Zoon (Zoongide’ewin) has shared a new video for Big Pharma EP track, “Oil Pastel/Dope Sick” (ft. Cadence Weapon).

Something that Cadence Weapon/Rollie Pemberton, instantly picked up on. “When I first heard Daniel’s music for ‘Oil Pastel/Dope Sick’ I entered a trance-like state and came up with the lyrics and flows almost immediately,” he says. “’First thought, best thought’ was my methodology. What I wrote has a pastoral spirit to it. I thought about foliage and the cyclical nature of life that mirrors the passing of the seasons. And I wrote about the hubris of corporations who long to conquer the world but might destroy it in the process. It’s all loops and cycles, just like Daniel’s layers of guitar. Don’t it make ya think, don’t ya think about it?”

Daniel, a longtime fan of rap and hip hop adds,“The creation of the ‘Oil Pastel/ Dope Sick’ came from my lived experience within the opioid crisis that devastated my home community Selkirk, Manitoba. I was in the middle of that chaos for many years, channeling those emotions In an artistic way allowed me to pour out music effortlessly during the writing of the song. I managed to write and record all of the instrumentals within one evening, it was a very fast & sleek process.”

“Big Pharma is about me trying to bring awareness about the pharmaceutical industry and their lies,” says Daniel. “I talk about how they destroyed my community of Selkirk Manitoba and many more small towns and cities. A whole generation completely changed in just a matter of five years, families torn apart and loved ones lost to addiction and overdoses. Our treaty card ensures that our medical insurance is covered but a lot of the time the only medication that’s available for free is the stuff that’s most addictive. I found this alarming and made me connect the dots linked to an underlying form on genocide happening right under our noses.”

Daniel is continuing to celebrate back-to-back Polaris Music Prize Nominations, with the recent word that Sewn Back Together (Arts & Crafts) by OMBIIGIZI, the widely praised project Daniel shares with Adam Sturgeon from Status/NonStatus has been long listed. The short list will be announced on July 14.

Zoon
BIG PHARMA
TRACK LIST

1. Astum (ft. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson)
2. Oil pastel/Dope sick (ft. Cadence Weapon)
3. Rain in a new city (ft. Michael Peter Olsen)
4. Red river (ft. Sunnsetter)
5. Oopeeum (ft. Jasmine Trails)

ZOON Tour Dates 2022

July 7: Toronto – Great Hall — opening for Fucked Up
July 15-17: Yellowknife – Folk on the Rocks
July 12: Sudbury – River & Sky Festival
July 23: Montreal – Entrepôt
Aug 12: Mont Louis – La Pointe Sec
Aug 13: Gaspé – Centre Culturel Le Griffon
Aug 19: Santa Fe – SITE

Purchase Big Pharma by Zoon HERE