Author: Kevin Bourne

For the second season in a row, the capital will be sending representatives to CTV’s The Launch, premiering on January 30th at 8pm. A year after Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine emerged as one of the stars of Season 1, Ottawa’s very own Vi and Michelle Treacy will be featured on the hit talent show alongside 28 other emerging Canadian artists. Vi will appear on Episode 1, set to air on January 30th, alongside Amber J of Trail, BC; Cassiopeia of Burnaby, BC; Dey of Toronto; and NOA of Richmond Hill, ON. The celebrity mentor for the episode will be…

To close out the year we got some great music videos from Black Iri$h, SVLM, Eddie Quotez, Josh Clarke and Vi. Here’s our Ottawa music video roundup for December according to release date. Once again, let us know in the comments if there are any videos from any genre we forgot. Black Iri$h Mars Release date: December 13, 2018 Visual by: Imaginamick Directed by: Black Iri$h Black Iri$h has a reputation for having some of the most creative music videos in the capital. In December, he released the video for Mars which he directed himself. Imaginamick held down animation duties. True to the lyrics,…

This year we’re back with our end-of-year feature, Top 10 Shifters in the Capital celebrating the accomplishments of cultural, business, sports, non-profit and political influencers in the capital. “Shifter” is a term we coined for people who use their creativity and influence to impact culture, business and beyond. Without further adieu, here’s our list of the top influencers who impacted the capital in 2018. 1. ELIJAH WOODS X JAMIE FINE | Recording artists, Winners on CTV’s The Launch View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine (@ewxjf) on Nov 20, 2018 at 10:05am PST After…

GAME RECAP – CAMPING WORLD BOWL On Friday, December 28th, #20 Syracuse (10-3) and #16 West Virginia (8-4) squared off in Orlando for the Camping World Bowl at Florida Citrus Sports’ Camping World Stadium and SHIFTER was on location. In front of 41,125 fans, the Syracuse Orange toppled the Will Grier-less West Virginia Mountaineers 34-18. This win marks Syracuse’s first 10-win season since 2001, and their first bowl win (and matchup) since 2013. The game started slow, with only 10 total points scored in the first quarter (7-3 Syracuse), thanks to a 4-yard rushing TD from Abdul Adams (Jr). West…

Is there such a thing as “white privilege”? I don’t think so. I would rather say there’s cultural privilege. Here’s what I mean. Culture is designed to inherently benefit the dominant culture for said country but it doesn’t mean the privilege will necessarily give the individual a social and economic advantage. I know a lot of white people who are poor and aren’t benefiting from their whiteness. Western culture, by and large, was built on a western philosophy which by nature is inherently biased against people of colour. The challenge for a white person is to recognize they’re born in…

Hundreds of people recently gathered at the Bronson Centre in Ottawa for an end of year artist showcase but this wasn’t your typical showcase. Called Ashes to Rubies, the event blended music and inspiration as the performers all had something in common―they’ve all overcome addiction or struggle and have lived to tell the world about it.  While there are many artist showcases happening in cities all over North America, what was unique about this show was the theme―hope. That’s why founder Jon Ruby launched the movement; to “give hope a platform”.  “Ashes to Rubies is a movement that shares hope…

Reppin’ Ottawa hasn’t always been the easiest thing to do, especially musically, leading to a bunch of people reppin’ places they’re not from. There are a lot of pretenders in hip-hop today but as the saying goes, real recognize real. Soon after first pressing play on Thirst Trap, you know you’re in for a great mixtape. Cheko Salaam navigates flows with ease, ranging from the ubiquitous ATL triplet flow to something as complex and uniquely structured as King Kendrick on Real Haters. He also has an incredible knack for coming up with a hook, although some of his singing might…

November was a slow month for music videos in the capital but we did get some from the likes of Josh Clarke, Tapas and Prosper & GPM. Here’s our Ottawa music video roundup for November according to release date. Once again, let us know in the comments if there are any videos from any genre we forgot. Josh Clarke One Night Release date: November 16, 2018 Directed by: Camilleon Prod. Produced by: Technikolormedia and Weggon Allen Josh Clarke is a Toronto R&B artist currently based in Ottawa. His video for his latest single One Night has already garnered 24,ooo views on YouTube and counting.…

Last night, Victoria’s Secret’s Angels, including Kendall Jenner, the Hadid sisters, and Adriana Lima took to the runway for the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Holiday Special, featuring performances by the likes of The Chainsmokers, Rita Ora, and Halsey. Considered by many as “the world’s biggest fashion event”, the show returned to New York after recent productions in London, Paris and Shanghai. Although the big story was Adriana Lima’s final walk down the Victoria’s Secret runway, for Canadians the people to watch were Toronto’s Shawn Mendes and Winnie Harlow, and Ottawa’s Herieth Paul. When asked what it meant for her to take part in…

On November 1st, after a game between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres, social media was buzzing. Why? The Senators had introduced a new in-game DJ and hype man and fans were scrambling to find out who this man was and where he came from? So much so he was apparently trending locally on Twitter. Well, that man is none other than long time rapper turned DJ, Prosper Laguerre, co-founder of the hip-hop group GPM. If you found it a bit hard to get some information on the guy it’s because he’s not really interested in being famous, but there’s…

For the second year in a row the capital’s fashion community gathered on the showroom floor at Audi Ottawa to celebrate one of their own as KANIA founder, Stacey Bafi-Yeboa, and technical fashion designer, Arfie Lalani, hosted what has become a highly anticipated annual event on the fashion calendar. This year’s edition was more than just a runway show―it was a look into the 13-plus year journey of KANIA. The show opened with Bafi-Yeboa and Lalani entering in a yellow Audi R8 convertible before addressing the hundreds of onlookers, including fashion designers, bloggers and the general public. Dancers performed on…

Ottawa group Wotts recently hosted a live show at Live On Elgin, bringing some notable local acts along for the ride, including Hevve, Eddie Quotez, and Toronto-native Vibebymelo. Eddie Quotez The show started with rapper Eddie Quotez who performed tracks from his 2017 album Otaku as well as some of his older material. He came right out the gate with the upbeat break up song All Night, before moving on to one of his more popular songs, Kush and Anime. He struggled a bit with his flow and delivery on this one, but rebounded well, going into the archives to perform Sleep, a…