Naskapi-Cree rapper Kong brings message of resilience to Aqpik Jam

When Kong steps onto the stage of Aqpik Jam Wednesday, he will be speaking to the youth.

Steve Einish, the Naskapi and Cree rapper known as Kong, has spent much of his life navigating struggles that can leave a young person feeling hopeless.

At 15, he lost his mother to cancer. Then he spent time in group homes and foster care before being incarcerated at age 20.

“There were times where I thought, ‘It’s over. My life is over. I just ruined my life,’” he said Tuesday in an interview. “I want the youth to rise up from whatever they’re going through because I myself have been there.”

The 37-year-old said music became an outlet for him while in prison, where he wrote the first verse to his song, Pathways, which he released in 2021.

Before he started recording, Kong spent years helping other performers develop their careers, working as a manager and booking agent across Canada.

He also operates Nomad Entertainment, a sound, lighting and events company serving Eeyou Istchee and surrounding Cree communities.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live events in 2020, that work came to a standstill. With his business impacted and live events disappearing, he began to hone his craft.

“When I started to put out music, I said, ‘This is the last thing I’m going to try to accomplish in my life,’” Kong said, adding that he lost many opportunities due to his criminal record.

This year marks Kong’s first time performing at Aqpik Jam, Nunavik’s largest music festival. Held in Kuujjuaq, the event runs Tuesday to Friday.

For Kong, performing in Kuujjuaq is also an opportunity to reconnect with a history that stretches beyond his life.

“When I stepped off the plane, I felt like home,” he said.

Kong’s mother was from Whapmagoostui and his father from Schefferville, Que. His Naskapi family history is connected to Fort Chimo, now known as Kuujjuaq, where his ancestors lived before government officials started relocating families.

“My grandfather was just a kid when he was lost, separated from his family during the last move — to Kawawachikamach [in northern Quebec],” Kong said. “He didn’t remember his last name.”

The family that found his grandfather gave him theirs, Einish.

On the Aqpik Jam stage, Kong will be joined by DJ Blaster — or Sherwin Cumberbatch — who has been working in the industry for 30 years. The pair has been performing together for two years now.

Cumberbatch said he has seen firsthand how young people respond to Kong and his music.

“I see how they gravitate towards him, how they love him,” he said.

Kong said he’s looking forward to connecting with the crowd.

“I’m going to give it my all. I’m going to give 110 per cent to my set, and spread the message and good vibes,” he said.

Kong hopes to release his first studio album in the fall. The project will explore resilience, struggle, death, poverty and the realities facing young people in Indigenous communities.