NEW MUSIC, NEW NAME, NEW IDENTITY FOR UGANDAN-CANADIAN SINGER-SONGWRITER NAMBI Music From the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam, injustice has always found a way to inspire artists to create, len...
THESOULFULPOET ENLISTS QUEST AND DOMINIQUE GORLEY ON NEW SINGLE “INVISIBLE” Music On the heels of winning Album of the Year at Faces Magazine's Ottawa Awards 2020 with his debut spoken word album Thorns...
“SHOW ME THE MONEY” – INCLUSION WITHOUT ECONOMIC INCLUSION ISN’T REALLY INCLUSION Kevin Bourne, Opinion One of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history is when Cuba Gooding Jr. asks Tom Cruise to repeat that memorable fou...
CANADIAN MUSIC VIDEO ROUNDUP | JUNE 2020 Canada, Music It's that time again! SHIFTER's Canadian Music Video Roundup for June includes videos from Tory Lanez, Dax, Jessie R...
NEWLY-FORMED ADVANCE COLLECTIVE AIMS TO UNIFY BLACK MUSIC INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS IN CANADA Music On the heels of artists, including Jessie Reyez, calling for more Black staff and upper management at Canadian record la...
CAN CAM NEWTON AND THE NEW LOOK PATRIOTS STAY ATOP THE AFC EAST? Sports Former NFL MVP Cam Newton has taken his talents to New England in hopes of continuing in the footsteps of arguably the g...
ZACH ZOYA RELEASES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SINGLE “SLURPEE” Music After teasing us for months with his quarantine-inspired DAYZZ OFF video series, Montreal rapper Zach Zoya has released ...
ARTIST OF THE MONTH // JULY – NIGERIAN-CANADIAN SINGER-SONGWRITER, ASUQUOMO Artist of the Month, Music SHIFTER's Artist of the Month for June is Asuquomo, the musical project of the Canadian multidisciplinary artist, Morris...
THERE IS NO INDIGENOUS SELF-DETERMINATION WITHOUT BLACK LIBERATION Opinion Walking in two worlds is arduous when it feels like you are being pulled in different directions and pressured to identi...
OPINION – WHY I CELEBRATE CANADA DAY Canada, Kevin Bourne This Canada Day was rough. In recent years, especially since Canada 150, there’s been an increased awareness when it com...
JAIOFTHERISE CHANNELS THE LATE POP SMOKE ON HIS NEW SINGLE “AMIRI” Music On the heals of releasing "Hopscotch", his recent single featuring Toronto rapper Lil Berete, Ottawa-based hip-hop and R...
INDIGENOUS LIVES MATTER: FORGIVENESS, HOPE AND A BETTER FUTURE Opinion Indigenous Lives Matter is a four-part article series featuring Métis, First Nations and Inuit writers talking about the...
BEING INDIGENOUS IN CANADA IN 2020 Opinion Indigenous Lives Matter is a four-part article series featuring Métis, First Nations and Inuit writers talking about the...
PROTEST MUSIC: 8 BLACK LIVES MATTER INSPIRED SONGS TO GET YOU THROUGH Music Major world events like the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement have given us some of the most memorable songs in ...
NUMBERS DON’T LIE : THE CANADIAN JUSTICE SYSTEM IS FAILING INDIGENOUS PEOPLE Opinion Numbers don't lie. Poverty and incarceration rates are growing rapidly within Indigenous communities - Jesse Mousseau T...
OTTAWA’S MARIAL SHAYOK RACKS UP ACCOLADES IN ROOKIE NBA G LEAGUE SEASON Kevin Bourne, Sports Now that the dust has settled on the NBA G League season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it's time to take a look at one o...
OUTSTANDING BLACK MEN IN CANADA 2020 Shifters SHIFTER is proud to reveal our first annual Outstanding Black Men in Canada list for 2020. This new annual feature was i...
FASHION INDUSTRY VET GEORGE SULLY LAUNCHES BLACK DESIGNERS OF CANADA Fashion As Canada continues the discussion on diversity, especially surrounding the Black community, the discussion is starting ...
CANADIAN MUSIC VIDEO ROUNDUP | MAY 2020 Canada, Music It's that time again! SHIFTER's Canadian Music Video Roundup for May includes videos from Lia Kloud, Dip Black, NAV,...
OPINION – IF YOU’RE CLOSED OFF TO HONEST DIALOGUE, YOU’RE A PART OF THE PROBLEM Kevin Bourne, Opinion Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to share different opinions in public, whether on our website or on so...
ARTIST OF THE MONTH // JUNE – BRAMPTON R&B SINGER-SONGWRITER ROMEYO WILSON Artist of the Month, Music SHIFTER's Artist of the Month for June is none other than Romeyo Wilson. The 26 year-old Toronto-born and Brampton raise...
