MISSOULA — This edition of Arts and Education takes a look at a special event where kids are learning all about art, diversity and culture in Missoula.
Christian Parrish Takes the Gun -- also known as Supaman -- is a musician, dancer and rapper who is combining Native American culture and hip hop culture into one new art form.
His artistic and musical journey began at Native American Heritage Days in Bozeman where one evening, he and a few friends got up and began rapping for a few of the kids that were there.
“We just rapped in our outfits and it was something unique, it was different, it was spur of the moment. And after we got done, the elders came over, and I thought he was going to scold us. But when he came over, he took his hat off and shook my hand and said, 'keep it up'," Takes the Gun recalled. '[I] heard you all doing some good things. I heard you talking about being drug and alcohol free, being a father, a husband, you had a positive message to say to those kids when you did hip hop.”
Supaman’s videos on YouTube have millions of views, and he’s received recognition from the music community with an MTV video music award -- along with an Indigenous Music award. And with each song he writes, there is always a positive message or lesson to take away.
“The overall message is live in the moment, love one another, the golden rule, be respectful," Takes the Gun said.
Those positive messages are themes that he takes with him everywhere he goes, and its something that comes out in each performance. It's something that the students got to experience first hand, as each performance he did carried with it a special message.
“I would say celebrating diversity, celebrating our differences, but also believing in yourself. Believe that no matter where you come from, or what you go through in life...believe you can do amazing things. You can be a singer, you can be a rapper or actor, just anything you want to do. So, I try to inspire them, inspire listeners to believe in themselves and go for it," Takes the Gun concluded.
