Post-doc scholar explores hip hop influence on Inuit youth 

Known as 'Qamani'tuaq' in Inuktitut, Baker Lake in Nunavut is home to Indigenous hip hop artists who are the subjects of post-doc researcher Raj Singh's study. (submitted photo) - Indigenous people worldwide have used hip hop music to address various aspects of their lives, including their relationships with tradition and decolonization. While many scholars have written about Indigenous hip hop, Raj Singh is one of the few researchers studying it from the perspective of the musicians who create, produce and distribute it. Singh joins the Don Wright Faculty of Music this fall as one of this year's successful scholars funded by the Western Research post-doctoral fellowships program. The program was created to draw top-tier post-doctoral talent who will help advance Western's strategic research plan. Singh's current work in ethnomusicology - the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of people who make it - explores hip hop's popularity amongst Inuit youth and how the genre is helping them to express themselves and voice their concerns and grievances.   "Hip hop is one of the most predominant forms of music that really allows people to say what's on their minds," said Singh. "It's very appealing to young Inuit people because it's a very DIY culture; you don't need much.