CITY FIDELIA, ABE ABADI LAUNCH NEW OTTAWA CREATIVE SPACE, REAL HOUSE OF ENSEMBLE Music Toronto has Kiana 'rookz' Eastmond's Sandbox Studios and Canadian R&B superstar The Weeknd's HXOUSE. Well, almost tw...
OPINION – DEAR ALLIES, IT’S TIME TO REBUILD THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Kevin Bourne, Opinion Sitting here watching a documentary on The Underground Railroad, it's interesting to see how many white people, includin...
KALIX BREEZY BREAKS HIS SILENCE WITH HIS NEW SINGLE “DOMINO EFFECT” Music Despite the global pandemic and quarantine, hip-hop and R&B artist Kalix Breezy is busy dropping new music. After re...
OPINION – THE INDUSTRY’S “DOLLARAMA” VERSION OF HIP-HOP IS MORE CHEAP KNOCKOFF THAN TRUE ART Music, Opinion Hollywood's exploitation of Black Culture is sinister and dangerous. Ground zero for this exploitation is none other tha...
12 BLACK BUSINESSES IN OTTAWA AND TORONTO YOU CAN SUPPORT TODAY Business Over the past few days, members of the black community have been taking to social media to share their lists of black bu...
MUSIC INDUSTRY TO SHUT DOWN FOR BLACK OUT TUESDAY Music Yesterday, thousands of music industry players, from record labels to music media, took to social media to express their...
SHIFTER TO LAUNCH FIRST ANNUAL OUTSTANDING BLACK MEN IN CANADA LIST Canada, Editorial Inspired by the unfortunate murder of George Floyd, the many Canadian black men who took to social media to express thei...
CANADA: “I’M NOT RACIST”. BLACK PEOPLE: “YES, YOU ARE” Kevin Bourne, Opinion During interview prep for my discussion on CBC Radio I was asked, “What’s the way forward?” after the murder of George F...
TORONTO RAPPER HOUDINI SLAIN IN BRAZEN DOWNTOWN SHOOTING Music Almost six months after budding rapper FTG Metro was killed in a shooting in downtown Ottawa, another promising young Ca...
MJ VS. LEBRON: 5 REASONS WHY LEBRON JAMES IS A BETTER BASKETBALL PLAYER THAN MICHAEL JORDAN Sports With the sporting world brought to a standstill by a global pandemic, the definitive Michael Jordan documentary The Last...
OPINION – CAN’T FAKE THE FUNK, OTTAWA DOESN’T REALLY CARE ABOUT HIP-HOP Kevin Bourne, Opinion This week, Ottawa got a rare dose of star power. Wu-Tang Clan and 36 Chambers ALC announced an initiative to raise funds...
NATHAN MILES, HEVVE AND KYAZZE JOIN FORCES ON NEW SUMMER TRAP ANTHEM “CRASH” Music Just in time for summer, a couple of Ottawa's hardest working hip-hop artists have joined forces to drop a brand new ban...
CANADIAN ACTOR AND TWENTIES CO-STAR GABRIELLE GRAHAM IS A STAR ON THE RISE Film/Television, Koliah Bourne Toronto is on a bit of a run right now. In music, you have Drake, The Weeknd, and Tory Lanez. In sports, you have the re...
KEVIN HART TURNS LIFE COACH ON NEW AUDIBLE ORIGINAL THE DECISION Film/Television Despite the global shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hardest working man in show business is back with a new pr...
TOP 10 WU-TANG NAMES FOR OTTAWA MAYOR JIM WATSON Music The Notorious BIG retro jersey photo. The Snoop Dogg Bluesfest modern jersey photo. The Rhianna heritage jersey photo. T...
WUTANG CLAN LAUNCHES “A BETTER TOMORROW” IN SUPPORT OF OTTAWA CHARITIES Impact By now you may have seen pictures of Ottawa mayor Jim Watson donning a Wutang Clan t-shirt at his desk at City Hall. Whi...
THERE’S A NEW TIKTOK SUPERSTAR ON THE RISE AND HIS NAME IS TIAGZ Music While Drake and Tory Lanez have the world doing the Toosie Slide and listening to Quarantine Radio, there is another Can...
CANADIAN MUSIC VIDEO ROUNDUP | APRIL 2020 Canada, Music 2 It's that time again! SHIFTER's Canadian Music Video Roundup for April includes videos from Drake, The Weeknd, Dip B...
OTTAWA HIP-HOP AND R&B ARTIST SVLM SIGNS WITH REIGN MUSIC Music SVLM, one of the leading hip-hop and R&B artists out of Canada's capital, recently signed to record label REIGN Musi...
