Litefoot

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Litefoot

Born March 1, 1969
Upland, California

Litefoot (born March 1, 1969; also goes by the name G. Paul Davis) is a Native American rapper and the founder of the Red Vinyl record label.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Litefoot was born Gary Paul Davis in Upland, California. He was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, although of Chichimeca (northern Mexican indigenous) ancestry. He has lived in Seattle, Washington since 1997. He is married to Carmen Davis, who serves as president of the Reach The Rez effort and is of the Makah, Yakama, and Chippewa Cree tribes. They have one son, Quannah.[1]

[edit] Career

Litefoot is known to be the first Native American to perform rap music,[citation needed] calling his style of hip hop Tribalistic Funk. The term was a Litefoot brainstorm created to describe the type of music he created which was a hybrid mix of hip-hop influences from the Midwest and West Coast with a dash of Dirty South style. Litefoot's early recordings were quite ambitious while he searched to find that right mix of hip-hop and his own native culture. Litefoot along with Dallas, Texas producer, Willie Fressh (aka "Big Will"), concocted Tribalistic Funk simply based on the tribal origins of Native Americans along with African Americans in this country and the fact that there were so many parallels between Black street life and Native street life.

As the popularity of rap music has spread throughout American Indian reservations, Litefoot has become one of today's best known and respected Native American entertainers and leaders. He has won six Native American Music Awards, his most recent for Artist of The Year.

Litefoot has also appeared in Hollywood films, such as The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), Kull the Conqueror (1997), and Adaptation (2002), and several independent films, including 29 Palms (2002); The Song Of Hiawatha (1997); and The Pearl (2000). He has also appeared on the television programs: C.S.I.: Miami, Family Law, and Any Day Now.

Litefoot produces and hosts his own nationally distributed hip hop and R&B radio show called Reach The Rez Radio, which debuted in 2005. The program can be found at www.reachtherezradio.com and is aired weekly through Native Voice One Satellite Network. Litefoot has several very successful clothing lines which he produces. The most known being the brand, "Native Style."

Litefoot annually spends months of his time working on various reservations across the United States and Canada. His most recent music and speaking tour was the "Reach The Rez Tour." This annual project lasted one year, 54,000 miles, and 211 events across the United States. The Reach The Rez Tour will begin again in the Spring of 2007. Litefoot has released ten albums in the past twelve years. Litefoot's newest CD, Relentless Pursuit, is scheduled to be released in late 2007 and will be his first to enjoy nationwide distribution.

[edit] Discography

  • 1992 - "The Money" E.P.
  • 1994 - Seein' Red
  • 1995 - " the indian in the cupboard"
  • 1996 Good Day To Die
  • 1998 - The Clown Kutz
  • 1998 - The Life & Times
  • 1999 - Red Ryders Vol. 2
  • 1999 - Rez Affiliated
  • 1999 - The Lite Years 1989–1999 - The Best of Mr. Foot
  • 2001 - Tribal Boogie
  • 2002 - The Messenger
  • 2003 - Native American Me
  • 2004 - Redvolution
  • 2008 - Relentless Pursuit

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Seattle Times: Arts & Entertainment: Rapper Litefoot blazes a cross-country trail with his Reach the Rez tour

[edit] External links

[edit] Video

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