Frank Waln
| Frank Waln | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 2, 1989 Rosebud Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, United States |
| Nationality | Sicangu Lakota |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Home town | He Dog, SD |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Instruments | |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | http://frankwaln.com/ |
Frank Waln, or Oyate Teca Obmani (Walks With Young People) is a Sicangu Lakota rapper. The winner of 3 Native American Music Awards and recipient of 5 nominations, both alone and with his group Nake Nula Waun, Waln grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation and first began listening to hip-hop as a teenager. After dropping out of a pre-med program at Creighton University, where he was a Millennium Scholar, Waln moved to Chicago and began releasing music. His first solo album, Tokiya, is expected to be out at the end of 2017.
Waln grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was first exposed to hip-hop after finding an Eminem CD on the side of the road. As a teenager he began listening to the genre extensively, connecting his experiences as a Native American dealing with the consequences of colonialism and genocide to the oppression suffered by African Americans. In the early 2000s he began recording with friends and family, eventually saving enough money to build a recording studio in his basement.
A Millennium Scholar, Waln studied pre-med at Creighton University for two years, with the goal of becoming a doctor. After burning out, he realized that music, rather than medicine, was how he would choose to make a difference and a living. He then moved to Chicago, studying audio design at Columbia College Chicago, and graduated in 2014.
In 2010 Waln formed the group Nake Nula Waun (I am always ready, at all times, for anything), with Thomas Schmidt, Andre Easter and Kodi DeNoyer. They released the album Scars and Bars that year, with Waln receiving the Best Producer award at the 2010 Native American Music Awards - the youngest Nammy award-winner in history. The band receiving the Best Hip-Hop Recording award in 2011 for the same album. Their follow-up, The Definition, was released in 2013 and was again nominated for Best Hip-Hop Recording.
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