Liz Przybylski is Associate Professor in the Department of Music at UC-Riverside and is the author of Hybrid Ethnography: Online, Offline, and In Between. Now she presents her new book, Sonic Sovereignty: Hip Hop, Indigeneity, and Shifting Popular Music.

While hip hop has been covered from a variety of different angles over the years, and many different subgenres and populations have been examined, one major group has not been given the type of attention they deserve – the native populations of the United States and Canada. That is, at least not in the substantial way that a book like Sonic Sovereignty can provide. Over the course of the book, Przybylski takes a methodical approach to teach readers about indigenous hip hop. It begins with an exploration of why people of native heritage are drawn to hip hop as a form of expression, and how they put their own spin on it and use it to rally, tell their stories, and communicate with their own community. As the book continues, we then get to explore interesting case studies that take you inside the world of a Canadian radio station (104.7 in Winnipeg) that fought to survive while also being a pioneer in playing indigenous hip hop for a mainstream audience. We also get some really substantial discussion on how female, trans, two-spirit, and non-binary artists have built community, fought to have their voices heard, and railed against a biased music industry, all with a balance of humor and rage. The great thing about this book is that while Przybylski is an academic taking on some substantial subject matter and is rigorous in her scholarship, she makes everything approachable with her narrative examples that let you see clear as day the issues within the indigenous hip hop community.

Sonic Sovereignty is a book that is long overdue and will hopefully lead to more books being written about this long-overlooked population within the hip hop community. In the meantime, Przybylski has given us a great starting point that will give you a substantial knowledge base to start from, and at the very least she’ll give you plenty of dope native artists to listen to.