MICHELLE OBAMA’S BECOMING IS A LESSON IN OVERCOMING THE ODDS AND NEVER GIVING UP Film/Television, Koliah Bourne Becoming is a beautiful whirlwind of emotions. The elements of seeing Michelle Obama's life after the White House mixed ...
ARREST MADE IN MURDER OF RAPPER FTG METRO Music Five months after 18 year-old Manyok Akol, also known as rapper "FTG Metro", was killed at a Gilmour Street Airbnb in do...
FIVE WAYS TO COPE WITH THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN Lifestyle Over the past six weeks life as we knew it all over the world has changed. The word “unprecedented” has become commonpla...
VIBEBYMELO X TRAVIS THICKLE SHINE ON THE CAVES HAVE WIFI Music Toronto artist VibeByMelo, who SHIFTER once crowned one of the best live performer we had ever seen, is back with a new ...
DJ PROSPER BACK WITH CARIBBEAN INSPIRED ARENA ANTHEM “MENTAL MOTIVATION” Music The NHL season is still on hold due to COVID-19, but Ottawa Senators DJ, DJ Prosper, is keeping busy dropping his latest...
WHO OWNS HIP-HOP? – THE BIGGEST TRAVESTY ISN’T THE LOSS OF LYRICISM BUT THE LOSS OF OWNERSHIP Culture, Kevin Bourne, Music Today, there's a lot of tension between the younger generation and the "old heads" who grew up in hip-hop in the 80's an...
NATHAN MILES REVEALS ARTWORK FOR UPCOMING SINGLE “CRASH” Music Ottawa hip-hop artist Nathan Miles has been busy teasing a brand new single for the Summer called "Crash", a collaborati...
ARTIST OF THE MONTH // MAY – VANCOUVER R&B AND HIP-HOP ARTIST, COLE JAMES Artist of the Month, Music SHIFTER's Artist of the Month for May is Cole James, an emerging west coast artist based out of Vancouver, British Colum...
SVDVM AND JAHRIIA CHANNEL BONNIE AND CLYDE IN VISUALS FOR “POP DAT” Music To close out April, Ottawa hip-hop artist SVDVM and frequent collaborator Jahriia released the visuals for "Pop Dat", th...
REVIEW – DRAKE CEMENTS HIS LEGACY IN HIP-HOP WITH DARK LANE DEMO TAPES Music Last night, 40, Oli and a other members of OVO posted the cover art for a new project letting us know the 6 God was abou...
REVIEW – WILL RYTE’S NOTHING IN COMMON IS AMONG THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR SO FAR Music Burlington, Ontario raised and Mississauga-based hip-hop artist, producer and guitarist, Will Ryte, is back with a new a...
YUNGCUDII AND OEG RELEASE DEBUT STUDIO EP SCARED 2 LOVE Music Lost in all the COVID-19 noise was Scared 2 Love, the debut studio EP from Canadian hip-hop duo Yungcudii & Oeg. Rel...
IS DURHAM REGION CANADA’S NEXT CULTURAL HOTSPOT? Culture There might be something in the water in Durham Region. In case you haven't noticed, Durham, the municipality just east ...
NFL DRAFT – CANADIANS CHASE CLAYPOOL, NEVILLE GALLIMORE ARE PITTSBURGH AND DALLAS BOUND Sports Friday night, college football fans waited with baited breath to see where the two top Canadians would land in the 2020 ...
BLACK TELEVISION: CANADA, WE HAVE A PROBLEM Film/Television, Koliah Bourne Canada, I have a love-hate relationship with you. I love being Canadian. I love the things we produce and I am generally...
NETFLIX’S “UNORTHODOX” CASTS A STIGMATIZED SHADOW ON MORE THAN JUST JEWISH ORTHODOXY Film/Television, Reda Zarrug Loosely based on Deborah Feldman’s best-selling autobiography, "Unorthodox" is the story of a 19-year-old Esther Shapiro...
ARTIST OF THE MONTH // APRIL – OTTAWA HIP-HOP ARTIST, JKING Artist of the Month, Music SHIFTER's Artist of the Month for April is hip-hop artist JKing. The Ottawa-based artist and MLB member displays exempla...
ZACH ZOYA DROPS VISUALS FOR NEW SINGLE “HIATUS” Music Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, Montreal rapper Zach Zoya hasn't slowed down. Fresh off competing in last ni...
FROM BARS TO BANGERS, VANCOUVER’S TEON GIBBS DOES IT ALL Music Last week, we asked our Instagram followers to tag a Canadian hip-hop artist who people were sleeping on. One of those n...
REVIEW – TORY LANEZ GETS PERSONAL AND INTROSPECTIVE ON “THE NEW TORONTO 3” Music Tory Lanez keeps racking up the wins. First, the Brampton native created the biggest and most popular Instagram Live ser...
