Tonight, Logic, the first of the big name hip-hop artists to take the stage at RBC Bluesfest 2019, performed in front of thousands of fans at Lebreton Flats. The show actually started a few minutes early which caught the crowd of guard as fans were still approaching the stage. As the show started, one thing was clear. Unlike other hip-hop artists today, and as a throwback to the Golden Era rappers of the 90’s, Logic didn’t rely on backtrack vocals to help him deliver his performance. Also clear was the fact that Logic is an about average lyricist and has…
Author: Kevin Bourne
Kevin Bourne
Kevin Bourne, also known as "KB The Boss" or simply "KB", is a Toronto-based host/on-air personality, arts & entertainment journalist, TV/film producer, and communications and content strategist. As a commentator and freelancer, he has appeared nationally as a correspondent on CBC News Network and host on CBC Music. He has also appeared locally on CTV, CBC Radio, CityNews, Newstalk 1010, and ByBlacks.com, and in the United States on Fox’s Black digital TV network, Fox Soul. He has covered some of Canada’s top red-carpet events, from the Toronto International Film Festival to the Canadian Screen Awards, and has interviewed everyone from Kevin Hart and "Fast and the Furious" star Tyrese Gibson to Ziggy Marley, Ava DuVernay, Dascha Polanco, Lilly Singh, and Howie Mandel. His years of work as an entertainment journalist led to him being named a Golden Globe® Awards voter and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-Approved critic and being quoted as a critic in national ad campaigns for Black films and TV shows, both in Canada and the United States. Pivoting into the world of film and television, Kevin co-founded the film, TV, digital content, and live experiences company, SHIFTER Entertainment, alongside his wife and business partner, Koliah. Through SHIFTER he has produced a number of projects, including the Bell Fibe TV1 unscripted reality series A Date In The Life, serving as showrunner, executive producer, writer and co-director. Now, with a number of pilot and feature film scripts written and projects in development, KB is poised to continue to be a champion for Black entertainment and culture alongside his wife and business partner, Koliah.
RBC Bluesfest, Ottawa’s largest annual music festival, is just around the corner and SHIFTER will be there! Although there’s not much local hip-hop scheduled for the 10-day festival, unlike previous years, there are still some great shows to look forward to. Here the shows we’re looking forward to at RBC Bluesfest 2019. View this post on Instagram A post shared by DJ Prosper (@djprosper22) on Nov 6, 2018 at 6:01pm PST DJ Prosper⎹ July 9-10 Ottawa Senators DJ and “crowd motivator”, DJ Prosper, was added to the schedule after support from the fans and he won’t disappoint. He’s…
Last night, Marial Shoyak made history becoming the first Ottawa player to ever be drafted into the NBA. The Iowa State product and former St. Pat’s student was selected 54th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers at last night’s NBA Draft. He is the second player from the capital region to be drafted into the NBA. Aylmer’s Olivier Hanlan, who is currently playing overseas, was selected 42nd overall in the 2015 draft by the Utah Jazz and was soon after traded to the San Antonio Spurs, winning a G League championship in 2018. It was a record breaking night for Canada.…
Hip-hop artist and host of CHUO 89.1FM’s Bring Ya Eh Game, Dynamic aka Ya Favourite Lightskin, recently dropped his latest project “On A Quest” – a collaboration with Hull, Quebec producer Quest. The Ottawa rapper recently held listening parties in Ottawa and Toronto, where he lived for a number of years, and the reception has been positive. The eight-song project includes a feature from Kassidy Mackinnon. Standout tracks include “I’m Great” and “My Throne” which created some buzz at the Ottawa listening party. Born into the low-income housing projects in Ottawa’s Centretown neighbourhood, Dynamic has seen his share of hardship. After…
Ottawa hip-hop/R&B artist and songwriter Steph Marcantonio, aka queenyy, recently released her new single “Pretty Young Thing” alongside First Nations Cree producer and choreographer Chev Cheechoo, aka chevdot. The pair are collaborating on a series of single and video releases in 2019. For queenyy, her music is about relatability and sharing her perspective and experiences with the world. “My inspiration when it comes down to writing lyrics for this project is the struggle in relationships with different situations and different kinds of people. They are all based on things that have happened to me personally and are relatable to any gender…
