Red Cloud is known to freestyle at his live shows. Last month, Hawthorne, California emcee freestyled for 18 hours, one minute and 14 seconds – long enough to break the previous Guinness World Record of 17 straight hours.
Red Cloud says his inspiration came from an altruistic place.
“We put on an event every quarter at the Airliner in LA called Indigenous Angels,” Red Cloud says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “Every time we do this show, we pick a different charity to donate our proceeds to. We choose to focus on Indigenous issues. This time [my girlfriend] Crystle Lightning said, ‘Lets do it for our missing sisters in Canada’…and I thought this is perfect…If I can honor these women and bring awareness to the epidemic in Canada using my attempt to break the world record then it would be perfect.”
Red Cloud Was Inspired By Supernatural
On the rap side, Red Cloud’s inspiration to break the record came from his freestyle hero Supernatural, who broke theGuinness World Record at nine hours in 2006. When Red Cloud decided to attempt to break the record, his training included jogging and rapping, swinging his nunchucks while rapping and swimming. He developed this regimen in an attempt to get both sides of his brain working at the same time as much as possible. Red Cloud also used rosemary oil as aroma therapy, as it reportedly attaches to the part in your brain which controls memory when inhaled.
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On November 29, 2014 at approximately 2:45 a.m., at the Airliner in Los Angeles, Red Cloud embarked on what would be a defining moment live streamed for all to see via First Nations Television. According to Cloud, the jump off was one of two easier time periods because he was so eager. Once he arrived to the ninth hour, he said he saw some of his crew starting to drift off and a nap became tempting, but he pushed through because he wanted to break Chiddy Bang’s record. The second easiest time period was when the crowd began arriving to the show at approximately 9 p.m. because his instinct to rock the crowd kicked in and he was going for crowd reaction every four bars.
Some of his supporters in the crowd included Ras Kass, featured artist of MTV’s Rebel Music Nataanii Means and previous freestyle opponent Quese IMC.
”His ability to freestyle and control a crowd is what inspired me the first time I ever met him out here in Ventura,” says Rayce, an emcee who attended the Airliner event. “Been a fan of his dedication and craft ever since.”
After breaking the record, Red Cloud says that he is interested in trying to break the record again by freestyle rapping for 24 hours straight. He also says he is working on a new LightningCloud album – a venture with his girlfriend – and that he wants to tour as much as possible.
