{"id":5159,"date":"2026-01-09T02:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/?p=5159"},"modified":"2026-01-09T02:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:26:19","slug":"end-the-year-listening-to-rising-indigenous-artist-mato-wayuhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/?p=5159","title":{"rendered":"End the Year Listening to Rising Indigenous Artist Mato Wayuhi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Growing up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Oglala Lakota artist Mato Wayuhi\u2014both an actor in and composer for the series Reservation Dogs<\/em>\u2014became enamored with rap music. \u201cThese artists spoke to me more than my own Lakota music did,\u201d says Wayuhi, naming the likes of Andr\u00e9 3000, Lauryn Hill, and Tyler, the Creator.<\/p>\n

As he began rapping and producing himself, however, he seized on the chance to bring both worlds together. \u201cI immediately understood how it could be a vehicle to represent my own community in a way that exceeds others\u2019 expectations of Native sound,\u201d says Wayuhi. Consider his latest album, Bygoner<\/em>, released in November, which melds rap, R&B, and pop with references to his own experiences and identity.<\/p>\n

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\"Image<\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n
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Mato Wayuhi<\/p>\n

<\/span>Photo: Courtesy of Mato Wayuhi<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Featuring some of Wayuhi\u2019s most personal and introspective songs to date, Bygoner<\/em> centers on themes of self-reflection and vulnerability\u2014often in the face of love or lust. \u201cBygoner<\/em> was inspired by my side-ho era,\u201d Wayuhi, who is Two-Spirit, says frankly. \u201cI was falling for folks who were emotionally unavailable, so I had to reckon with what that says about me. I also wanted to strengthen my songwriting and bass\u2013playing skills. Much\u00a0of what you hear is tailored to those exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the title track, for instance, Wayuhi bids a catchy farewell to an ex-flame. \u201cYour forgiveness ain\u2019t my business anymore,\u201d he sings. \u201cDon\u2019t have a clue what I\u2019m doing, but at least I\u2019m doing me.\u201d On \u201cThe Sunroof Song,\u201d he croons about struggling to move on from someone. \u201cAin\u2019t it something when you move on, and you just want what you don\u2019t need anymore,\u201d he sings.<\/p>\n

Through it all, Wayuhi also weaves in elements from his Native culture, especially<\/em> humor. \u201cGirl, you\u2019re Native\u2014what are you doing sitting on your ass,\u201d goes his track \u201cSuckerz,\u201d featuring Awu. \u201cDo you not know that you can get into any national park for free?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Oglala Lakota artist Mato Wayuhi\u2014both an actor in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[235],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markcomedia.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}