Human rights calls for Canada Soccer to condemn the Israel Football Association
By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer
This summer may prove to be unlike any other for local soccer fans. Beginning in June, the 2026 men’s FIFA World Cup will commence, with games held across North America. Vancouver will host seven matches, including at least two featuring the home squad, Canada.
Despite the excitement, some groups are sounding the alarm. Concerns relating to the Palestinian genocide paint a different picture of the global sporting event, one that some people may not know amid the fútbol frenzy. The Peak corresponded with Just Peace Advocates (JPA) for more information.
JPA “is a Canadian human rights organization that focuses particularly on realizing the right to self-determination of the Palestinian and Kashmiri Peoples.” In recent months, the group called upon Canada Soccer, the national governing body of the sport, to protect and uphold these rights. In an open letter, JPA urged Canada Soccer to “publicly demand that FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) and UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) suspend the Israel Football Association (IFA),” and “refuse to host the 2026 World Cup in good faith while Israel continues to enjoy impunity.”
The letter notes that “the IFA organizes soccer activities, namely FIFA-sanctioned games, in illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.” While Israeli teams play, Palestinians are barred from entry. The IFA openly supports the Israel Defense Forces, fostering an environment where players can speak openly in support of genocide. JPA asserted that, by failing to act against the IFA, Canada Soccer is acting in direct opposition to its own bylaws. The governing body states that it “is committed to respecting all internationally recognized human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights.” Moreover, “discrimination of any kind against a country, natural person or group of people on account of race, ancestry, ethnic, national or social origin [ . . . ] is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion and/or other disciplinary measures.”
JPA also explained that, despite the governing body’s apparent hypocrisy, it has, in the past, followed its principles. “In February 2022, Canada Soccer announced it would refuse to play Russia on the basis of its invasion of Ukraine,” the human rights organization stated to The Peak. “The obvious reason that Soccer Canada has not issued a public statement against the IFA or Israel’s actions is what we call the ‘Palestine Exception.’ It’s the result of anti-Palestinian racism,” JPA stated. “The risk is much higher in this case. Soccer Canada did not risk anything to take a stand against Russia. It risks a significant amount of support to speak out against Israel.
“Therefore, their silence is a reflection of their racism, cowardice, and greed.” JPA said they have “not identified any financial/sponsorship connections to date between Canada Soccer and the IFA.”
This lack of action gives “consent for the ongoing genocide,” JPA told The Peak. “The IFA plays on illegally appropriated Palestinian land,”
“Israel attempts to destroy Palestinian football fields, while simultaneously murdering Palestinian athletes. Sport has and always will be political — there is nothing neutral about it.” — Just Peace Advocates
The Peak reached out to Soccer Canada for comment, but did not hear back by the publication deadline.
Movement presents plan for Surrey’s transit future
By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
Surrey is the Lower Mainland’s fastest-growing city and is expected to surpass Vancouver in population by 2038. Considering this growth, the organization Movement: Metro Vancouver Riders recently released a report highlighting their vision for the future of transit in Surrey.
Movement “empowers transit riders across Metro Vancouver by giving [the] community a strong, unified voice.” Their proposal advocates for three main things: new bus routes for faster and more direct local and regional trips, investments in bus exchanges and bus-priority roads to expand Surrey’s bus infrastructure, and improved pedestrian infrastructure, including new sidewalks and bus shelters.
The Peak spoke with Ahasan Bhuiyan, an SFU engineering student and organizer for Movement involved in the coordination of the report, for more insight. Bhuiyan outlined the plan’s vision, noting that while TransLink and the city were developing their transit plan, they did not focus on riders’ demands enough. So, Movement created their own plan with input from Surrey transit riders through a survey.
Bhuiyan noted that the organization was in discussions with TransLink to theorize how Movement’s community-engaged plan could be implemented. He explained that Surrey residents often have lower engagement rates in transit planning as compared to other municipalities, hypothesizing that factors like language barriers could be a reason for this.
Bhuiyan said Movement had previously assisted TransLink in developing the South of Fraser East Area Transit Plan, which had looked at transit development across Surrey, Langley, and other jurisdictions.
