unfortunate things happening in my life."
Through it all, music was a healthy outlet for the musician who also represents the Little Rock district on the Red Lake Tribal Council. There was no chance the added responsibilities would keep him from doing what he loves.
"Even before becoming a tribal council member, I've always been busy with life, family, jobs. So it's just all about prioritizing time, regardless of the work I'm doing and whatever's on my plate," Barrett said. "I try to make time to be creative."
The creative juices were flowing on Always Be Brave, with verses and life lessons coming thick and fast over the album's boom bap and 808 beats. Barrett was quick to shout out producer Distant Father, who handled all the beats on the album.
Joining the rapper during his in-studio session was Animikii Fallsfeather, who performs as Frankie Graves. Graves sings on three tracks on the album.
After a fiery Thomas X freestyle kicked off their session, the pair joined forces for "Old School Nijii," a g-funk groove with verses examining expectations and family roles of Indigenous men.
"There are a lot of responsibilities and roles the Anishinaabe men have," Barrett said. "Living in this modern day, it's tough to find spaces where we could be open about the tough feelings and emotions that we have."
For Graves, the song speaks to his return to making contemporary music after years away.
"In my 20s and my late 20s, I kind of got involved with a few local labels that were around the way here. I kind of fizzled out because of some personal life things that I had going on," Graves said. "Thomas, he remembers that and he knows about that little bit of history. He brought me back in to be a part of this album, and I'm just extremely thankful, proud, tons of words."
Next, Thomas X performed his no-holding-back message to the haters with "Fugazi," before they closed with an a capella verse, leading into Fallsfeather singing the album's powwow closer, "The Crow Song" (on the album it is listed as "Outerlude").
The exclusive in-studio performances are a taste of what Barrett will be doing at Logjammerz in Cass Lake on Friday, Sept. 11. The album release show begins at 9 p.m. with many of the featured artists, including Fallsfeather, on the bill.
"I'm really proud of this project and I just wanted to get together with family and friends and people from the area to come celebrate its release and just to have a night of enjoying ourselves," Barrett said.
Listen above to hear the full conversation and live recordings.
