Headline raps for his culture on powerful debut album

Edmonton's Indigenous rapper Headline has paid his dues, having kicked around the local hip-hop scene for years through his MC work and as a producer, but now he's ready for the spotlight with his debut album, Savage.

A sprawling 22-track set, Savage serves as a proper introduction to Headline's lyrical and production prowess, having mixed and mastered every single song right down to picking the samples.

The album's sound leans heavily on the '90s “golden era” of hip-hop, with sound snippets sprinkled throughout making you think you're listening to a Wu-tang Clan affiliate, in no doubt reinforced by the appearance of Cappadonna. Headline raps on Savage about the world he experienced as an Indigenous man, laid out on introductory track L'introduction: “Yeah smack dabble in the back alley with their groove on/ The mack daddies and crack addicts making moves/ That's the s--t I seen when I was walking home from school.”

Headline, a.k.a. Jesse Elechko, said his goal for Savage was to shed light on some of the darker aspects of life. He's not afraid to get personal in his songwriting, which often details hardships and racial tension. On Pursuit of Happiness, Headline raps about trying to sandpaper his skin to look like the “white kids” but being thwarted by his brother who tells him to embrace who he is.

The album's themes are solidified on its standout title track. Over a mournful beat ladened with strings and horns, Headline raps about the generational trauma Indigenous people endure punctuated by heartbreaking speech samples.

It's not all downtrodden tracks, however. Piano Reeves is a certified trunk rattler, with Jarren Benton contributing a violent, vengeful verse over a bouncy beat, while F--k and Mediate takes Headline's vocals and processes them into a Travis Scott-like drawl to sing about carnal lust and smoking cannabis.

Savage is a hodgepodge of vocalists, from Headline's delivery that cuts through the music but still maintains his personality, sometimes resembling Logic's rapping gymnastics, to a host of major label artists. System of a Down's Serj Tankian's warbly pipes provide the hook on Train of Thought and Cappadonna jumps on 12 a.m. in Paris, spitting a verse about an uncanny woman who cooks curry shrimp and loves kung fu.

Headline is an old-head at heart, but his fresh and invigorating perspective displayed on Savage is a welcome breath of fresh air in the rap scene.