One of the plan’s main goals is to improve transit connectivity in Surrey by creating new bus corridors that cross the municipality north to south and east to west. Bhuiyan spoke to the difficulty Surrey transit riders have in commuting in the city,
saying the system “is very good if you live in Surrey and you want to go to Vancouver for your work, and then you come back home in the evening. But as we mentioned in the report, it’s not particularly good for movement within Surrey.”
“The existing public transit system in Surrey is very good if you live in Surrey and you want to go to Vancouver for your work, and then you come back home in the evening. But as we mentioned in the report, it’s not particularly good for movement within Surrey.”
— Ahasan Bhuiyan, organizer at Movement
The report also specifically examines transit connections from the rest of the Lower Mainland into Surrey. Bhuiyan pointed out that Surrey residents often have to take 3–4 transfers onto other bus routes to get to different parts of Metro Vancouver. To this end, the plan proposes adding new regional bus routes, which would connect areas like Tsawwassen, Ladner, and Coquitlam directly to Surrey, and other areas in the Fraser Valley.
Reconciliation is forged by authenticity
By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
Content warning: mentions of genocide against Indigenous Peoples and denialism of genocide.
The question of what reconciliation is and what solidarity with Indigenous Peoples can look like is a necessary topic of conversation. How settlers respond to the brutal legacy of colonialism and genocide on Turtle Island is something that must be grappled with. Over the last decade or so, the Canadian government has attempted to make dues with history and acknowledged its genocide of Indigenous Peoples. However, acknowledgement of the genocide at press conferences isn’t sufficient. We need to move towards contributing real effort and understanding between Indigenous Peoples and settlers of different backgrounds. Perhaps we can learn from the acts of solidarity exemplified by different Indigenous Nations on Turtle Island, and other populations outside of it — namely, how both various Indigenous Nations and Irish people have cultivated a solidaristic relationship.
In the first half of the 19th century, Turtle Island, and Europe were both experiencing sociopolitical events that would determine their history forever. On Turtle Island, the Trail of Tears — the ethnic cleansing of five Indigenous Nations — took place when Indigenous Peoples were forcibly moved to Oklahoma by the US Army. Thousands of Indigenous people died on the Trail of Tears. The genocide resulted in the Indigenous Nations losing their traditional land and experiencing immense trauma. In Europe, British colonization had wreaked havoc on Ireland and the Irish people. Imperial policy forced Irish farmers to grow crops, primarily to export to Great Britain. This had led to farmers farming potatoes, which produced a greater crop yield for less space. However, when crops failed, it led to the Irish famine.
Although Indigenous Nations and the Irish people experienced colonization differently, their stories articulate efforts of solidarity between colonized peoples. In 1847, the Choctaw Nation, fundraised nearly US $170 (about US $7,000 in 2026) to support people in Ireland affected by the famine. This is despite the fact that they were still suffering through the circumstances of the Trail of Tears and genocide. This was not an isolated incident as it was recently uncovered, that several Indigenous Nations whose traditional territories are in what is colonially known as “The Province of Ontario” have also aided by sending fundraised amounts to Ireland.
This kindness, nearly 200 years on, has not been forgotten by the Irish people. Memorials have been held in honour of the kindness that Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island extended to the Irish people. The Irish have also made efforts to pay tribute to this kind act as announced by the Irish Embassy in Canada, and through educating people of this historical contribution.
Moreover, many Irish people rallied in support for Native American communities who were particularly afflicted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. One such example was the support seen for the Navajo Nation, who were able to receive approximately US $3 million in aid.
What all of this shows is that solidarity between peoples is not a far and distant goal, it’s a proven process with historical precedent.
I, as a settler from Sri Lanka, a country with its sordid history with its own Indigenous peoples feel that it is up to all settlers to reflect and engage in what it means to live on this land. Whether you’re a third-generation immigrant, or a refugee, it’s important to examine your positionality on unceded land, and see how you can act in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples.
95% of BC is made up of unceded territories of various Indigenous Nations, taken without any agreement or compensation. To this day, much of the decisions taken over this land is done without consultation — and in some cases directly harms Indigenous Nations. Somehow, we live at a time where some politicians have openly denied the genocide of Indigenous Peoples. This makes the task of reflecting what it means to be a settler on stolen land ever important.
