'People over politics': Northern singer's protest song goes global

ATTAWAPISKAT - A northern musician is crossing borders with the new version of his 2019 protest song for Canada. 

Attawapiskat's Adrian Sutherland has collaborated with Rodrigo Massa, a Brazilian-Mexican singer and actor, to create a new Spanish version of his 2019 hit Politician Man, called Don Politico, a universal call for ‘people over politics.’

“It was an idea that we had after receiving such a big response from the original version that we released back in 2019,” Sutherland told TimminsToday.

“We had people from all parts of the world who were sending in messages about the song. So, it sort of sparked the idea of maybe wanting to put out an international version of the song someday.”

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The opportunity to collaborate with Massa came about by chance, Sutherland said. 

In 2022, Massa was working on the series The Spencer Sisters in Winnipeg. Sutherland’s manager, who was also involved with the production, proposed the idea of a Spanish version.

“He said yes right away, to our surprise. And so we started making plans to make that happen,” Sutherland said. 

“It was such a nice surprise for me because I never have really collaborated with anyone from that part of the world.”

The music video for Don Politico was filmed at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Cook’s Creek, Manitoba. The location’s towering walls symbolize the barriers and political divides the song seeks to address.

“We tried to keep it in the same family as the original, and we treated it a certain way, I think, to try to give it that sort of similar look. So that was something we did purposely,” Sutherland said.

Don Politico carries a resonant message: politicians need to prioritize the needs of the people over personal or political gain, said Sutherland.

“I've always seen politicians mostly governing for themselves and their friends. We see that also in our Indigenous communities. It's always been frustrating to see how things unfold once politicians get in,” he said.  

“Politics is a noble calling, and there's no doubt in my mind that there are some good politicians out there, but it's important for politicians to take their positions very, very, very seriously and to really fulfill the types of commitments that they're making to the people.” 

Sutherland said he hasn’t seen a lot of political change since the original song was released in 2019.

“The only change that I've seen is that our country seems to be in a real difficult position as a result of the last several years. We've had inflation costs. We've had strikes happening. There's just so many things going on right now. I've never seen so much turmoil, in my lifetime anyway, in this country,” he said. 

“I certainly haven't seen improvements where I live here in the North. It’s the same thing with Rodrigo. He talks about some of the challenges about where he comes from, from his part of the world, and how the people are treated there. I think they've had it far worse than we have up here in Canada. But there's certainly a very common thread that we see in how people are treated by our politicians.” 

While there are no immediate plans for additional versions of the song, Sutherland remains open to future possibilities. 

“We talked about the idea that this song could take on a whole new life of its own,” he said.“We’re always open to those kinds of ideas and opportunities.”

Listen to the song here.