All of the Monday Music for the Summer 2020 semester is now be available on The Peak’s Spotify Playlist, Monday Music Summer 2020. Don’t forget to follow thepeaksfu on Spotify to listen more easily!
By: Manisha Sharma, Peak Associate
As most of you are aware, with protests erupting all over the world, systemic racism and discrimination against Black people occurs everywhere — even here in Canada. Now more than ever we can take the initiative and support Black lives and businesses. One way to do that is by supporting Black Canadian artists by streaming their music. Here are just a few of the many talented Black Canadian artists and their songs to check out.
“In Women Colour” – Haviah Mighty
Haviah Mighty is a rapper from Toronto, Ontario. She’s a self-proclaimed feminist and has recently spoken about the importance of police reform. Mighty is an avid supporter of social justice on issues like police brutality and consistently tweets about reform movements. This rap song is powerful with lyrics speaking to her experiences of being a Black female artist as seen in the lyrics like, “Huh, yeah I’m darker than my friends, And finally they see it and they start to get the trend, I gotta do two times more to get four times less.” Check out the rest of her songs on her most recent album, 13th Floor.
“Pendulum of the Perturbed Soul” – TA’MIR
This song is part of a whole album that was created during quarantine. TA’MIR is a hip-hop/rap artist from Toronto, Ontario. His lyrics are often relatable and humorous with lines such as, “So stop Whatsapping me messages, mom,” but also meaningful like, “Cause I know, this can’t be all there is. It can’t be all pain, feelin’ lost and disdain.” A common concept he addresses is self-awareness, self-growth, and trying to find happiness amidst a lot of pain.
“Skin” – The Afro-Métis Nation
The Afro-Métis Nation are a band from Vancouver. This band incorporates drums and beats used in traditional Métis culture throughout this song, and intertwines the dynamics of being both Indigenous and Black. “Skin” itself is an emotional, soulful telling of their experiences of not fitting in because of the colour of their skin. I highly recommend listening carefully to the lyrics while playing this song — the lyrics are insightful and eye-opening. This song also touches on the experience of being considered too dark within your own culture, and how despite being Indigenous, Arab, or various other ethnicities, skin colour is a contributing factor to whether you are accepted or not. This is an issue that happens around the world but in this song we get to experience The Afro-Métis Nation’s own telling of their experience of this.
“Watch me” – Missy D
This rap song with hip-hop beats is incredible with lyrics calling out discrimination and racism against Black culture and people, all the while being a banger with beats you’ll want to jam out to. Missy D is an artist from Vancouver and blends her Rwandan, Cote D’Ivoire and Zimbabwe roots into her music. This song gives me energy (as I’m sure it will give you) with empowering lyrics about decolonization, resisting assimilation, and finding the power to be yourself. I love that this can be an empowering anthem for any minority, like it is for me.
This song says it all . . . period.
For more great Black Canadian artists, check out Bandcamp. Many artists on there have proceeds going to the Black Lives Matter movement and other organizations.
