Pabineau First Nation rapper Wolf Castle shares the second installment in his ongoing series of EPs.
Matt Carter
Mi’kmaq rapper Tristin Grant started releasing music as Wolf Castle in 2014. Across his five full-length, self-produced albums focusing largely on first hand experiences and honest storytelling, Grant has become a prominent voice among New Brunswick’s indigenous hip hop community. For his latest project – The Da Vinci Chronicles – Grant has teamed up with a select group of producers and engineers to follow a single story line across a trio of EPs. Through this project, Grant tackles a lot of the fear and anxieties he has faced as well as those he has witnessed other struggling with. Earlier this month he released, D4RK SID3, the second in the series’ trilogy.
What can you tell us about The Da Vinci Chronicles? What’s this project all about?
The Da Vinci Chronicles is a trilogy of three EP’s that ask the question “What is greatness?”. A lot of our culture as artists revolve around becoming a superstar or encourages you to follow this ideal path that will bring you fame and fortune. On top of that, we often put pressure on ourselves to be the best in our own lives, but at what cost? At what point does this one-track determination start to hurt our life, relationships, and experiences?
The Da Vinci Chronicles asks these questions and relates my own desire to be a renaissance man, connecting that term with Leonardo Da Vinci who is referred to as a creative genius, artist and scholar. It’s an ideal I strived for but now, through these EP’s I wonder how important all of that really is if at the end of the journey you are left with a big empty mansion with no one to share it with.
Do you find your music is getting darker with each new release?
This second EP is the middle of the overarching story, it’s moving in a specific direction and this chapter is a lot darker. It’s honestly also because I’ve been challenging myself to become more open about my struggles, my anxieties and really putting it out there on display. I often make the mistake in thinking that I am alone in this world and can’t rely on anyone, but no man is an island and over the years I have been fighting that tendency.
Are you inspired by the growing popularity of acts like A Tribe Called Red and Snotty Nose Rez Kids? How have these voices of indigenous popular music affected what you do?
It shows me a shift in perception as it begun changing in Canada. There’s obviously a lot of progress that needs to be made but it seems that the institutions are finally listening to the people and allowing indigenous artists to become part of their canon. Our time right now is exciting because we are seeing so many indigenous people nationally break out and tell their stories. This was always part of my goals as an artist so it’s encouraging and always a good thing to see.
Wolf Castle | FACEBOOK | BANDCAMP | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM
