Author: Kevin Bourne

The inaugural Ottawa Black Film Festival has finally arrived. To be presented online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival, which begins tonight and extends through to Sunday, will feature 30 films and various panels over four days. The lineup also includes 20 films from the Fabienne Colas Foundation’s BEING BLACK IN CANADA short film series which saw young Black Canadian filmmakers from Montreal. Toronto and Halifax create 20 documentary short films with the help of professional coaches. Here’s a bit of what you can expect to see at this year’s edition of the Ottawa Black Film Festival. The Special – The festival opens…

Nate “Thrilla” Gravelle has announced a new partnership with Stingray Music which will see him curate an Ottawa hip-hop playlist. When Ottawa radio host and A&R, Nate Gravelle, known in hip-hop circles as Thrilla, left his long-time radio show NU BRL Radio on CHUO 89.1FM it seemingly left a vacuum in Ottawa’s hip-hop landscape. Well, the long-time music and media entrepreneur recently took to social media to reveal his latest venture to put Ottawa hip-hop on the world’s radar. “After stepping down from five years on local Ottawa radio I promised I had something major in the works. I’m proud…

Freddy Printz is a staple in the Ottawa hip-hop music scene and has subsequently been expanding since the beginning of 2020 with a renewed vigor in his talents both musically and visually. Fresh off the release of his highly anticipated single for “Feel Like,” Freddy Printz has kept heads on a swivel when he dropped the buoyantly flowing single produced by frequent collaborator and Harlem-based producer Austin Marc. Now offering his audience a taste of what they want, Freddy Printz accompanies the melodic cadences with eye-catching visuals to have viewers immersed in the oozing charisma he drives home. Mixed by…

The world is still in shock following yesterday’s shooting at an Atlanta spa which saw eight people murdered including six women of Asian descent. The incident is among a growing number of cases of anti-Asian hate crimes across North America. According to reports, anti-Asian hate crimes increased by nearly 150% in 2020 in the United States. Meanwhile, according to live stats from covidracism.ca, there have been 928 reported incidents in anti-Asian race crime in Canada. Many Canadians of Asian heritage have taken to social media to share their horror and concern in recent months with these attacks on the rise, especially…

It’s that time again! SHIFTER’s Canadian Music Video Roundup for February includes videos from NAV, Dax, Night Lovell, 88Glam, Pressa, Duvy, Haviah Mighty, KGoon, Manila Grey, City Fidelia, Lil Berete, Young Smoke, and more! Check out the videos below in order of release date, then help us crown the top video in the country for February. Special shout out to our sponsor, realtor and Canadian hip-hop legend Greg Campbell. Last month you voted and crowned “We Gon Make It” by Nagy Gogetta as your Video of the Month. Video of the Month //  Nagy Gogetta – “We Gon Make It” Who will win for March? KGoon Aint…

Yesterday, hip-hop recording artist and community leader, City Fidelia, and artist manager, Rebecca Dickson, announced the launch of the brand new FRMULA artist development program. Founded under the banner of the City Fidelia led non-profit Ensemble, the venture is the latest piece of infrastructure to hit Ottawa’s growing music scene. Since moving back to the capital from Toronto in 2019, Fidelia has been hard at work adding to the creative fabric of the city, first co-founding the Real House of Ensemble recording studio alongside Abe Abadi and more recently taking on the role of Program Director at local radio station CHUO…

About Desarae Dee SHIFTER’s Artist of the Month for March is Toronto multi-instrumentalist, Desarae Dee. Dubbed “Toronto’s Fusion Pianist” by BUZZMUSICLA, she is widely known for her unconventional and spontaneous playing style. Often compared to the likes of Robert Glasper, she has the unique ability to fuse together many musical styles while creating unique, unusual chord structures and powerful melodic lines, which has given her the range to share the stage with some of Toronto’s biggest and brightest stars. Simultaneously giving you everything you need to hear and something you’ve never heard before, Desarae captures your attention within seconds of…

Exactly a month after dropping the visuals for “Don’t Tell”, Ottawa’s Lindasson is back with “Toes”, the second music video off his debut project Lindasson. In its first week, it has already amassed an impressive 35K views and counting. The video features quick transitions and the occasional visuals effects, as well as still shots from the director and editor Ben Telford, Lindasson’s videographer and frequent collaborator.  Shot at the now abandoned Base Militaire De Sainte-Adolphe D’Howard in Quebec, the empty, gritty and graffiti filled complex provides the perfect backdrop for Lindasson and his crew as they enjoy a night out. At just under…

After starting off 2021 by earning nearly one million streams combined on his singles “Strictly For My B” and “The 5 Year Plan” in just two weeks, award-winning South African rapper and producer A-Reece is looking for a three-peat with “Morning Peace” off his recently released mixtape Today’s Tragedy, Tomorrow’s Memory in partnership with PLATOON. The project is a follow up to his 2019 album Reece Effect which reached two million streams on Spotify alone. The song features A-Reece’s blend of lyricism and vocals on top of subtle synths and smooth bass guitar arrangements. On the track the young rapper gets vulnerable, exploring…

Canada’s Black film festival movement is coming to the capital as the first annual Ottawa Black Film Festival is set to take place later this month. Created by the Fabienne Colas Foundation (FCF), the annual film festival debuted in Montreal 16 years ago before expanding to Toronto, Halifax, New York, and Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The FCF – Canada’s largest Black cultural organization – is a not-for-profit dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in Cinema, Art and Culture in Canada and abroad. Frustrated with the lack of screening opportunities for Black films, FCF founder and president Fabienne Colas started the Montreal…

After the explosions in Lebanese, hip-hop artist SVLM is back with “Yeslamli Jamalik (Beirut)”, a long song to Beirut when it needs it most. Last August, members of the Lebanese community and the world looked on in horror as videos of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon flooded social media. One of those members of the Lebanese community was Canadian hip-hop recording artist SVLM who immediately took to Instagram to share his shock and used the platform and Spotify to raise funds for those who needed relief. In February, he returned with a new single “Yeslamli Jamalik (Beirut)” to send love…

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, also known as CARAS, recently announced the 2021 JUNO Award nominees including big names like The Weeknd, Jessie Reyez, NAV and Justin Bieber. Here’s the full story. Earlier today, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, also known as CARAS, held its virtual press conference announcing the 2021 JUNO Award nominees. Among the nominees are big names like The Weeknd, fresh off his Grammy snub, who leads the pack with six nominations including JUNO Fan Choice, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and…