CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The apple does not fall far from the tree in Sten Joddi’s family. Sten Joddi, and his daughter Harmony Grace were recent winners of the Mic Check category at the Iowa Music Awards for their music video Yvhiketv Hayv. The video was produced by Lyrikal Tmg and features Sten Joddi and Harmony singing and showcasing their shared Mvskoke culture. Initially released in June, the video won its accolades in October. The video was particularly special because it was the debut collaboration for the father-daughter duo.
In addition to singing, Harmony also plays the flute, an instrument she spends a lot of time practicing. According to Harmony, playing the flute is a talent passed down from her mother, singing from her father. She can currently play “Jingle Bells”, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “Happy Birthday to You”.
Yvhiketv Hayv is not only special because it features Mvskoke culture, it also features a dad passing down culture to the next generation. Sten Joddi remarked that it was special debuting his daughter’s musical talent in their music video.
“This is her first time to shine as a solo artist as a singer,” Sten Joddi said. “It’s definitely fun to bring her into the studio, bring her into the music and have fun with it. It was awesome as a father to see it happen.”
For Harmony music plays an important role in her life.
“Music is important to me because all these songs represent what I really want to do, and in my heart that feels like what I want to do,” Harmony said. “If I give up on it, I don’t think I’m going to be good at it again, which is why I keep going at it to sing to people in different states that me and my dad go to to sing about our culture.”
Not only does Harmony play an instrument and sing, she also performs with her dad on the road. For the young musician, embarking on the journey first took a lot of courage.
“When we did the first show I was just standing there being nervous and seeing all the faces looking at me,” Harmony said. “I was just looking at my dad thinking ‘this is crazy’. As I started going around the next few months I started to feel the confidence of getting used to all the people staring at me, waving at me.”
For Sten Joddi as a father, he believes it’s important for his children to have a spark inside of them, regardless if it is for music. In addition to music, Sten Joddi is grateful his children have an interest in learning about the Mvskoke culture, something he learns more and more about every day.
MMIP Awareness
At the Iowa Music Awards Sten Joddi and Harmony both sported red hand prints on their face, the symbol of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People movement. Both artists wanted to bring attention to the nationwide epidemic of missing Indigenous brothers and sisters.
“I’m a father of three daughters. I couldn’t imagine having to wake up to any news like that,” Sten Joddi said. “Being from Oklahoma we have so many sisters and people that get looked over. We took it upon ourselves that day (Iowa Music Awards) to really stand for that cause and use our platform to say it really should be something talked about”
Although Harmony is young, she is aware of the MMIP movement’s efforts to bring awareness to the issue and provide justice for the families. She knows the effects it has on women and girls like her.
“When our sisters go missing by people trying to unalive these girls and trying to hurt them, we don’t want that.” Harmony said. “Those sisters really mean a lot to us. When these men take these girls from their parents, they don’t get to see them anymore because the men do something bad to them. It’s not good because the men hurt them and take them away from their families.”
On the horizon Sten Joddi has his sights set on Hollywood. It was announced in November that the hip hop artist will star in the upcoming film “Brave”. The film boasts an all-star Indigenous cast, including Graham Greene, Wes Studi, Amber Midthunder and Dallas Goldtooth. Although Sten Joddi was not at liberty to talk in depth about the project, he did remark that it is “going to be an amazing film”.
Sten Joddi’s Spotify Wrapped, or report of how many users listened to his music on the Spotify app, was recently published. The report shared that Sten Joddi was listened to by 53,000 users, for a total of 498,000 streams across 124 countries.
To stay up to date on Sten Joddi’s new music, tours dates and appearances, visit his website, stenjoddimerch.com. He can also be found on all major social media platforms. A full list of platforms can be found here.
