Author: Kevin Bourne

For some people, Foo Fighters were the big draw on Tuesday night at Bluesfest, but for others the main event was happening over on the Black Sheep stage. As I said in my Bluesfest preview, I didn’t know too much about Machine Gun Kelly, but I had a feeling he would be a great performer, and he was. The show started with what sounded like monks chanting over an epic instrumental. Then he entered with what looked like a race car driver suit with blue and yellow reflective strips. Not exactly the badass I was expecting. The opening songs were Wild…

“Hey, I’m the voice inside your head”. That’s how Roland Prince’s show started. It was a bit weird, but that would end up being a theme throughout his show. I just got introduced to Roland Prince’s music last week and I like what I hear so far. While Prince embraces being weird, perhaps a better word is “unique”. He has a pretty unique sound and that uniqueness was evident at Bluesfest. He has his own look and sound which is impressive for an up and coming artist. As soon as he came out in some DIY looking overalls I thought,…

Aside from Ghostface Killah, the other show I was really looking forward to taking in at Bluesfest 2018 was Ottawa rap group Tapas, featuring rappers Cheko Salaam and G. Grand, and producer and Beat Battle champion Jeepz. G. Grand happens to be one of my favourite rappers, no “MC’s”, so I was especially looking forward to this show. You may ask, “Why the name ‘Tapas’?” A quick glance at their website offers an explanation- “small savoury sonic dishes”. That’s exactly what they served up. With DJ So Nice of the hip-hop duo Buck-N-Nice behind the turntables, they came right out…

I don’t have any data to back this up, but Ottawa has to have one of the most diverse music scenes in North America with Anglophone, Francophone and Indigenous artists. A reflection of that is none other than Ojibwe rapper Cody Coyote. His appearance at Bluesfest 2018 was my second time seeing him perform live so I had an idea of what to expect, but the first time was at a Ashes to Rubies showcase so it wasn’t a full set. The show started with some sort of flute instrumental with visuals of colonialism, including soldiers gunning down First Nations people,…

The first non-hip hop show that I took in at RBC Bluesfest 2018 was Shawn Mendes. Don’t judge me for being open-minded. I’ve watched a few Shawn Mendes interviews earlier in the week so I was intrigued by how he would be as a live performer. I immediately felt out of place. I imagined people saying to themselves, “What is this black guy doing at a Shawn Mendes concert by himself?” Looking around, I was honestly expecting see a lot more women than men, but the crowd was mixed, which means the men in attendance were either with their significant…

On a personal level, the show I was looking forward to the most at Bluesfest 2018 was Ghostface Killah. As I mentioned in my Bluesfest preview, I’ve been a Wutang fan since 36 Chambers came out in 1993. Between my sister and I, we pretty much had every group and solo project on cassette (CDs still weren’t that popular). I’ve seen some hip-hop legends perform in Ottawa, from Nas at Bluesfest 2015 to Smif-N-Wessun at last year’s edition of House of Paint, and what always shocks me is that the crowds are so young, and to be honest, so white.…

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…