Students are let down by employment insurance
By: Jonah Lazar, Staff Writer
Over the past few years, working students have experienced unsteady support from the federal government when it comes to employment insurance (EI). EI in Canada offers benefits to workers who have become jobless “through no fault of [their] own” — this would include people who have recently been fired, laid off, or had their place of work shut down. Moreover, a person can receive EI while working on their studies (referred to as “training”). This can be done with or without EI’s approval, however, it is subject to inquiry. The criteria also stipulate a minimum of insurable hours from one’s working hours in the previous year, as well as a desire and an attempt at finding work. While the requirements to qualify for EI appear rather straightforward, some people, like students, who meet these criteria are left with no support.
In New Brunswick, an EI program designed for students who had gathered enough insurable hours through seasonal employment was axed in 2022, leaving many students relying upon the service in financial precarity. This program was whisked away with not so much as a word to its former recipients, who found out via student channels rather than an official government announcement. Other reports of students being left high and dry by EI have appeared in Prince Edward Island, where, despite having worked enough insurable hours from summer jobs, students were denied for the express reason that they were currently studying.
The Government of Canada states that “the EI program is not intended to support students, but to support workers during periods of unemployment and facilitate transitions within the labour market,” as there are other government supports available. Yet, these government supports often boil down to access to student loans, which don’t relieve the pressure on students, but rather, delay it. In many cases, students are also workers.
This all comes at a time when student-dense cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Halifax are floundering under affordability crises. Students aren’t helped either by the rising costs of getting a degree; tuition rate increases are limited to 2% a year, but as post-secondary education struggles to keep up with the loss of 49% of international student tuition, divisive cost-cutting measures are being considered. It’s possible that this could endanger the Tuition Fee Limit Policy. At SFU, where some of us are extending our studies into fifth and sixth years to finish our degrees, one can only imagine that this figure could rise. Students are having to delay graduation for longer due to not having a required course offered at the right semester, or having to deal with a personal issue that comes with a hefty bill. Our tuition includes various fees that aren’t contingent on the number of credits we take. The minimum wage isn’t keeping up with the living wage in BC.
With the modern realities of costs of living and costs of tuition, the idea of students graduating and then immediately becoming workers is increasingly becoming more difficult. There is a significant overlap of students working to make ends meet, and 9–5 workers studying to advance their careers. These people are as reliant on their paycheque as any other member of society is, and as such should have access to the same protection measures.
Denying EI for student workers and instead suggesting they apply for student loans, despite them having worked enough insurable hours to qualify for EI, is not a fair deal for students. The EI program, which supports workers while rarely demanding payback, is not fairly replaced by the student loan system that often plunges students into a decade and a half of biweekly repayments.
Denying student workers EI because they are pursuing a higher education further entrenches the inaccessibility of education, reserving it as a privilege for the wealthy.
Squamish man rollerblades around the world to raise $1 million for bees
By: Heidi Kwok, Staff Writer
Zach Choboter was on day five of a 6–8 month world-record-breaking journey when he picked up the phone for his interview with The Peak. The inline skater is aiming to raise $1 million for the bees and world hunger relief.
Choboter took off in Vancouver on March 1. At the time of the interview, he was somewhere on the northern outskirts of Kent, Washington, in good spirits after downing six shots of espresso after a coffee shop mishap. A dangerously high dose of caffeine was the least of his worries, however, as he nearly got hit by a passing vehicle while skating on the shoulder of a treacherous highway.
Why is he embarking on what some might call an impossible expedition encompassing over 30,000 km across 27 countries and six continents? The answer is in the optimistic slogan of his Blading for Bees World Tour campaign: “For the bees, baby!”
Choboter felt driven to take on this ambitious mission to raise awareness about the unprecedented decline in pollinator populations due to reasons such as habitat loss, pesticides, diseases, and climate change. Scientists projected up to a 70% loss of honeybee colonies in the US in 2025. The Honey Bee Health Coalition reports that the commercial beekeeping industry lost 1.6 million colonies, at an average decline of 62% between June 2024 and March 2025. Currently, about 35% of the world’s food production depends on pollinators. Scientists predict that if all wild pollinators were to go extinct, native plant species would also disappear, with commercial agriculture facing reduced crop yield, increased food costs, or a shortage of fruits and vegetables for sale in grocery stores.
