Sx3.H.W.A (STUFF SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT) #1: DARREN SIPITY "WEAKENED WARRIOR"
Sometimes dope content doesn’t get the coverage it deserves upon its release. No one swoops at the chance to cover something worth talking about. An unwatchful eye or timing may be to blame. Whatever the reason, I started this series to highlight dope projects that never had a write up; but should have.
For the inaugural article of the series, I’m starting off by covering Darren Sipity’s 2019 summer release “Weakened Warrior.” I started writing for Melodic Noise around the same time this project dropped. I was still trying to catch my bearings with writing for this kind of medium, but I’m pinching myself for not realizing I should’ve covered this when it came out.
”Weakened Warrior” tallies only ten minutes in 5 tracks, but bar-for-bar, the content greatly exceeds its 10 minute run time. I listened to this on a loop a few times (like 30) and I found something new every time around. This project is meant to be run back, either by track or as a whole. Darren Sipity, a native emcee who proudly represents the Fond du Lac band of Lake Superior Chippewa, commands the entire ten minutes. In an effortless fashion, Darren hits you with extremely clever and thought provoking subject matter. He addresses his lifestyle and his community on the Fond du Lac reservation which is nestled west of the Duluth metropolitan area. He also covers the dichotomy of intrusive threats and contamination of reservation land by crude oil companies while his people benefit from the Casino. With classic beats and an all killer-no-filler fashion, this is one of my favorite projects to come out last year.
Right away in the opening track, Darren lets you know where he is from (Fond du Lac band of Lake Superior Chippewa if you didn’t catch on yet.) Complemented with some smooth East Coast boom bap, “Oh my God” is an abrupt and potent introduction. Darren keeps a theme related to the track title with bars like “Praise to whatever God you choose to acknowledge/ Chose to be more than a loser in college,” and “Atheists don’t fear the flood, but they fear the flow.” Along with that, Darren says something everyone should hear in “The rap game is full of little bastard sons/ Who don’t have respect for rappers who go their passion from.”
The second track “Loving You” is my favorite on this project. With soulful, classic samples along with melancholic drums. The feel of the project changes from “Oh my God.” “Loving You” takes a step back and provides an alternate perspective and a more serious tone. But with bars like “Used to wanna be the sickest with this/ Got a minor case” Darren still doesn’t sacrifice a line and commands attention. Speaking of attention, some of the most thought provoking bars are said on this track:
“Homie don’t mind me/
All my Natives on the corner screaming ‘No line 3!’/
They paved a trail through the country where there’s no pine trees/
And outsiders say, ‘let it go or you won’t find peace.’”
Line 3 is a crude oil pipeline owned and run by Enbridge energy. The pipeline runs from a town in South Eastern Alberta, Canada all the way to Superior, WI. The pipeline has been running since 1968 and the majority of it runs through Minnesota. Plans to replace old oil pipeline routes has sparked major controversy in Minnesota especially with the Native people in the North. The Pipeline already runs through the Leech Lake Reservation and Darrens’s Fond du lac Reservation on it’s way to Superior. The new plans to replace the pipeline could possibly have it run through yet another Reservation in Western Minnesota. Not only will it run extremely close to the White Earth Reservation, there could possibly be more routes that run through the Fond du lac reservation area. On top of these pipeline routes running through a multitude of Minnesota's Reservations, there’s a potential for disaster. Line 3 ends in Superior, Wisconsin. It’s pretty obvious where the city gets its name as it sits on the Great Lake Superior.
Now if there were to be an oil spill, Lake Superior’s watershed will be polluted; ultimately contaminating one of biggest sources of freshwater in the world. In 1991, Line 3 had the biggest inland oil spills in American History. Over 1.7 million gallons of oil spilled in Grand Rapids, MN. If that happens near these reservations or Lake Superior, it will lead to a catastrophic disaster. On Darren’s Bandcamp for this project, the description says, “just some rap bars,” which is an understatement.
Image from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for the line 3 pipeline. Dark blue is the current route, black is the suggested new route. Click on image to view the full map and web page.
In the third track, “Passing Me By,” Darren hops on the classic Pharcyde beat of the same name which is basically a right of passage for an emcee. I mean, what rapper hasn’t tried to kill this beat? Darren certainly does, with clever lines like “A procrastinators never done, I’ll probably do it later,” he presents another short and sweet track loaded with dissectible content.
“Arrow Root” starts to wind the project down. Darren takes a more introspective route in this track and let’s the listener experience a piece of some of Darren's life and thought process. Some of my favorite bars in this joint include, “I’m burning all my bridges and I’m sinking all my friendships,” and “If you can wrap your head around this, I bet your head will spin.”
The last track “Hylla Freestyle,” continues in the downward slope of the mood with beat being the calmest out of the 5 tracks. Darren still ends “Weakened Warrior” strong with some of my favorite bars on the project. Lines like “My words hit like bird shit on the blacktop/ And I rap as tight as the plastic knots on crack rocks” having you make that stank face when a bar is way too dope. Darren’s last line of the project is the most poignant and paramount line “Before ya’ll came, my people ran the forest/ Seven generations later and the land is yours.” The project ends on a soundbite of Darren about to rap on Sway in the Morning. Sway asks Darren where he’s from which Darren promptly answers, “Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.”
Check out “Weakened Warrior” and more of Darren’s projects on Bandcamp.
Review by: Paul Thorson, Hip-Hop Writer @PaulyT03
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner @PlaylistTC
© 2020 Melodic Noise Media. All Rights Reserved.