2oolman

The Halluci Nation, formerly known as A Tribe Called Red (a name inspired by hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest), is a Canadian electronic music group who blend instrumental hip hop, reggae, moombahton and dubstep-influenced dance music with elements of First Nations music, particularly vocal chanting and drumming.

Based in Ottawa, Ontario, the group consists of Tim "2oolman" Hill (Mohawk, of the Six Nations of the Grand River), and Ehren "Bear Witness" Thomas (Cayuga First Nation).

After discussing the idea with his friend, Bear Witness (Thomas Ehren Ramon), and fellow disc jockey Dee Jay Frame (Jon Limoges), they began the first night at Ottawa's Babylon nightclub in 2007, calling it Electric Pow Wow.

After releasing a number of tracks online DJing at various dance and aboriginal events, the band released their self-titled debut album as a free internet download in 2012.

The album was named as a long-listed nominee for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize on June 14, 2012.

In December 2012, ATCR released "The Road" on SoundCloud (P.27), a track that garnered "upward of 50,000 plays within five months" and nearly 300,000 plays as of August 2018.

The song's structure revolves around a series of "drops", an important component in electronic dance music derived from Jamaican sound systems as well as syncopated "trap beats" originating from Dirty South hip-hop characterized with a booming bass drum and skittering hi-hats.

At the time, ATCR "was working on its second record—what would become 2013's Nation II Nation" and has since, for years now, been perceived as one of the leaders of an artistic Indigenous resurgence, exemplifying the remixing of tradition, bridging Indigenous history and futurity.

Their second album, Nation II Nation, was released in 2013 and was named a long-listed nominee for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize on June 13, 2013; in July, it was named to the prize's final 10-album shortlist.

The band also won several awards at the 2013 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, including Best Group and Best Album for Nation II Nation.

The band has toured extensively across Canada and the United States, as well as performing festival dates in the United Kingdom, Germany and Greece.

They have been featured on CBC Radio's Q, Canada Live, and PBS' Sound Field, and have been playlisted on both CBC Radio 2 and CBC Radio 3 as well as BBC Radio 6 Music.

Former members include co-founder DJ Jon Deck and Dan "DJ Shub" General (Cayuga First Nation), who left the band for personal reasons in spring 2014, and was replaced by Hill.

In 2014, they garnered two Juno Award nominations at the Juno Awards of 2014, for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Electronic Album of the Year, winning the award for Breakthrough Group.

The band specifically chose not to submit themselves for consideration in the Aboriginal Album of the Year category.

A Tribe Called Red have also collaborated on and produced one of the last known Das Racist songs, called "Indians From All Directions", as well as the song "A Tribe Called Red" on Angel Haze's album Dirty Gold.

In 2014, they released "Burn Your Village to the Ground", a non-album protest song about the complicated aboriginal relationship with the colonialist connotations of Thanksgiving.

In 2015, they released pro-wrestling-themed EP Suplex, with appearances from Smalltown DJs, as well as a remix of Buffy Sainte-Marie's song "Working for the Government".

They also won for Best Music Video in 2015 by the Native American Music Awards.

In 2016, they released LP We Are the Halluci Nation in September.

Guest collaborators on the album included Narcy, Yasiin Bey, Lido Pimienta, Shad, Tanya Tagaq, Joseph Boyden and Black Bear.

Following the release of their 2016 album We Are the Halluci Nation, the group released a number of singles in 2019.

Co-founder Ian "DJ NDN" Campeau (Nipissing First Nation) left the band for health reasons in October 2017, with the band opting to remain a duo for the time being.

The group's music has been labelled as "powwow-step", a style of contemporary powwow music for urban First Nations in the dance club scene; popularized by the media as a description of the band's unique style, the term originated as the title of one of the band's own earliest singles.

Inspired by parties for Korean and South Asian youth in Ottawa, DJ NDN (Ian Campeau), a nightclub bouncer turned DJ, became interested in a similar event for Aboriginal youth.

Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response, the DJs began holding the event on the second weekend of every month — a schedule that lasted until December 2017.

The parties featured a mixture of traditional powwow recordings from Campeau's youth, when he performed as a drummer, mixed with electronic music rhythms and genres such as dubstep, moombahton and dancehall.

Bear Witness explained that the group was formed because its members wanted to throw parties for their community, and he also pointed out ATCR's political connotation: "To take over and Indigenize the club space is a really political act [...] As First Nations people everything we do is political".

The group won the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award at the Juno Awards of 2017.

The group won the Group of the Year award at the Juno Awards of 2018.

In April 2018 the band performed at a TED talk during TED2018.

In April 2019 the group released a remix of Keith Secola's song "NDN Kars".

The group put a "modern twist" on the '90s hit.

Following the release of the "NDN Kars" remix the group released "The OG', which was their first original song since the release of We Are the Halluci Nation. A few months later the group released "Ba Na Na", which features Canadian rapper Haviah Mighty, singer Odario and Chippewa Travellers. In September 2019, the band released "Tanokumbia", a single featuring Texan DJ El Dusty and Canadian Pow Wow drummers and singers, Black Bear.

In 2020 A Tribe Called Red released "Land Back" during the 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests.

"Land Back" features Boogey the Beat and Chippewa Travellers.

The song was available for free and made in support of the Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nations opposing the construction of a Coastal GasLink Pipeline.

The song was intended for use by "anyone working to promote Indigenous land sovereignty and 'a true nation-to-nation discussion between the Indigenous nations of Turtle Island and our Canadian settlers.

On April 5, 2021, the group changed their name to The Halluci Nation.

Powwow-step or pow wow step or sometimes electric powwow are the terms the band used to describe their music.