“If we help the bees, we help everyone,” Choboter stated. “If we didn’t have honeybees, or wild, or native bees, then our world would be dramatically different, and the food systems would literally collapse. So the easy connection is no bees, no food.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, or you’re poor, or where you’re from in the world. We all need to eat food to survive, which means we need to take care of the bees.”
— Zach Choboter
Choboter said the idea to skate around the globe was planted as soon as he successfully set a Guinness World Record for the longest journey on roller/inline skates in 2021. At the time, his dad asked him, “Do you think you could just keep going?”
He achieved the record by skating 10,093 km over three months across Canada, which he called a “really big feat.
“It mentally prepared me because I proved to myself that I could do something hard. This is basically the Canadian trip’s older brother or sister,” reflected Choboter.
This older sibling in question took more than three years of planning. It involved pinpointing the best asphalt routes around the world, strenuous physical training, applying for visas, and more. Safety-wise, Choboter is decked out in cyclist lights. A GPS on his backpack and wrist ensures that five people know his whereabouts at all times, while allowing the public to follow his journey via a real-time map.
Choboter said all donations to the campaign will either go towards the Blading for Bees Foundation or partner charities, including the Pollinator Partnership Canada, the United Nations World Food Programme, and Save the Children. Contributors may also choose to support the on-site travelling team to help cover travel expenses. When asked how donations would be allocated, Choboter said the Blading for Bees Foundation’s Board of Directors would distribute them evenly.
Before The Peak left Choboter to continue on with the rest of his journey, he had one last piece of wisdom: “My favourite quote in the world is ‘when the tide comes in, all boats rise.’ So when we all stick together and help each other rise up, we’ll all get better together.”
Vancouver City Council rejects motion for transit snow removal priority
By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
On February 4, Vancouver City Council’s standing committee on city finances and services rejected a motion to prioritize snow removal at transit hotspots. The motion, which was brought forth by OneCity Vancouver councillor Lucy Maloney, was defeated 6–2. COPE Vancouver councillor Sean Orr was the lone member who voted with Maloney on the proposal.
Maloney’s motion called for the City to collaborate with the Coast Mountain Bus Company to discover areas in the region where buses have struggled during snowy events. The proposal also calls for prioritizing clearing these areas during extreme weather conditions and revising the City’s snow removal and ice treatment policy.
The Peak corresponded with councillor Maloney, who explained why she introduced the motion to Council. “Transit reliability during snowstorms is important because of the people it affects. A bus losing traction during a snow event doesn’t just affect its own passengers and the buses left behind — it can have knock-on effects that cause delays through the entire network,” she said. “This makes it even more crucial than usual that buses keep moving.”
Transit in the region has historically struggled during extreme weather events. In 2017, a group of students travelling to UBC attempted to push their bus as snowy conditions prevented movement. In 2020, approximately 15 buses were stuck on the Granville Street Bridge as snowfall pummelled Vancouver. Though steps have been taken to address the challenges that harsh weather systems could pose to transit, the risk to transit users and the public remains at large, according to TransLink.
Members who voted against the motion cited the fact that the City already named certain roads used by transit as “first priority zones.” These are zones that have to be cleared in a timeframe of 12 hours when snow hits the region. This led councillor Sarah Kiry-Young of the ABC Vancouver party to call Maloney’s proposal “redundant.” The councillor highlighted how TransLink was already taking steps to address extreme winter conditions, such as giving 70% of their bus fleet winter tires. The Peak reached out to counsellor Kiry-Young and all other counsellors who voted against the proposal for further comment on this issue. None of them responded by the specified deadline.
The proposal’s failure sparked backlash from the organization Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders. The organization is a non-profit advocating for transit reforms in the region; they assisted Maloney in creating the resolution. The Peak spoke with Michelle Scarr, Movement’s director of operations and strategy, to further understand the proposal and the need for transit reform.