The Ottawa music video roundup for May is our biggest to date with 18 videos! This month’s list includes Hueso, Chaz Dean, Chrissy Spratt, Dax, RBLx, and more! We’re continuing to ask you, the fans, to vote for the capital’s Video of the Month. Check out the videos below in order of release date, then help us crown the top video in the city for May. Hueso feat. JKing Popular Demand Release date: May 1, 2019 Shot by: FVCKROH Productions In May, artist and CFL player, Hueso, dropped “Popular Demand”, the first video off his debut project OfFsZn. Shot at Real Studio…
As Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors’ magical playoff run continues into the NBA Finals, Canadian hip-hop artist Hevve has released a surprise single “Klutch”. The song features fellow rapper Bullyzone. “‘Klutch’ is about being clutch in all aspects of life just like Kawhi Leonard has been clutch in the NBA playoffs. ‘It’s a lifestyle. It’s how we move”, Hevve notes about the concept. “There was such a vibe in the studio in making this song. Quest literally put the beat together in 10 minutes and a few hours later the song was done. We put the whole thing together…
Four and a half years after Dr. Dre was prematurely anointed hip-hop’s first billionaire after selling Beats Electronics to Apple, Forbes has officially crowned Jay-Z hip-hop’s first billionaire. The Marcy Projects product, once known as “Jigga” and “Hov”, came up in an era where MC’s simply rapped while leaving the business side to entrepreneurial minds like Puff Daddy, Master P, Birdman, Jay Prince, Irv Gotti and Russell Simmons. Meanwhile, Rocafella was run by business minds Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke while Jay-Z was allowed to focus on being the best in the game. After the empire they built came…
On the heels of successful TV shows and films like “Kim’s Convenience” and “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018), Netflix’s latest release “Always Be My Maybe” is the most recent production to bring Asian American (or Asian Canadian) culture to the mainstream. Starring Ali Wong and Randall Park, who also produced and co-wrote the screenplay alongside Michael Golamco (screenplay) and Nathan Kahame (producer), the film is your classic romantic comedy set in the Chinese community in San Francisco, Wong’s real life hometown. It’s a refreshing and well-needed window into an aspect of American culture rarely seen on the big and small screens.…
Today Liverpool will play Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League Final at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid. Both teams have had similar fates leading up to the final which could easily leave both teams believing that it’s their ‘destiny’ to take home the trophy. How the teams got to the final While Liverpool picked up a 1–0 win in their final group game against Napoli at home to get out of the groups after picking up only three points in their first three games, Tottenham managed to draw away in Barcelona on the final game of the groups after only…
Artpreneur, Ottawa’s premiere conference for creative entrepreneurs, is just around the corner and this year’s edition is going to be better than ever. With a new film studio on the horizon and a music strategy in full effect, the creative industries are as important as ever in the capital. Here are four reasons to be excited about Artpreneur 2019. 1. New location After being located at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans for the past five years, Artpreneur is moving downtown to the Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards. Why the change? First, to make the event as accessible as possible…
Sunday morning, the Toronto Argonauts signed five new players to fill apparent voids in their roster. Of these five signees, one name stands out — Donald De La Haye, better known as Deestroying. De La Haye played for the University of Central Florida during all 13 games of the 2016 season as the kickoff specialist. Around June of 2017, De La Haye conceived Deestroying. His channel became a huge success, hitting 250K subscribers around August 2017 and 500K by the beginning of 2018. In the summer of 2017, UCF and the NCAA told De La Haye that he was violating NCAA rules…
