They came to bust some rhymes and in the process to support First Nations groups in their fight against resource development.
“We’ve been doing hip hop for a long time and have been involved in activism,” Testament of Test Their Logik, from Toronto, said.
“Social and environmental issues are a main focus.”
Mel Bazil, program coordinator with the Circle of Supports Program at the Dze L K’ant Friendship Centre Society referred to Test Their Logik and Savage Family as allies of the Unist’ot’en camp and Lhe Lin Liyin organization.
“Tonight is about sharing information,” Bazil said as his hand waved towards a table covered with pamphlets and books.
“It’s also about sharing music and celebrating the stance against unwanted pipelines and unwanted mining.”
Test Their Logic is currently on a cross-Canada tour, spreading the word about environmental issues such as the several pipeline projects proposed for northwestern B.C.
Hip hop has been a part of Testament’s life since he was a child, and along the way he learned about social and environmental issues and decided to blend the two when he first took the stage as a hip hop artist.
“I thought I would put two and two together and make those connections in my daily life,” Testament said.
“I’m trying to shift the voice of hip hop away from horizontal violence, gang culture, drugs and sexism.
“We have so much power in hip hop to use our voices for good.
“The lyric sheet for hip hop is long, you have so many words, you should be making people think about things from a different perspective.”
Testament described the current generation of youth as the tipping generation, referring to the many aspects of their future being decided right now, especially with respect to environmental damage.
“It’s their future, they need to take ownership and fight for the future they want to see.
“A lot of people want to get rich by putting pipelines through here.
“Take the long view, take control of the future because you are the future.”