Scarr said she could not believe that the motion was voted down. She theorized that warmer-than-average weather conditions experienced by the region this winter could have been a factor in the Council’s rejection of bus lane priority during snow removal.
Still, she mentioned how inadequate the current measures are in case of an extreme snow event. “Right now, how the City operates is that there’s only two priority levels for snow removal on roads. Priority one includes all the arterial roads, and priority two is basically all the side streets.” Scarr said the City’s decision to only have two priority designations was ineffective. “We know that when everything is a priority, nothing ends up being the priority”
“The motion really sought to make sure those pain points were taken care of to prevent the transit network from collapsing.”
— Michelle Scarr, director of operations and strategy at Movement
With the motion’s failure, Scarr said that Movement would alternatively like to see the City implement a “snow backup plan” that would have a predetermined detour route for buses in the case of an extreme weather event. The City’s snow and ice treatment policy does not include this.
The BC health-care system should eliminate barriers to access
By: Noeka Nimmervoll, Staff Writer
An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but so do barriers to accessing them. Health-care services and personal health information are increasingly going online, which makes it important that services, like booking vaccinations and doctor appointments, stay accessible over the phone or in-person. Yes, digitalization of health-care is beneficial and makes some services more accessible for many. However, the health-care system should have various methods of access so that it wouldn’t leave several groups left behind — including some of the senior population and some Indigenous Peoples (especially those who live in rural areas).
These populations may face barriers when booking vaccination and doctor appointments, alongside other health services, due to a lack of digital literacy or access to quality internet and technology. Only a few years ago, a woman was directed to book a doctor’s appointment online instead of over the phone, which is what she used to do for her parents-in-law. This is a privacy issue because to book those appointments, she would have had to indirectly share her private records through the online portal. Already, the requirements to access the modern health-care system create a digital divide. Government programs that aim to bridge the digital divide gap are playing catch-up, causing vulnerable populations to experience further challenges in navigating the health-care system. The accessibility of the health-care system to all populations is crucial.
Technology is expensive, and digital literacy is hard to gain at the drop of a hat. Although accessible over the phone, most health-care assumes some digital competency for access. Important vaccination appointments are mostly booked through an emailing system, ordering prescription medicine with online forms is advertised, and some clinical appointments are increasingly booked via online portals, such as LifeLabs. To navigate these systems, individuals must have stable internet access, as well as adequate knowledge on how these systems work. Although the digitalization of health-care allows for more accessibility in certain cases — such as online doctor appointments that relieve the challenge of travelling for people with disabilities and allow for easy social distancing for immunocompromised individuals — it remains a problem that vulnerable groups has a barrier to access some kinds of health-care.
Although seniors are increasingly going online, some face issues with usability, such as the small font size on screens, and confidence in navigating technology. There are some digital skills programs partially funded by the government, such as one run by Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society and a few targeted programs implemented. However, there are still barriers to access for some marginalized individuals. To limit these issues from becoming barriers to accessing basic health-care, methods that don’t require technology should remain widely available. Having more staff to help labs and clinics with appointments bookings in-person or over the phone might help — including virtual medical support, who work remotely to support various tasks to streamline the workflow of medical settings. Moreover, creating easy-to-navigate apps and websites would lessen the level of digital literacy needed to access those services.
It is not only older people who face challenges in this digitalization — Indigenous people may experience unique challenges. Systemic inequality against Indigenous Peoples can contribute to unreliable internet access. 62% of Indigenous rural and remote communities, most significantly in northern BC, do not have stable internet access — some areas even lack basic cell service. Although the government has promised Wi-Fi by 2027 to every remote, underserved household through their Connecting Communities program, there is not enough support to uplift Indigenous individuals to make up for this major digital divide. Indigenous Peoples regularly experience lower quality health-care as it is, due to Canada’s violent colonialism and persistent discriminatory stereotypes of Indigenous Peoples. Senior Indigenous people face a combination of these Indigenous-specific problems and senior-specific issues, causing greater difficulties in their access to health-care.
Keeping health-care services available in-person and over-the-phone will prevent many vulnerable populations from losing access to essential services. The BC health-care system needs to serve and uplift the entire population, and that means making health-care accessible in various forms to fit the needs of everyone.
