Minnesota hip-hop offers a lot to anyone willing to listen. From niche rappers to club bangers to thought-provoking lyricists,  Minnesota offers a lot of diversity for hip-hop heads. Diversity is nothing new to this artist, who is deserving of the spotlight being shown on him. Gerry Parks, known on stage as Sake Red, is a Native American rapper who brings a unique style and perspective to music that many in the hip-hop community of the Twin Cities are beginning to get behind.

UHH: Tell everyone reading just a little bit about Sake Red and where you're from.

Sake Red: I am a Native American hip-hop artist from Pine City, Minnesota. I go by Sake Red. I rap [and sometimes] sing and I am an upcoming hip-hop artist.

That's why we are here; the name of this company is Upcoming Hip Hop. Speaking of upcoming, you have a new project you are getting ready to release, correct?

Yes, thank you, [this is] my second solo project and it's called Wants, which stands for 'We Are Not The Same'. [The] concept of the album is pretty boldly laid out [in the title]. I don't mean we are not the same in that I am better than you or I am a martian. [The album] is trying to prove that, even in the saturated industry we have today, everyone can have originality. We are not the same. We don't have to rap the same to get that same name out and the same fame. You rap what you feel and that's what makes you, you.

What makes an artist unique is not always their sound, but their strive to try new sounds. We went on to discuss some of the artists who have created their own voice and sound, but doing it while remaining themselves. While I recognized Danny Brown, a Detroit emcee, as one of the most notable voices in the game and Sake showed love to one of the greatest independents in E-40.

I always look for that uniqueness in a rapper that makes him stand out, like Danny Brown is a prime example.

Yes..yes. And E-40, no one else in rap could sound like E-40 and if you did they just say 'you are tryin to be E-40' cause he has his own sound. Every artist [can find that sound] but you don't start with it, you have to learn it and I'm still learning.

Sake's uniqueness doesn't begin with his sound, however, it starts with his name. Having grown up with a name often misspelled, I felt the pain of Sake Red, who explained how everyone messes it up and gave me insight into why people won't forget his name after knowing the meaning behind it.

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Having grown up in a small town and being a metal head in high school, I am fairly new to hip-hop, and you are actually one of the first Native American artists I have heard. I was introduced to you by Lyric Marid and I just have to get this out the way 'cause I butchered your name the first time I said it.

Everyone does. My name is pronounced Sake [as in for-SAKE-n] Red and I will tell you the meaning behind it and you will never forget it. So if you look up the dictionary the definition of sake is 'in the interest or preservation of' the name red is slang for "red man", a name referring to Native Americans. So my name literally means 'in the interest or preservation of Native Americans'.

The beauty of music and specifically hip-hop is its ability to tell a story. The world around someone often shapes their music. If you haven't been under a rock these past few months you may have heard of the DAPL and the protests taking place in North Dakota. Being an environmentalist, this was a hot topic for me personally, and for Sake Red it had many of (take out of) very personal ties.

This gets a little away from hip-hop, but I know you were pretty vocal about the DAPL. What did this pipeline mean to you personally and how did it influence your music?

Absolutely. I was going through a time where I was working on my flows and my rhymes, but I wasn't putting myself on my records. Through making this album I got a wake up call. A few of my cousins got arrested out there, I have [family and friends] out there. People are getting shot with rubber bullets and this [comedian] I know, Tito, from Red Lake, he was put in one of those cages because they ran out of [space in prisons]. They were live streaming it from Standing Rock and seeing and hearing the sights and sounds of how people were being treated out there, it really shook me. [Standing Rock] really turned my focus back to [the reason why] I am here and that is I have always had a voice and spoke on something meaningful. This album I spoke not just on Standing Rock but more introspective things as well.

Sake Red spoke on a couple interesting topics to me, none funnier than his views on moving away from South Minneapolis to Pine City and having a bit of fear living in the country. This is a comical moment for me because I grew up in an unincorporated town and moved to St Paul, Minnesota. But instead of continuing to build in Minneapolis, Sake was able to bring the cities to him. Alongside Kid Automatic and friends, Pine City has grown to be a notable venue for local artists to play. However, Sake still enjoys coming to the cities and playing shows in the area. He has a very important show coming up.

You have a big show, a personal show for you, coming up in the cities, correct?

Yes! It is at 7th Street Entry, December 15th  and it is a very important show. The reason it is there is because three years ago Mike the Martyr shared the stage and me and Darren played it; that was my introduction to the Twin cities. I have grown so much since then and put in so much work but never headlined a show [in Minneapolis]. This is my re-introduction to the cities and I brought out all the homies. [J Plaza, Baby Shel, Tae Supreme, Cashinova, Nate Millyunz and a big guest list are all coming out].

This isn't the only big news for you as the new year approaches. What other surprises do you have in store for 2017?

I became the newest member of Rez Rap Records with Baby Shel and Thomas X on January 1st, who I have been rockin with for a few years. I got a call from Shel one day asking how I was doing and if I [signed with] anyone yet and I [could tell] where it was going so I was like 'am I the newest member of Rez Rap?' I have been tellin them for years and they kept telling me to keep grinding and working. He started to see that I had been puttin in work and called me and said 'we are gonna make a crazy push in 2017, we got so much planned'.

2016 was a lot of things for many people, but the hip-hop scene in Minneapolis saw a few figures rising and Sake Red is right there with the best of them. With upcoming shows with national acts like Riff Raff, signing to Rez Rap records with local bossman Baby Shel, and headlining a show featuring fellow big hitter, J Plaza, Sake Red is deserving of the spotlight being shown on him and is an artist to be watched in 2017.

You can find Sake Red at
Facebook.com/gerry.c.parks
Twitter.com/Sake_Red
Instagram.com/sake_red

You can also see Sake Red performing January 15th at 7th Street Entry and February 5th at the Pourhouse opening for Riff Raff.