Ex-Mexican Gangmember, RedCloud, Displays Positive Message On Debut Album
Published: Thursday - May 24, 2007
Words by Ronnie Gamble
RedCloud Photo: Larry Price
As rappers continue to compete against each other to prove who is the hardest around, Mexican rapper RedCloud is focused on bringing a positive message to the culture.
With the release of his long awaited debut, Hawthrone's Most Wanted (named after his Los Angeles hometown), RedCloud is determined to connect with the average person who can't related to topics rappers have made the norm -- diamonds, cars, women and money. Instead, he says he's speaking to the average person with personal stories everyone can relate to.
"My mom had me when she was 17, I got my first tattoo in the 7th grade, she pierced my ears in the 6th grade, I jumped in the gangs the next year and, 'boom,' got arrested twice," recalls the rapper of his past. "Hip-hop gave everybody hope and changed people's lives. It was street poetry that everybody could relate to. Now, people are rapping about things that your average person can't relate to -- the cars, the diamonds, the money. I rap about average person stories, issues that people don't usually deal with. I want to let them know what's really going on."
Kicking off Hawthrone's Most Wanted, RedCloud has three singles on deck -- the funky "Tapatio," featuring Pigeon John, who trades braggadocio rhymes with RedCloud; "Guns & Roses," featuring Jayo Felony, Eek-A-Mouse and Tonex, who all examine spiritual topics; and "405," with Lord Zen and Dannu of the Visionaries, which gives a salute the famous California highway that connects several prominent cities, including Los Angeles and San Diego.
Hailing from sunny Los Angeles, RedCloud was brought up in a family knee-deep in the Chicano gang lifestyle, but after finding hip-hop in high school, he shunned his rough upbringing and had a spiritual awakening. Then began to pursue his destiny in the urban genre.
He became the one to beat on Los Angeles' Power 106's freestyle competition called the Roll Call, and developed a regular Los Angeles club following that evolved into a non-stop U.S. touring schedule. His first two underground, self-released albums, 2001's Is This Thing On? and 2003's Traveling Circus sold more than 40,000 copies collectively, which spawned a deal with Syntax Records, distributed by Koch, to release the new album.
Currently, RedCloud is currently enduring a grueling touring schedule, which is packed with 140 shows. However, he not only plays the clubs with his music, but also does mission outreach to Native American reservations where he comes face to face with poverty, addiction and other rough problems.
"We travel from reservation to reservation sharing a message of hope to the Native American people, the First Nation's people and Indigenous people of Mexico," explains RedCloud. "Nowadays, 90% of Native American youth are into hip-hop. They forget what their elders are telling them these days, or they don't care about tradition or their heritage tells them. They want to do what they love, which is hip-hop and we speak that language very, very well."
Hawthrone's Most Wanted is in stores now, and features guest appearances by Kurupt, Tonex, Eek-A-Mouse, Jayo Felony, Pigeon John, Lord Zen and Dannu of the Visionaries.
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