Tulita's teen rapper plans to release new album in early 2024

A 17-year-old rapper from Tulita, N.W.T., said his new album coming in the early new year will be about his family and his community. 

Julian McPherson, known as JULE$, said his love of Tulita will come through with references to some of its iconic and culturally important landmarks.

"The amazing views, the Bear Rock Mountain, where the two rivers meet, just the land," he said.

The new album will be called Spirit Lifted.

"It's going to be like a groovy, happy album, some sad," McPherson said. 

"I want the album to hit kind of home." 

It's also going to have connections to his family. McPherson said he got his auntie, "who's a very good artist," to do the album cover. 

She's not the only family member who will be contributing. 

McPherson's mother, Judy Menacho, will be narrating the start of the first song on the album.

"I'm very, very proud of him. We knew right from when he was a little boy there would be something in music for him," Menacho said. 

"He was always singing to songs, dancing to songs." 

McPherson said he got into rapping as a joke when he was 12. 

"And then COVID came around and that's when I had a lot of time to really focus and start doing more music," he said. 

McPherson has already released multiple albums and singles, but said he hopes to dedicate the next year to music and hopes to release even more.

McPherson said he hasn't done a live performance yet, but hopes to one day, with Tulita being the ideal destination for his first show.

JULE$ new album, Spirit Lifted, will be available on music streaming platforms in late January or early February.