People with limited digital literacy or barriers to access basic technology deserve to be connected to the health-care they need.
Climate impacts onslaught by military funding
By: Maya Barillas Mohan, Staff Writer
The Climate Clock is a live tool that counts down time until the carbon budget is depleted. The carbon budget allots a specific amount of carbon emissions before global warming exceeds 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels. Once the world exceeds this average temperature, impacts like extreme weather will extend to “breakdowns of major ocean circulation systems,” among plenty other incredibly destructive and unavoidable harms to nature and, by extension, humanity. Unfortunately, governmental policies prioritize warfare over the dire environmental situation.
Human activities need to be wrangled into a net-zero figure. This would mean the amount of carbon taken out of the atmosphere balances the carbon sent in. Policies to support this need to range from the individualized level to the level of industry and government. To achieve this 1.5℃ figure, emissions must have stopped rising in 2025 and begun to decline, per the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Agreement also requires a 43% decrease in emissions by 2030. Given a current and incendiary increase of military endeavours, the Canadian government’s tendency for political violence, as exemplified by the recent pledge to National Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Defence Investment, are antagonistic to the dire need for timely climate action.
With the current calculations, the Climate Clock will hit 0 in July 2029, right before the end of this decade. Instead of reshaping policy to strictly comply with the necessary emissions decrease, the Canada Strong 2025 Budget shifts priority from policies that support climate efforts to armed forces spending. Rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces will cost around $56,622 million while pro-climate legislation is getting cut. The greener homes grant is now closed to applicants, meaning refitting homes with higher efficiency gas pumps and windows must be done out-of-pocket. This is money most households cannot spare, despite a valuable 2–3 tonnes of a yearly greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction per household. The transport sector’s emissions produce around a quarter (23% in 2023) of GHG in Canada, but transit funding has been reallocated in the federal budget to suppress efforts to transition travel from car to public transportation. The carbon cap policy is extinguished under Prime Minister Mark Carney too, swapped for a rate of up to $170/tonne by 2030. Carbon taxes are also ineffective because they are insufficient incentives to industry polluters and price individuals out of their lifestyles.
Climate change is a multifaceted, global issue that requires a plural approach. Eliminating policies intended to reduce GHG emissions is counterproductive to the rapidly encroaching Climate Clock deadline. Canada’s inflated military enterprises seek to defend every square inch of sovereign territory through infrastructure and equipment.
Other than the absurdity of “defending” unceded land, what territory is there to defend when the Climate Clock is close to running out?
This anxiety is inescapable, as defence upgrades pump out vehicles and aircrafts. Dependence on fossil fuels is exacerbated through Canada’s extensive catalogue of fighter jets, which are famously fuel intensive. Also, the Munitions Supply program is receiving $16 million to integrate northern Ontario into the national defence supply chain — Carney recognizes an increasingly volatile global system as an opportunity to invest heavily in national security.
I find defence spending contrary to the collaborative ethos of climate change agreements, let alone problematic for environmental reasons. The purpose of weapons and equipment is to cause destruction by design. Explosives leave chemical residue in their wake, impacting sea life and drinking water. Offroad vehicles ruin permafrost, and retired naval vessels pollute oceans.
Defence spending is advertised to be sparked from a desire for safety. I think this feeling of security can instead be found in forming alliances with other countries — using the logic of the Paris Agreement, a common goal can be achieved through collaboration.
Funding military violence means depriving our earth and global community of a chance to heal; is Canada really stronger for it?
Black women musicians and the stubborn R&B label
By: Noeka Nimmervoll, Staff Writer and Petra Chase, Features Editor
Black women in music tend to get boxed into one repeated spot: rhythm and blues, more commonly known as R&B. Black artists in general tend to get pigeonholed in genres like rap, hip-hop, and R&B. However, Black women experience a unique struggle in the music industry at the intersection of racism and misogyny. Black women artists are labelled R&B despite making music in different genres. Even in R&B, a genre where Black women thrive, they’re often overshadowed by men and fight harder to achieve the same recognition as white artists. Genres like pop, indie, and rock have often excluded women of colour, further limiting the perceived possibilities for Black musicians.
