once the reaper / d.m.ii

Joe Rainey follows up his critically acclaimed debut album ‘Niineta’ with the single once the reaper. Entering new sonic territory, Rainey unleashes a vocal barrage over storming percussion, spectral vocal samples and unrelenting kick drum patterns provided by producer Andrew Broder. once the reaper is a song of defiance, about confronting grief head-on, about fiercely guarding the memory of relatives taken too soon.

Joe is kicking down the doors, closed for too long to Native artists in America and demanding new space be made for Pow Wow singing- in the same conversation as any other modern music. He insists that his culture not be thoughtlessly shoved in the ‘World Music’ bin, not be relegated to the past, to be admired behind glass or in halls of academia-but blaring out of car windows, in the earbuds of a kid on the basketball court, and in dimly lit concert venues, rattling the subs.

Joe is not telling ancient stories – he is telling modern stories that often go unheard. It’s impossible not to hear this.