Musician Mato Wayuhi returns to Sioux Falls this weekend

Musician and producer Mato Wayuhi will return to his home state Saturday for a show at Icon Events Hall + Dada Gastro Pub downtown.

Wayuhi is a composer for the award-winning FX TV series, “Reservation Dogs.” He also composed music for the feature-length film “War Pony,” which won an award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022. The Oglala Lakota multi-disciplinary artist has received national attention for his influential story and music.

Wayuhi was raised in Sioux Falls but has family near the Black Hills, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and has said that the South Dakota prairie has had an influence on his music.

“What I do honors my family,” he said in a 2022 promotional video with Travel South Dakota . “I have never been afraid to sing because I am singing for my culture.

“My work is very sacred.”

Wayuhi’s latest album, “Stankface Standing Soldier,” was released in 2023 and is a nod to his given last name “Standing Soldier.” The rap music is of Lakota influence with contemporary sounds.

“When you’re first making music, you want to have your pillars of identity,” Wayuhi said in a 2022 article with the Argus Leader . “Mine were sexuality, identity, culture, all these different things. I can firmly stand on those things as being a Native queer artist.”

Meet Mato: The Oglala Lakota artist chatted with the Argus Leader in 2022.

In honor of Saturday’s show, Total Drag will be selling signed copies of “Stankface Standing Soldier.”

The show will be 7-10 p.m. Saturday, and will also feature local rap bands Plastic Blow and Peacock Cassette. Tickets are $22.

Other upcoming events at Icon include The Bridge City Sinners on Sept. 10, comedian Michael Palascak on Sept. 13, comedian Jessica Michelle Singleton on Oct. 11, Superchunk’s Foolish is 30 Tour on Oct. 18, rapper Krizz Kaliko on Oct. 26 and comedian Peter Sers on Nov. 8.

Shows are hosted by Collective Efforts Union, and tickets for all shows can be purchased on their website.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Musician Mato Wayuhi returns to Sioux Falls this weekend