Frank Waln
Frank Waln (USA)
Frank is a Sicangu Lakota Hip Hop artist and music producer. His music embodies indigenous reality and values, bringing much-needed healing and creating pathways of empathy.
Born and raised on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, he made his way to Chicago to earn a degree in audio arts and acoustics and embrace his true calling as an artist.
Frank's awards include three Native American Music Awards and the 2016 3Arts Grant for Chicago Artists. With performances and motivational workshops across the country, Frank is inspiring an entire generation of Native American youth to rise up in response to historical injustice.
Music Is Healing
Frank Waln worked with patients and alongside staff at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. One of his goals while at Nemours was to get the kids to create an original musical work that tells their story about being in the hospital.
Frank met patients from diverse backgrounds who spoke Spanish, Bengali, Ashanti and Portuguese and added these languages to the song.
Frank taught them how to build a song by recording beats, creating a melody and writing lyrics. Sample lyrics went like this: “There was a pink unicorn. Brittney was her name. She was really smart. So she had a big brain.”
Emily (picture) created an original tune and lyric for the song: “Be brave, stay strong, keep smiling, and love long.”
As the original song began to come to life, Frank encouraged kids to think about “what love looks like.”
In one exercise, patients and their siblings shared their stories while they created drawings. Their pictures showed that love helps them cope, be strong and heal.
YouTube Video: Nemours Original Song: Love Helps Me Heal: youtube.com/watch?v=z0rh6ZmxITE
