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...
TORONTO ‘TRAP & B’ ARTIST ALSNDRA CHANNELS AALIYAH ON NEW SINGLE ‘TRUST’ Music Days after being included on SHIFTER's Top 10 Most Slept on Hip-Hop and R&B Artists list according to our Instagram ...
CANADIAN MUSIC VIDEO ROUNDUP | MARCH 2020 Canada, Music 2 It's that time again! SHIFTER's Canadian Music Video Roundup for March includes videos from Drake, Hueso, Lance Lore...
L1Y4H GETS PERSONAL ON NEW SINGLE “ALIVE” Music The creative Quebecois, L1y4h, isn’t afraid to open her heart. Her latest release “Alive” is a lyrical portrait of her e...
TOP 10 MOST SLEPT ON CANADIAN HIP-HOP AND R&B ARTISTS Music As the world continues to self-isolate, the music industry has almost ground to a halt. We took this time to ask our Ins...
TORONTO DUO $VN BACK WITH NEW SINGLE “NOT TRUE” Music $VN are back on the scene with their second release of the year, a heartfelt ode to the struggles of love, titled "Not ...
RAPPER AND SINGER FAME HOLIDAY DROPS NEW CONCEPT ALBUM “TEMPORARY LOVE” Music It was around this time last year that we were first introduced to Mississauga hip-hop artist Fame Holiday when he headl...
SLMN AND ANDERS RELEASE BRAND NEW SINGLE “LOVE IN THE WINTER” Music Fast-rising producer and multi-instrumentalist SLMN teams up with frequent collaborator and Juno Award-nominated R&B...
JAIOFTHERISE AND LIL BERETE TAG TEAM ON NEW SINGLE “HOPSCOTCH” Music It's been a big year so far for Ottawa artist JAIoftherise. Fresh off opening for the late Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke ear...
CANADIAN ARTIST HTBSLE UNVEILS AIR FORCE BLACKS PHOTO COLLECTION Art, Culture If you haven't heard the name Liz Clarke, aka htbsle (pronounced "hitabaseelay"), it's a name you should remember. In re...
CANADIAN MUSIC VIDEO ROUNDUP | FEBRUARY Canada, Music 1 All good things must come to an end. Over the past few months we've decided to do away with our music video roundups...
DEAR OTTAWA HIP-HOP AND R&B ARTISTS Kevin Bourne, Opinion Dear Ottawa hip-hop and R&B artists, Over the past few years, I've done quite a bit in the Ottawa hip-hop communi...
RECAP – INDUSTRY SECRETS FOR PR & MEDIA PROFESSIONALS Business This past Tuesday, the Code Black Communicator Network, a network of black integrated communications professionals, tag ...
ADDIE – STRAIGHT OUTTA FUNDING: WHY TEACHERS ARE STRIKING IN ONTARIO Opinion In her first opinion piece for SHIFTER, downtown Toronto teacher, Avril Addie, explains why teachers are striking in Ont...
CARLETON RAVENS TOP DALHOUSIE TIGERS TO WIN U SPORTS FINAL 8 Sports, Uncategorized For the 15th time in 18 seasons, the university basketball powerhouse Carleton Ravens have claimed the U SPORTS Final 8 ...
RECAP – TASTE OF THE 6IX, 2020 KICKOFF Music As we quickly approach the March edition of Taste of the 6ix, let's take a quick look back at our 2020 kickoff. Kass...
BARROCKS – IT’S TIME TO GET EXCITED ABOUT THE CEBL Sheldon Barrocks, Sports In case you haven’t noticed, grassroots Canadian Basketball has been making some big moves lately. Our resume over the l...
FOR THE CULTURE: 15 BLACK TALENTS SHAPING MEDIA & CULTURE IN CANADA Culture, Kevin Bourne Being Black in Canada is a four-part Black History Month article series from SHIFTER editor Kevin Bourne We usually l...
BOURNE – IF OTTAWA WANTS TO BE COOL IT SHOULD EMBRACE BLACK CULTURE Kevin Bourne, Opinion Being Black in Canada is a four-part Black History Month article series from SHIFTER editor Kevin Bourne Ottawa is ha...
BOURNE – 7 MYTHS ABOUT RACISM DEBUNKED Kevin Bourne, Opinion 1 Being Black in Canada is a four-part Black History Month article series from SHIFTER editor Kevin Bourne In my first ...
BOURNE – BLACK PEOPLE ARE TOLERATED, NOT CELEBRATED Kevin Bourne, Opinion Being Black in Canada is a four-part Black History Month article series from SHIFTER editor Kevin Bourne If I'm hones...
EXETER – WHITE PRIVILEGE AND THE ROAD TO EQUALITY Opinion Toronto-area student, Blaize Exeter, wrote the following piece for her school newspaper when she was in Grade 8. Her pri...
ZARRUG – PALESTINE GETS THE RAW END OF THE DEAL IN LATEST PEACE PROPOSAL Opinion, Reda Zarrug On Tuesday, January 28th, Donald Trump stood up in front of the world and once again perpetuated the ideas of imperialis...
CELEBRITIES REACT TO THE PASSING OF RAPPER POP SMOKE Music Early Wednesday morning, 20-year old Brooklyn rapper, Pop Smoke, was murdered in his Hollywood Hills home. TMZ reported ...
OTTAWA MUSIC VIDEO ROUNDUP | JANUARY 2020 Music 3 January's Ottawa Music Video Roundup includes videos from Capé, Frank Blak, KB Westwood, Fletcher G and Bobby Brugal...
GRAMMY-NOMINATED SINGER ALOE BLACC RELEASES NEW SINGLE “I DO”, ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM Music Just in time for Valentine's Day, Aloe Blacc - who's topped charts around the world with his chameleonic blend of soul, ...
