SHIFTER’s Jhamesha Millord Ashford sits down with Atlanta-based Mississippi rapper J Lock to talk about the Grammys, his new single “Selfish, and much more. Jhamesha: Knowing that you started using music as an outlet of expression at the age of 14, could you give our Canadian readers a bit of insight on your background and how you got started? How did music first introduce itself into your life? J Lock: I fell in love with music at a very early age. Growing up in a household in Mississippi, I didn’t start off listening to rap music. It was Motown Records,…
Author: Jhamesha Milord Ashford
SHIFTER’s Jhamesha Milord sits down with Toronto contemporary R&B singer-songwriter Pisceze to talk about her upbringing and musical journey. Jhamesha: I’m Jhamesha Milord and welcome back to SHIFTER’s interview series. Today, I’m interviewing a special guest who goes by the name of Pisceze. She’s a Toronto-based artist, she’s a singer, songwriter and contemporary R&B soul artist. We will be getting to know her personally and speaking about her musical journey. I’m just going to kick off this interview with your upbringing, and we’ll just get to know you a little better. So tell us about your upbringing as an artist.…
Nefissa Bedri, an international UOttawa student and artist from Ethiopia, recently published her first book at the age of 19 years old, a book relating to mental health. Their Abstract Thoughtsis Bedri’s way of reaching out to those who feel the need to be heard, the voice for those who cannot speak and a source of comfort for all who seek it. The book contains a compilation of 21 poems, covering themes such as depression, love, hope, anxiety, eating disorders, heartbreak, expectations, society, and self discovery, many topics that could affect one’s mental health. In her country, Nefissa Bedri states…
Ottawa-based, Gospel artist, singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer, Dae Andre makes a resurgence and released his first single as an independent artist, Too Late. The release was paired with a visual, shot and directed by Ottawa based videographer, Ben Telford Visuals, available on YouTube. In the video, Dae Andre is clad in all white, surrounded by white walls in an all white room drawing on the Biblical symbolism of purity, innocence, honesty and cleanliness. The single, Too Late is a representation of a light at the end of the tunnel, “and that light is Jesus”, explains Andre. In our current…
Lindasson released his debut single of the year “Accepting My Flaws” along with a music video released with Ben Telford Visuals. His latest single, ‘Accepting My Flaws’ is without exception, a remarkable blend of reflective storytelling, wrapped up in a haunting and dusky hip-hop beat. Releasing on Le Lone Lotus, produced by Prod. CR, and mixed by LINDASSON himself, the single unveiled itself to the world on February 18th, 2022. “I feel like the title speaks for itself as the song is all about me accepting my flaws. The song itself is a different kind of dark sound that I’ve…
After taking an entire year off from music to focus on herself, Ottawa artist Lia Kloud is ringing in the new year with her latest single “On Everything”, available on all digital streaming platforms as of January 14th, 2022. The song is produced by DDbeatz, along with a mix and master from Ottawa’s Lindasson, with whom she performed at the Cranium Festival last October. The track was released today at midnight and the video premiere is taking place at 6 PM, which was shot by Fenti Filmz and edited by Jawnieappletree. “‘On Everything’ is simply a song where I am…
An innovative new French-language radio show for Ottawa-Gatineau’s Black community is now on the airwaves at CHUO 89.1FM. Hosted by Vlad Jean-Gilles aka Don Ayiti, this new program, called Les Intrepides, was made possible with funding support from BILINGUAL OTTAWA. In his new role, Vlad plans on bringing his radio savvy to the airwaves, shaping the sound of new program and mentoring volunteer contributors in media development and delivery. Vlad comes with an impressive list of accomplishments and is no stranger to CHUO’s airwaves. Alongside Kevin Bourne, aka KB The Boss, and the station’s staff, Vlad is a founding member…
The Cranium Arts Project is hosting an all ages event featuring OVO’s newest addition Smiley, with opening performances by local artists. Smiley is a rising star from Toronto who is now internationally known after global superstar Drake, shared a video featuring one of Smiley’s songs. Smiley is now signed to Drake’s label, “OVO Sound”, which has helped grow his popularity significantly. Smiley also released a track with Drake called “Over the Top”, this past summer which is now sitting at 5 Million views on YouTube. Shifter Magazine also teamed up with Cranium Arts Project and launched a ticket giveaway for…
Following the launch of her new mixtape, “Stock Exchange”, Brampton-based artist and producer, Haviah Mighty is now looking to give back to the community. Haviah Mighty recently launched an initiative where she will be donating $10K to a variety of Black-owned businesses to help them further expand and thrive. Business owners are asked to text (647) 424-3490, where a form will be sent with a few questions in regards to the business they want to promote. This will then confirm their entry in the giveaway. Black entrepreneurs will be invited to pitch their business ideas – existing and future, big…
“Everyone is into hip-hop which is cool, but we all come from different backgrounds where North-America slowly robs us of our culture, so as an artist, using music is one of the most powerful tools of influence to shift the culture back to our roots and where it all started.” – SM. SM, a new emerging artist born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario in the South end of Greenboro just launched his career following some heavy soul-searching. Music has always been a big part of SM’s life and took it seriously as of 2014 but took a break to find…
Twelve of Ottawa’s hottest artists came together and dropped the track “All Capital Anthem” to honor the city. The twelve artists coming together include; OTG Stiffy, DaBoiLoc, AGS Smooth, Dip Black on the first verse. Frank Blak, Baëbe Ruth, Nino, and KG Jay hopped on the second verse before passing the baton to Mazyn, Gabona, Snoozy and Rhi Da Baddie for the grand finale. On top of his powerful delivery and captivating energy, Rapper KG Jay also contributed as the producer of the track. When reached out to work on this collaboration, Dip Black, a featured artist on the track…
A year into the pandemic, Drayton Mulindabigwi Jabo, a health sciences student at the University of Ottawa decided to launch the mental health initiative, 20today20tomorrow. Realizing all the drastic changes that he was faced with, Drayton took it upon himself to create an organization based on helping others feel better in times of distress. The organization created a mascot named “Healmind/Gueriesprit” that has been drawn on stickers. The stickers are then placed in spots frequently visited by youth, such as schools, malls, busses, etc. Each sticker has also been infused with NFC technology that broadcast positive messages on your screen…
