Bio

 

Tufawon (2 for 1) is a Dakota/Boricua rapper, singer songwriter, producer and teaching artist from Minneapolis. His name represents his mixed heritage, and his music is a raw, honest reflection of his life. A sound track that captures his personal struggles, dreams for the future, spirituality, and deep connection to the land. Through his songs, he shares his experiences with love and confronts the complex realities of the world.

 

Across Turtle Island, he teaches youth music production, songwriting and recording through his program .WAVWARRIOR. He's spent years community organizing and touring the world. Musically, he creates a broad spectrum of styles including hip hop, RnB, dancehall, reggaeton and afrobeats. He recently released his record When The Sun Sets, a full length album he produced entirely himself. The album radiates the energy of a summer evening at dusk. A perfect culmination of warm dance energy and cosmic vibrations. Imagine being near water as the sun sets, listening to this reggaeton and dancehall inspired album.

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​The past few years have been busy for Tufawon. He continues touring, performing at a high level, and living out his dreams as a performer. He was awarded the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship a few years back, one of his biggest accomplishments. He participated in the inaugural First Nations SongHubs where he recorded with Indigenous artists from around the globe at the world famous Abbey Road Institute in Melbourne, Australia. Tufawon was also featured on the Breakfast Club and Hot 97 Ebro In The Morning speaking on issues that impact Indigenous communities. He completed his first headlining hip hop tour in Europe “Resilience", and stays active in his community.

 

From fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock to organizing efforts to Stop Line 3, to speaking at the United Nations in Geneva Switzerland, he continues to carry out his message and impact the people in a powerful way. Tufawon is currently working on an EP in collaboration with the American Composer’s Forum. It’s a part of the “Recomposing America” project in partnership with The Duluth Art Institute. 

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Artistic Vision

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"I don't create for fame or attention. At its foundation, my music is a way of healing for myself. But I do want my music to reach people who would be moved by it. To inspire future generations. I don’t manufacture my art like some product being packaged for mass consumption. I want it to spread far and wide like sage on the prairie, providing medicine to the people. My work is a reflection of the music I love. I am influenced by genres that I grew up listening to, as well as styles that are connected to my culture and beyond. My artistic vision is rooted in the idea of liberation, using sound frequencies to make people feel free. To decolonize through the intersection of ancestral and contemporary music. To make people dance and provoke thought. To interrogate and address societal issues that impact our communities. To make people laugh, cry, and feel the most raw emotions. The western colonized way of living is determined to see us erased, so my music is here to make us visible, and to project our voices as we inspire and uplift the most marginalized. To embody the sacredness our ancestors passed down to us. My music exists to evoke joy in the hearts of the people. When we feel joy, we actively fight colonialism. I aim to do this through my art, not only as a form of self expression, but as an act of resistance."