“Consistency & sincerity is something that can avidly get thrown around as if it is not something important when you present yourself in regards to having desires of bettering Oglala oyatekin and just native communities as a whole..” he says in a manner weary of the journey going forward. “So, it’s like when I am doing my thing in music, I never forget how important it is to be whole heartedly honest about myself and have the actions to back it.” We find the young artist at the beginning of a threshold, a hopeful push for a thriving career that would inevitably result in being his source of funding for various projects to better his people and his home, the Pine Ridge Reservation. And with that, we get the release of juQ’s 2nd music video for his song “july”, a visual that captures many narratives he Is never afraid to speak on.

The visual was shot in the Pine Ridge village, scenery that can be either associated with it being like home or a place with a bad reputation people are trying to leave. With this in mind, Wanbli attempts to flip this in the visual. “I’m essentially turning Pine Ridge into a sort of backdrop to the overall performance put on by me as well as the interactions between me and the winyan throughout the 3 minute and 29 seconds, referring to how your experience of a place entirely depends on you & your choices.” There is also another recurring consistency throughout, the winyan and the importance of her role in Lakota wicohan, the bettering of the people. Chyler Weston plays the main female love interest throughout the video, playing a key role in displaying that theme. From her wearing her jingle dress outfit the whole video, to her dancing behind Wanbli in one shot, to her even pushing Wanbli in a grocery cart. “Everything in this video spoke to the truth that the winyan is the backbone of our people and our society, the grocery cart symbolized how the women carry the men and are also nurturers to the situations we find ourselves in, which can ultimately change the dynamic of any darkness that goes on amongst the people.”

The song itself, “july”, is a love song that poses the question, “as a winyan & wicasa together in love but also in love with our ways, language, can we also work to better our people?” “I believe that’s something many native couples don’t think about, I believe love is something conducted by a cultural context, so for me when I’m looking for a winyan, I look at whether I can really do all the things I want to do for my people but with her as well.” It’s a tedious but real sentiment that is present throughout his character himself as well as his latest visual. We’re excited to see more from this wild young Oglala as he continues down his path. The video, which was directed by Bryan Douglas Parker with drone shots done by Arlo Iron Cloud, officially drops May 11th 9 AM MST, watch it on his Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wanbliceya9 or Youtube: