Is A Tribe Called Red splitting, or at least losing one of its three members?
The website for the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN) has posted a report that A Tribe Called Red member DJ Shub “says he needs to consult with lawyers before issuing an official statement on whether he is with the ground-breaking, Juno award-winning music group.”
APTN says that on Thursday Shub, whose real name is Dan General, shared a status update from a third party, New Manik, on his Facebook page that began, “Is A Tribe Called Red gonna be the same without DJ Shub? . . . The DJ world is buzzing that their number one weapon DJ Shub is now replaced by 2OOlman.”
APTN’s report includes screen grabs of the status update, though as of 8 a.m. ET Friday morning it appears to have been removed from DJ Shub’s Facebook page. The original post remained on the Facebook page of New Manik.
DJ Shub told me in a Facebook message on Friday morning that, “I can’t comment until I hear from my lawyer. . . . I will let you know as soon as I hear back from my lawyer in a week.”
A Tribe Called Red is made of DJ Shub, Deejay NDN and Bear Witness. The Ottawa trio has earned global popularity in the past couple of years for its combination of First Nations beats and electronic music. Their most recent album, Nation II Nation, won a Juno award for Breakthrough Group of the Year, and was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize.
DJ Shub is a respected producer in the Canadian music community. Bear Witness is a well-known visual artist in Ottawa, and Ian “Deejay NDN” Campeau led a controversial but ultimately successful campaign to have a local football team drop its “Redskins” name.
The three men have been performing in Europe in recent days, and according to their web page they’re currently playing the Colours of Ostrava Festival in the Czech Republic.
A Tribe Called Red’s self-titled debut album is still available for free download on the band’s website.
More to come . . .