The trend of labelling Black women as R&B artists comes from racial stereotypes by record labels and the music industry. Despite sharing influences with other popular genres, the growing fluidity of genres, and artistic journeys that transcend genres, R&B remains a uniquely stubborn label for Black women in music.
Alternative describes music that is outside the musical mainstream. However, “alternative R&B” is how many Black alternative artists are marketed to the music audience at large. Even when a Black artist makes music completely outside of the genre, the stereotype lingers. Toronto-based Canadian Congolese artist Lu Kala sometimes gets referred to as an R&B pop artist during press events. “There is nothing about my sound that is even remotely R&B . . . I get that label [because of] the way I look,” said Kala, according to ELLE. Check out “Hotter Now” or “Pretty Girl Era” for some of her hot girl pop anthems. Bright beats, synthed guitars, and rich pop vocals make her music fun, vibrant, and confident — everything you could ask from a pop singer-songwriter. Calling Kala’s music R&B is, by all understanding of the genre, illogical.
The experimental artist FKA twigs spoke about how she started being labelled “alt-R&B” once listeners saw her picture and found out she was mixed race. Before that, people would comment that her music didn’t fit any genre. She told The Guardian, “If I was white and blonde and said I went to church all the time, you’d be talking about the ‘choral aspect.’” From classical influences to unrelenting electronic sounds, she says her music is closer to punk, and, “Fuck alternative R&B!”
Mariah the Scientist, Chlöe, Normani, and Rachel Chinouriri are some of the many Black women who have spoken about receiving the same R&B treatment.
“My music is not alternative RnB My music is not Neo Soul. My influences are indie, electronic/alternative and pop music. Black artists doing indie is not confusing.”
— Rachel Chinouriri, singer-songwriter
How tf do ppl listen to ‘So My Darling’ and think ‘RnB?’”
R&B’s role in the music industry
After WWII, many African Americans in the US left small towns and entered cities for better job opportunities, which led to a boom of Black entertainment centres opening up in every major settlement. Black musicians of many styles, from blues to jazz, collaborated in these centres and pioneered many musical advancements in the 1940s: combos mixing seven or eight jazz and blues musicians, trios featuring piano/organ, bass, and guitar, and vocal harmony groups that integrated a doo-wop acapella style. These elements were all key ingredients for the development of R&B.
The term R&B originated in 1949 when a newspaper writer moved to replace the reductive term “race music” which was used from the 1920s to describe African American music. In the 1950s, record labels began releasing R&B artists onto the music market but often added elements of pop and Latin beats to R&B production, to make it more marketable to a mainstream audience. Some of the biggest names of the decades to follow helped establish the genre, and influenced artists to come: Etta James, Nina Simone, and Marvin Gaye, to name a few. The genre has continued to develop into the completely different sound that defines R&B today, and has been adopted by non-Black artists alike.
In Canada, Toronto, Montreal, and other major cities were where the evolution of several genres, including soul, funk, and reggae were nurtured. In the 1960s, many Black musicians immigrated from the US and Caribbean, bringing their sounds. Jackie Shane was one such icon of early R&B, bringing Southern blues traditions to the Yonge Street strip, where she built a lively audience. She topped the charts with her song “Any Other Way.”
R&B is loosely conflated with blues-influenced songs. However, many types of music are influenced by blues. Blues can be traced back to free African Americans living under Reconstruction and Jim Crow in the 1860s. Born out of the Mississippi Delta and spreading through the South, blues expressed singers’ feelings through characteristics like whining electric guitars, call-and-response lyrics, and melismatic vocals (those which stretch a syllable across notes). Its many styles and evolution, as musicians spread across the country and into urban settings, led to the creation of jazz, rock and roll, hip-hop, and rap.
“Black music is the backbone of all genres, the blood that runs through it”
—Rashad Shabazz, associate professor of African and African American studies at Arizona State University
“However, the way in which Black artists are racialized denies them the ability to identify outside of predetermined ‘Black’ categories. Hip-hop, rhythm & blues, rap: that’s where the music industry sees Black music.”
