Rapping on the rez -- Ryan Craig puts radio station on the map

TOPPENISH -- On Fridays, splicing music tracks and recording other artists to form a one-hour hip-hop show usually consumes Ryan Craig's schedule.

When he's not inviting new area rappers into the studio at Yakama Nation Radio to toss up their latest beats and rhymes, the 26-year-old Yakama tribal member is poring over submitted CDs to create the "Native Hip-Hop Hour" that the station airs each Friday evening.

"It's cool because if you're young and you like to listen to rap and hear what's going on in Indian Country, just listen to it," he said.

He's been doing it for the past three years, and his hard work hasn't gone unnoticed. His show, which airs on Yakama Nation Radio, 1490 AM, has recently been nominated for a Native American Music Award.

"I'm all happy for Ryan," said Roy Dick, a station disc jockey. "He's done it all by himself."

And that's not all.

Craig and his cohort, Nathan Winishut, co-founders of local rap group RezHogs, have also received a nomination for best pop category for their "Outsiders" album, as well as another nomination for their short video, "Drinkin RezHogs."

Dubbed "the Nammys," the Native American Music Awards is considered the Grammys of Indian Country, and its banquet, to be held Saturday in Niagara Falls, will honor musicians in nearly as many categories.

Craig said he plans to attend the banquet, but Winishut is in the Army and has mandatory exercises at the Yakima Training Center that day.

Craig, who grew up in Wapato, said his decision to create the one-hour show and develop rap songs had more to do with promoting and strengthening the hip-hop movement in Indian Country, but receiving a nomination is the icing on the cake.

"KYNR -- it's small," he said of the radio station. "But if you look at it, that's a nomination out of all Native American artists. That puts KYNR on the map."

It all began for Craig at age 17 while at a rap concert on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon.

He said there were some big names headlining there, but what caught his attention were the young, local rappers who were given a chance at the microphone.

They weren't the greatest rappers, "but just the fact that they'd get up on stage and perform, that inspired me," he said.

From there, Craig said he began rapping, working on rhymes and developing beats. He also began attending radio school at YV-Tech, where he met Winishut, who is adept in computer and radio technology, he said.

"He knew all the stuff I didn't know, like how to set up a home studio," Craig said. "After that, every beat I rapped to was his."

Craig's submersion into the rap world has been part of a larger movement in Indian Country, where many tribal youth have adopted the trendy baggy clothes often worn by inner-city youth and aren't hesitant to pick up a microphone and toss out lyrics.

This summer, droves of Native American youth from across the region were given such a chance during the Huckleberry Jam music event held at State Fair Park in Yakima.

Sitting on a bench near Yakima Valley Community College recently, Craig wore a green ball cap, white T-shirt and matching green baggy shorts.

He guesses there are several reasons why so many Native youth are drawn to the hip-hop culture: "Maybe they can relate," he said.

For him, rap is an avenue to express the daily struggles of reservation life.

"How are you going to describe those things?" he asked. "You can do it with rap."

Native American rappers weren't taken serious at first, he said: "It was considered a joke, but they kept going and got better."

He also wondered if at first it was viewed as disrespectful to tribal traditions, which pay reverence to the land, foods and creation through songs of prayer.

But Dick, a traditional tribal member who runs a longhouse (a tribal church) in Satus with his dad, said he supports the rap movement on the reservation.

He suspects that tribal youth have found a way to express themselves through rap music, and said there's nothing wrong with that.

"I like it because it keeps them out of trouble," he said. "It gives them something to do and something to accomplish.

"I'm all for it," he adds. "Whenever someone comes in with this music, I'll try to air it as long as it's radio clean."

* Phil Ferolito can be reached at 577-7749 or pferolito@yakimaherald.com.

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