Author: Kevin Bourne

Earlier today OVO producer Noah “40” Shebib made an Instagram post speaking out on the recent gun violence facing the City of Toronto. In his post he said, “I’d like to share my thoughts concerning the recent rash in gun violence in the city for a number of reasons. First being that I was born and raised in Toronto, and am still a resident. More importantly my colleagues are being murdered, and I have lost close friends to gun violence. I can’t rest in good conscience knowing I can say, and more importantly do, something. I, like many Torontonians, am…

We weren’t originally planning on seeing Kodie Shane perform. To be honest, before yesterday I’d never heard of her before, but a quick glimpse at her social media presence and the crowd of people making their way to the stage, as well as the recommendation of one of our contributors, we decided to see what she was all about. We’re glad we did. There are three knocks on the new wave of urban music than blends R&B and hip-hop. First, that they all sound the same. Second, that they lack stage presence and typically don’t put on good shows. Third, that they…

RBC Bluesfest is underway and there’s a lot to look forward to. Not necessarily the headliners; we were spoiled with superstars like Kanye West and Migos/50 Cent in back to back years so this year’s lineup doesn’t exactly compare. This year I’m looking forward to the shows from local artists just as much, if not more, than the big headliners. On day two we took in our first show of the festival and it happened to be one of the shows I was really looking forward to- Morris Ogbowu. He’s a local Ottawa artist who blends Nigerian and hip-hop culture…

Now that Summer is in full swing, we need to be on point for the most relaxing season of the year without looking too relaxed. Here are five tips to easily upgrade your style this Summer. 1. WEAR CLOTHES THAT FITS YOU This is probably the most important one. You can choose the best pieces and have the best style ever, but if your clothes are too big or even too tight, all people are going to notice is this common style mistake. I know with the heat we like to wear larger clothes to give ourselves some breathing room…

RBC Bluesfest is just around the corner and SHIFTER will be there. Here are our editor’s picks for the top shows to see at this year’s edition of RBC Bluesfest. Watch our editor’s picks on SHIFTER TV Chromeo | July 7 The Montreal duo have been having a big year, performing across Canada and releasing their long awaited album Head Over Heals with features by French Montana, Stefflon Don, and The-Dream. Even if you’ve seen them perform live in the past, they’ll have some new material for you so you’ll want to check them out. Shawn Mendes | July 7 Shawn…

The Canadian men’s national team celebrated the Canada Day weekend by winning back to back games on Canadian soil as part of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. Here’s our recap of the weekend. GAME 1 – Canada vs. Dominican Republic On Friday night, the team, made up of NBA and international players, showed why they should be considered a rising force in the global basketball ranks with a convincing 97 – 61 win over the Dominican Republic at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. Canada was by no means dominant for the entire game as the final score might suggest. Dominican Republic…

So the long awaited follow up to More Life has arrived and as you’ve probably heard, it’s a double album and Drake admits to having a son. Great. We got that out of the way. Now let’s get to the music. Instead of looking at this double album track by track, let’s look at some of the highlights from each side. SIDE A Side A is all about hip-hop and bars. Immediately we hear Survival which is along the lines of Diplomatic Immunity. No hook, just bars. It’s the shortest track on Side A, but it’s the most heavy lyrically. He…

Ottawa has been producing an eclectic mix of talent in recent years that are having more and more success outside of the city, from Night Lovell and A Tribe Called Red, to a number of punk bands. And who can forget R&B prince Maurice Moore? We might be soon adding someone else to that list- Krista Jane. At only 26 years old, the past decade has been an adventure, from landing a spot in the Top 200 on Canadian Idol at 16 years old and performing across North America, winning amateur night at the Apollo Theatre in New York City,…

Read below or listen now on Soundcloud Our editor, Kevin Bourne, recently interviewed Jessica Castro, one of the stars from Season Two of the reality show Married At First Sight. They talked about her experience on the show and what she’s been up to since. Kevin: So starting with the show. Just to give some listeners the background of the show, the show is Married at First Sight and in Season One (or throughout all the seasons), a team of experts would pair two individuals that they thought would make a good match and those two individuals would meet…

Last weekend, the Canadian U18 team stood at centre court and reluctantly received their silver medals after falling to team USA in the gold medal game of the FIBA Under-18 Americas Tournament. Though the second place standing secured Canada a place in next Summer’s U19 World Championships, to many of us it felt like an unexpected loss to a team that seemed beatable. For those not who haven’t been paying attention to the numerous achievements of the program over the last several months, the outcome would look like another blow to Canada’s historically unfavourable reputation in international play. But for…

This past weekend NFL stars Marshawn Lynch, also known as Beastmode, Marcus Peters and Josh Johnson were in Ottawa to put on a free Break The Plane football camp for 10-18 year-old kids and youth in the region. Their visit to the capital started on Friday afternoon with meet and greet event at Ottawa’s premiere streetwear store, NRML. The event included a barber competition and a chance to play the NFLers in Madden 18. NRML also unveiled their NRML x Beastmode apparel collaboration, including hats and hoodies. They then moved on to the official afterparty at ppl. nightclub in the…

The 2018 World Cup kicks off on the 14th June in Russia. It’s a chance for new stars to be born, records to broken and overall an opportunity of a lifetime for all players and countries involved. There’s something about the event that makes us all drop what we’re doing and brings the world together more than any other international event, including the Olympics. If it’s been awhile since you’ve followed soccer (or football as we call it in Europe) or if you’re the casual sports fan that has no idea who the big names are this year, don’t worry,…