What is NDN Soul-Funk? #NDNSoulFUNK

Howlin' Wolf's style is a clear mix of Ghanaian & Choctaw music.

When a band fully embraces it's musical and cultural heritage, it is both a beautiful and powerful thing. The core membership of The GROOVALOTTOS is Wampanoag, Cherokee, and Choctaw. Two of these indigenous communities are from the birth-places of the blues, jazz and soul; so it's a no brainer that the bands music would reflect this.

Calling their sound NDN Soul-Funk is the bands way to pay tribute to an under-recognized link between native and Black music in America. Introducing the hash-tag "#NDNSoulFunk" has been instrumental in raising awareness of the band and the Afro-Native musical forms.

The keyboardist and co-vocalist ofThe GROOVALOTTOS, Mwalim DaPhunkeeProfessor is also a noted musicologist who has done ample research into the Native American roots and contribution to these music forms in an effort to fill in for previous musicologist work by others who were unable to identify the non- African elements of the blues.

As Mwalim explains, "finding the full story of the roots helps you to explore and investigates different ways to approach and experiment with the music. America is a country that, at it' roots is so obsessed with race, white supremacy and compartmentalization that it is easy for the best and brightest to over-look the interactions of ethnic groups without white influence."

The GROOVALOTTOS are currently gearing up for a string of gigs and a mini-tour as well as finishing their premiere album.