Author: Kevin Bourne

A few weeks ago I was at a music festival and I noticed a passerby wearing a shirt that said, “Save me for my wants”! Those five words in many ways describe the underlying issue of our day—as a society we’re driven by what we want. We’re surrounded by a consumer culture focused on immediate gratification and satisfying our immediate needs. We want what we want and we want it now, with the credit card bills to prove it. There’s nothing wrong with desire or wanting more in its proper place. It’s vital and a good part of humanity. However,…

Belly is an Ottawa native and Roc Nation artist who has evolved greatly in his musical journey. As a kid I used to play in community-organized soccer tournaments and this huskier gentleman with the baggiest of clothes would be on the sideline rapping his breath away. To us Belly was a local celebrity. Shortly after, he had his first radio spin with the song Spitfire credited to his old record label Capital Prophets, later known as CP. This growth continued with Belly’s success in the mixtape world with Death Before Dishonor volumes 1 and 2. Belly was a neighbourhood rapper, and…

It’s both an Ottawa and Canadian success story. Karim Rashid—the world-renowned, New York-based, Egyptian born industrial designer who has created over 4000 products, won 300 awards, and worked with brands all over the world, including Pepsi, Umbra, and Hugo Boss. Despite his global success, at his core the Carleton University trained designer is still Canadian. “I have now spent the last 25 years of my life practicing my craft in New York, but at the end of the day, I am a Canadian”, says Rashid. Rashid has designed everything from angular chairs and intricate couches to curvy bottles and small…

This past weekend, the capital played host to an iconic moment in Canadian hip-hop as the Canadian Classic Tour, featuring hip-hop legends Classified, Maestro Fresh Wes, and Choclair, took over the Barrymore’s Music Hall in downtown Ottawa. For a guy who grew up in Toronto in the 80’s and 90’s, this was a show that I had circled on my calendar. Up and coming rappers J-David of Ottawa and Michael Daley of Newfoundland were tasked with opening the night after winning a contest. From the up and comers we segued into the main acts for the night. First to grace…

On any given night in major cities across North America you’ll find groups of hip-hop heads huddled on a street corner with music playing. If you see this urban phenomenon don’t be alarmed, and please don’t call the police. What you’re seeing is hip-hop in its purest form. What you’re also seeing is one of the most important art forms of the 20th and 21st centuries. This art form was in full display as Ottawa artists King Kimbit and Lealem Kassa, also known as 4theworld, headed to New York in early September. Kimbit made the trip to New York for…

September saw a number of Ottawa artists releasing new music videos, including Chaz Dean, Buck-N-Nice, Hevve, J Chinnasz, SVLM, and BLikeBrett. Here’s our Ottawa music video roundup for September according to release date. Let us know in the comments if there are any videos we forgot.  SVLM Day Dreaming Release date: September 30, 2018 Directed by: ShotByVivid The video for SVLM’s Day Dreaming is the most recent addition to the Ottawa music video landscape, having been released this morning. We were playing this track on repeat when it first came out so we’re excited to finally get some visuals. It’s…

You’re fine. You don’t really believe it, but you are. Beyonce recently spoke about her battle with finding happiness. In the Vogue cover story, the superstar recounted how unhappy and insecure she felt after her first pregnancy. She talked about the fear she experienced in her most recent pregnancy and how she had to fight for her life. She also talked about loving herself through the doubts and criticism. Serena Williams and Cardi B also recently discussed their current state of postpartum. Serena recently told Essence, “I still have to learn a balance of being there for her [Alexis Olympia], and being…

Spotify has announced changes to their Spotify for Artists service that could have a major impact on their platform and the industry at-large. Currently artists must go through a third-party service like Noname in order to upload music to Spotify. With the new changes artists will be able to upload music directly to the platform, lowering the barrier to entry, and perhaps competing with Soundcloud. According to Motley Fool, the changes mean artists will receive 50% of the net revenue generated on their music. Spotify said in their announcement: “Today, we’re announcing a new beta feature that enables independent artists…

For the second year in a row an Ottawa fashion designer is headed to New York. A year after fellow Ottawa designer Stacey Bafi-Yeboa graced the runway at New York Fashion Week, Marshall Celestin will be showing his Never Give Up streetwear line at Street Fashion Week, an event designed to “support and elevate creatives within the fashion, wearable technology, and music space”. Celestin held previous showings at Fashion Fest in Edmonton, Runway for Hope in Ottawa, and more recently Youth Fest in his native St. Lucia. For the budding fashion entrepreneur, this dream has been 13 years in the making. It…

Eminem, Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers, or as most of us know him, the hip-hop phenom who was so peculiar yet so lyrically nice that it didn’t matter what he looked like. When it comes to industry success, very few come close to the achievements Eminem has accomplished. With over 220 million records sold over his career he’s one of the bestselling hip-hop artists of all time. Eminem released Revival in 2017 which was, frankly, a bad body of work, especially in comparison to the masterpieces he created earlier in his career. That puts me in the category of people who…

For years, Ottawa has punched well below its weight as a film and production hub while much smaller cities like Sudbury have built a name for themselves, but that may soon change. The Ottawa Film Office recently announced a proposal for the city’s first soundstage and creative hub at the former Greenbelt Research Farm, owned by the National Capital Commission. The proposal is being submitted in partnership with Toronto-based production facilities company TriBro Studios which already owns and operates over 200,000 square feet of film and television production studios in the Toronto area. TriBro president Peter Apostolopoulos said of the…

This past weekend marked the 15th anniversary of one of Ottawa’s most underrated festivals, House of Paint. The three day hip-hop festival once again shed light on the original elements of the culture- DJing, bboying, mcing and graffiti – for both old heads and younger hip-hop heads alike. The festivities started with the OG 500 Poetry Slam on Friday night at the National Arts Centre’s the Fourth Stage. The featured artist was Antigan-Canadian slam poet Tanya Evanson. Ottawa Poet Laureate and Missing LinX member Jamaal Jackson Rogers, also known as Jamaal the Poet, said of the event: “Before ya’ll go…