Bazille | Redefining Indigenous Sound

Hosted by Jermaine Jackson, on the Daybreak Star Radio, we sit down with Bazille who redefines what Indigenous sound looks like both for himself and the next generation. Check out the full video interview down below‼️👇

Beginnings of a Musical Mind

Bazille credits the era he was born into, the early death of cassette tapes but the boom and abundance of CDs. Sparking his love for music, he also came from a diverse family both in culture and music. Having sides of his family in the church and in traditions, he got to find his way through both. Through that, he found that hip-hop and rap was a perfect medium to self-expression. Although that self-expression allowed him to go through journey of healing.

Bazille attended an ivy league school, the University of Pennsylvania and left home, which included his younger brother. He states that hip-hop and the expression allowed him to make sense of the world, especially the one he came from. Leaving home left Bazille with a lot of guilt, because the state of their home wasn’t the most stable, and he felt that it left his little brother vulnerable.

With Bazille being the older brother, those qualities bled into personal relationships during his time at the UofPenn. The reality of reservation life kept Bazille hyper-aware to his life and its conditions, which bled into his music and how he embodies being a leader. Balancing anxiety, his responsibility helped recenter him and hip-hop was always at the center of that.

“I’m just a guy that reflects on whatever I see.” – Bazille

Knowledge Back Home

Finding himself working at the Oglala Lakota Art Space as the music coordinator, Bazille has found his entry point to passing on knowledge. Through filling that void, Bazille found a true pathway that allows his artistry to grow and be passed onto others. Being able to help the youth find their creative expression through music gives Bazille something that he never had the chance to experience as a youth.

Going back to Bazille’s upbringing, he started out with the drum, in his peoples traditional ways. Although he had a bad experience because you had to be vulnerable with your vocal ability in a big group. This pushed him to find the solitude and safety of hip-hop, creating your own safe recording space.

Now that Bazille gets to help curate his own program for the youth of his community, it gives him the opportunity to create the space that he envisions. Bazille also states that since he has his own music career, he’s able to immediately pass on what he learns to the youth, which creates a constantly evolving environment. Beyond this, Bazille makes waves with his music in a multitude of ways, and tries to push the message of continuing to grow the movement.

Allow the Expansion to Expand

The one thing Bazille notices in his work is the amount of diverse sound coming from native communities. He states that understanding we are coming from so many walks of life now, its important to embrace that. Allow more lifestyles to be represented in who we are, and that’s how we will continue to grow.

Beyond that, he tells the youth to remember who came before them because it keeps the culture intact. In the current age where everything evolves and changes so fast, its important to not forget the ones that came before so easily. The reason for this is because that transition of sound, that evolution represents the past, present and future, it holds value even if the youth forget that sometimes.

Check out the full video interview down below and go support Bazille in all that he does!