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Music

  • New XO Record’s Chxrry22 releases debut EP The Other Side

    Embodying the old sounds of The Weeknd, Chxrry22 drops her debut 7-track EP, The Other Side By: Bana Yirgalem (XO Records/Republic) Chxrry22 (pronounced ‘Cherry 22’) was born in Scarborough to Ethiopian immigrants and started releasing music online in 2017. Once she gained a listenership online, she then moved to Atlanta to further pursue her music…

  • Editor’s Picks: 8 songs by Canadian musicians to get you in an autumn mood

    No matter your musical taste, these songs are sure to enhance your next apple-picking trip or pumpkin patch outing By: Caelan Monkman The air is cooler, the leaves are changing colour and the melodies are flowing! To help get you into the fall music mood, here are eight must-listen songs by Canadian artists to add…

  • Retro Review: Justin Bieber’s My World. 2.0 is a harrowing, cliché trip down middle school memory lane

    Bieber’s overproduced debut studio album is 90 per cent begging over synthesizers, but it’s an iconic Canadian music moment nonetheless  By: Rochelle Raveendran Early 2010s middle-school crushes exist in a distinctly ephemeral vacuum. It’s a vacuum in the shape of a yellowing, squeaky gymnasium, filled with nervy tweens decked out like cast-off mannequins from the…

  • A Q&A With Leroy Escobar

    Leroy is his own biggest critic, and it means no one can stop or bring him down By: Rowan Flood Photo by Dominik Urban @shotbydurban Initially sitting hood up and face down, Leroy Escobar was mesmerizingly quick to jump into action. As we began to talk about music, he spoke with swift hand gestures, illuminated eyes…

  • You and the music: Going to a concert alone

    As I went solo, not for the first time, I connected with the music, the crowd, the band, on a whole new level By: Olivia Wiens As the crowd bustles around me, I am at peace. My mind is connected with the strings of the piano, the buzzing of the bass, the rhythm of the…

  • 2022 Juno Awards: Charlotte Cardin tops list of nominees

    Last year’s virtual ceremony garnered over 1.1 million total viewers. By: Kayla Higgins (Uwe Conrad/Unsplash) Nominations for the 51st annual Juno Awards were announced on March 1, with the show set to be the first in-person ceremony since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Charlotte Cardin topped the list of nominees that saw Canadian trailblazers…

  • “Ready, Set, Go”: The Canadian music community gears up for the revived return of live music

    When pandemic restrictions closed venues and imposed restrictions, they also struck those who love and use them  By: Rowan Flood As Canada eases and lifts COVID-19 restrictions, the music industry is excited to re-enter the world of live performances that bring invaluable physical connectivity and energy to the art scene. Despite some lingering weariness over…

  • Jesse Maxwell: Bringing new life to R&B and soul

    The Toronto artist goes in depth with CanCulture, talking about his current album rollout and creative process By: Alex Wauthy  Via jessemaxwellmusic.com Toronto singer-songwriter and producer Jesse Maxwell is making waves through his mood-changing R&B and soul music that puts listeners in a soothing trance. Maxwell has accumulated over 20,000 listeners on Spotify thus far;…

  • Ranking Drake’s discography

    Full of both highs and lows, the Toronto superstar’s catalogue is unlike any other By: Adriana Forestieri Drake performing at a Bun B concert at The Sound Academy in Toronto in 2011. (thecomeupshow/WikiMedia Commons) As Billboard’s Artist of the Decade and the most-streamed artist of all time, Drake, a crown jewel of Toronto’s music scene,…

  • One day at a time: The rise of Charlotte Day Wilson

    Poised for stardom, the singer is at the centre of Toronto’s ripening sound By: Kayla Higgins Charlotte Day Wilson (thecomeupshow via Openverse) When you think about Toronto’s R&B landscape, the game-changing players — like PARTYNEXTDOOR, dvsn and Majid Jordan — are undoubtedly some of the best and first that come to mind. Within the scene,…

  • Join the march with Rufus John — The Freedom Marching Project: EP review

    Led by Rufus John, United Artists 4 Change released a powerful EP titled “The Freedom Marching Project” By: Bashair Ali United Artists 4 Change, Inc., marketed by Urban X Entertainment, a division of TuneCore, Inc., 2022 (via YouTube) Over the course of 18 months, Rufus John and a team of incredibly talented Black and racialized…

  • Why are these Canadians pulling music from Spotify?

    Neil Young cited platforming of  “deadly misinformation” as the reason he left By: Kinza Zafar Neil Young held a dandelion on his birthday in November. (NeilYoungNYA/Twitter) Last week, Canadian music legacies and fellow polio survivors Neil Young and Joni Mitchell triggered a domino effect by vouching to remove their music from  Spotify. The move comes in…