AKU-MATU
Above: Definition of Resilience video produced by Indigefi: Modern Indigenous Music
AKU-MATU Iñupiaq rap artist
AKU-MATU is the rap name of Allison Akootchook Warden. Modeled after KRS-ONE, the rapper that most influenced her desire to rap, it is a hyphenation of two of her Iñupiaq names, Akootchook and Matumeak. Akootchook was the name of her Amau (great-grandfather) who was a leader in her mom's home of Kaktovik, and Matumeak was her Attata (great-Uncle), who led an Iñupiaq choir.
Warden started to learn to rap at the age of 22, when she realized there wasn't an Alaskan Native female rap artist that she could tune into. She wanted to share positive messages with the youth who also felt a strong connection to place. She made friends with a DJ who shared some instrumental beats with her, and she began the process of learning how to freestyle over the beats. She became more serious about performing as a rap artist and creating songs in 2003 when she moved to Anchorage, Alaska. Themes around the environment and climate change permeate all of her work.
Warden was trained in the theatre and brings that training into her rap performances. Utilizing props, costumes and characterization, she finds a way to embody different characters who then have a "turn to try rap too". She raps as a caribou, a bowhead whale, an Ancestor from the Future and as a polar bear who laments, "Oh, Where Did All the Ice Go?".
Warden met Waylon Dungan around 2003, in Seattle. They became friends and in 2010 started to collaborate on creating beats for their album. Dungan is also known as WD4D. Warden provided samples from her Iñupiaq traditional music, and taught Waylon how to drum the traditional Iñupiaq drums. He then created 22 phenomenal original sonic landscapes which Warden raps over.
In 2016, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean released his short film, "FEELS GOOD" in which Warden plays the character of Maxine, who is also a rap artist. WD4D created the beat for a song called "Urban Diva" in which Warden created lyrics to fit the character and feel of the short film. "FEELS GOOD" debuted at the ImagiNative Film Festival in 2016.
Allison was a resident of Djerassi in 2017. As a creative writing resident, she performed as AKU-MATU for her fellow artists in residence, and they rallied around her to help bring her song, "Ancestor from the Future" to YouTube. Installation Artist Christy Chow worked with Warden to create regalia for a music video, which was then shot in the redwood forest by Choreographer Tori Lawrence with help from dancer Eleanor Goudie-Averill. The music video features the art installation "Contemplator" by Djerassi Alum Yusuke Toda, created when he was a resident in 2004.
Warden received a 2018 Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Artistic Fellowship in the field of Music. Also in 2018, Warden was selected to be part of the first Native Launchpad Fellowship cohort, a new program by the Western Arts Alliance. Warden's next performance as AKU-MATU will be at the Riddu Riddu festival in Norway this summer in 2018.
Warden started to learn to rap at the age of 22, when she realized there wasn't an Alaskan Native female rap artist that she could tune into. She wanted to share positive messages with the youth who also felt a strong connection to place. She made friends with a DJ who shared some instrumental beats with her, and she began the process of learning how to freestyle over the beats. She became more serious about performing as a rap artist and creating songs in 2003 when she moved to Anchorage, Alaska. Themes around the environment and climate change permeate all of her work.
Warden was trained in the theatre and brings that training into her rap performances. Utilizing props, costumes and characterization, she finds a way to embody different characters who then have a "turn to try rap too". She raps as a caribou, a bowhead whale, an Ancestor from the Future and as a polar bear who laments, "Oh, Where Did All the Ice Go?".
Warden met Waylon Dungan around 2003, in Seattle. They became friends and in 2010 started to collaborate on creating beats for their album. Dungan is also known as WD4D. Warden provided samples from her Iñupiaq traditional music, and taught Waylon how to drum the traditional Iñupiaq drums. He then created 22 phenomenal original sonic landscapes which Warden raps over.
In 2016, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean released his short film, "FEELS GOOD" in which Warden plays the character of Maxine, who is also a rap artist. WD4D created the beat for a song called "Urban Diva" in which Warden created lyrics to fit the character and feel of the short film. "FEELS GOOD" debuted at the ImagiNative Film Festival in 2016.
Allison was a resident of Djerassi in 2017. As a creative writing resident, she performed as AKU-MATU for her fellow artists in residence, and they rallied around her to help bring her song, "Ancestor from the Future" to YouTube. Installation Artist Christy Chow worked with Warden to create regalia for a music video, which was then shot in the redwood forest by Choreographer Tori Lawrence with help from dancer Eleanor Goudie-Averill. The music video features the art installation "Contemplator" by Djerassi Alum Yusuke Toda, created when he was a resident in 2004.
Warden received a 2018 Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Artistic Fellowship in the field of Music. Also in 2018, Warden was selected to be part of the first Native Launchpad Fellowship cohort, a new program by the Western Arts Alliance. Warden's next performance as AKU-MATU will be at the Riddu Riddu festival in Norway this summer in 2018.
For Presenters and Venues:
Name of Show: AKU-MATU
Length of Show: Can be as short as 5 minutes up to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Preferred length is a minimum of 45minutes.
Description of Show:
What would a polar bear say if he could rap? Or a bowhead whale? What if an Ancestor traveled so far from the past it became the future? Join as Iñupiaq rap artist AKU-MATU takes you on a transformational journey into the world of the Arctic. Utilizing humor, theatrical techniques and sampling music from her Inuit culture, her show has the intent of leaving the audience more healed than when they walked in the door.
Technical Needs:
Artist needs to be able to plug in a sound system into her computer, that has a 1/8" headphone input jack. Artist needs a wireless microphone (can be wired) on a microphone stand. Artist prefers to control the music herself, coming from her laptop on the stage. Optional - Images from the Arctic can be projected behind the artist, utilizing another computer (not provided by artist). Artist needs a chair on-stage and a monitor speaker on stage so that she can hear herself.
Length of Show: Can be as short as 5 minutes up to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Preferred length is a minimum of 45minutes.
Description of Show:
What would a polar bear say if he could rap? Or a bowhead whale? What if an Ancestor traveled so far from the past it became the future? Join as Iñupiaq rap artist AKU-MATU takes you on a transformational journey into the world of the Arctic. Utilizing humor, theatrical techniques and sampling music from her Inuit culture, her show has the intent of leaving the audience more healed than when they walked in the door.
Technical Needs:
Artist needs to be able to plug in a sound system into her computer, that has a 1/8" headphone input jack. Artist needs a wireless microphone (can be wired) on a microphone stand. Artist prefers to control the music herself, coming from her laptop on the stage. Optional - Images from the Arctic can be projected behind the artist, utilizing another computer (not provided by artist). Artist needs a chair on-stage and a monitor speaker on stage so that she can hear herself.
Upcoming Performances:
2023
April 21st at 7:30pm, April 22nd at 7:30pm and April 23rd at 4pm (with question and answer after the show) at Out North Fringe Festival, Anchorage, Alaska. www.outnorth.org
April 21st at 7:30pm, April 22nd at 7:30pm and April 23rd at 4pm (with question and answer after the show) at Out North Fringe Festival, Anchorage, Alaska. www.outnorth.org