As writer Sumiko Wilson wrote for ELLE, “What distinguishes a pop song from an R&B song is subjective, but R&B can most easily be defined by its soulful nature. By name, it’s literally rhythm and blues, though it’s currently in its most malleable iteration. The distinguishing factor could be any detail, from the tempo to the lyrical content to the melismatic singing [ . . . ] Since the lines are so commonly blurred between genres, it’s almost as if the only detail differentiating them here is the artist’s race.”
Black women break boundaries
There are many incredible Black women artists who have broken out of the mold that the music industry creates for Black musicians. For one, some of the greatest pop stars of all time have been Black women: Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, and Beyonce. At the 2022 Grammys, the Best Pop Duo Award was won by SZA and Doja Cat, marking the first time Black women had won this category.
Fefe Dobson, Canadian singer of the 2003 hit song “Everything” and 2009’s “Ghost” was pressured to become an R&B artist. Despite being reduced to an Avril Lavigne derivative, she defined her own path as a pop-punk princess and made the genre a more inclusive space for years ahead. Willow Smith and Fousheé are two artists who starkly departed from R&B debuts to release punk/metal albums, refusing to be reduced to one thing. Growing up with the stereotype that Black girls aren’t “supposed” to listen to Paramore or My Chemical Romance, Smith was inspired by her mother’s nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom, and the Black-woman fronted metalcore band Straight Line Stitch. She released her pop-punk album lately I feel EVERYTHING in 2021. Fousheé released her metal/screamo album softCORE in 2022. “It’s not acceptable for a Black woman to be angry – if we are, we’re pushed into the stereotype, when in fact we all feel angry sometimes,” she told The Guardian.
Monday Music: Immerse yourself in human expression
By: Nejdana Houshyar, SFU Student
What does it mean to be human? Is it achieving your career goals, passing your exam, or facing death? Or does being human simply mean the ability to feel? In today’s society, conversations about artificial intelligence are constantly circulating in schools, online, and in personal circles. To take a break from this dreadful topic and also to resist the artificiality of today’s digital world, listen to music that captures human expression, emotion, and voice. The ability to feel, I believe, is humanity’s greatest skill. Here are three electronic songs that, in their lyrics, production, and melody, all highlight this ability.
“How to Pretend” by Lucy Bedroque
“How to Pretend” explores love and the emotional chaos that comes with romantic connection. Bedroque depicts a relationship with misaligned attachment styles, resulting in a cruel game of push and pull. The production on the chorus creates the song’s charm. As it swells, Bedroque’s romantic emotions burst. These feelings of love are especially evident during the final chorus, where his vocals break away from the familiar melody, culminating in one last exclamation to his lover. The song is incredibly human, with its unique production — that incorporates bells, drums, harps, and synth to create a dreamlike feeling — relatable lyrics, and emotions all coming together to create an unforgettable listening experience.
“Music” by underscores
“Music” is an upbeat, energetic song about the feelings of infatuation. The songs’ production is unparalleled, and it’s all done by underscores (April Harper Grey). Each beat, instrument, and synth is layered to captivate the listener and transport them into underscore’s head as she blends her love for music with physical and emotional expression. This song is packed with human emotion and blends its lyrics perfectly. The song is a declaration of love; each line before the drop encapsulates the feelings of yearning for someone, so when the beat finally drops, the listener feels all those intense feelings released. My favourite line from the song is, “When I’m with you, it feels like music.”
“Amygdala” by Ecco2k and Bladee
The amygdala is responsible for the control of emotions and behaviour in the brain — it controls both negative and positive emotions in humans. In Ecco2k and Bladee’s song “Amygdala,” they grapple with existence and the dichotomies of the world. They pair bleak lyrics with an experimental electronic beat, confusing the listener’s own emotions. The beat is very repetitive, with the melody and rhythm only breaking in the third verse, where they repeat, “I want it / Iconic,” and I believe the duo did this on purpose to mirror the lyrics to the beat. What makes the switch in the third verse so significant is that it is the only part in the song where the lyrics actually match the beat. The third verse stands out in contrast to the rest of the song, which features existential lyrics set to a party beat.
Now, whether you’re dancing, crying, or having an existential crisis, I hope you know and feel that you are human through these songs.
