Erin Ashley Lowers

Canada’s music history is as diverse as its population, but Black music history in Canada hasn’t always been the best documented. As we continue learning more about the contributions to the music industry by Black Canadian artists, let’s celebrate ten defining moments and contributions to Canada’s musical legacy.
Jackie Shane
Like many American artists in the 1960s, Jackie Shane, Canada’s first Black transgender artist, found peace in our music scene. She immigrated to Cornwall, ON, and then ...

There aren’t many things in life that are consistent, but there are a few things that tend to get most people through the day: a favourite song, a new Netflix series and, of course, the group chat.
Somewhere in-between the chaos of life, the group chat is the essential place to air out frustrations, celebrate wins and share the memes that bring us to tears, but it’s also the place that, for many women, transforms itself into a safe space to share the complexities that frame womanhood.
Jazmine...

From the beginning and for many years, the Canadian music industry lived in the shadow of our neighbour to the south.
But then, in 2010, everything changed. The new decade would become a time when Canadian artists not only showed up for the home team, they also became a beacon for their country around the entertainment world. It was a leap that cannot be overstated – artists went from hard-working musicians to bona fide global superstars.
S...

There are many reasons why music professionals end up in the music industry — sometimes it’s because they themselves are artists, and sometimes it’s because, in one way or another, music saved their lives, and sometimes, it’s because of the soundtracks they hear when thinking about life-changing moments.
In 2020, it’s safe to say that for many music professionals, especially Black music professionals, music was the soundtrack to a movement that awakened the world. In this momen...

"When I was growing up, there was Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, et cetera, and, as a little kid, I was like 'Who's the Black girl version of that?'"
"In Canada, even outside of Canada, I don't think there's a lot of Black pop stars that you can name, especially none that started out as pop," Toronto singer LU KALA explains to Exclaim!
For the past few years, KALA, a proudly plus-sized Black woman, has found herself trying to occupy a space that, in her words, "was literally not made for...

In a year as unpredictable as 2020, many artists were faced with the difficult task of maintaining inspiration and projecting it onto the world, despite their own realities changing drastically and their careers seemingly being put on hold. And yet, through the chaos, artists like Emanuel cut through the uncertainty and made their debut to the world.
"It has shown me the magnitude of what God can do even during a pandemic. We were bent out of shape when the quarantine hit because we thought e...

Sitting casually in his studio over a Zoom call, Ty Dolla $ign is poised, calm, and seemingly well-adjusted to virtual interviews. Consistently adapting to the ever-changing landscape of Hip-Hop and R&B music, the L.A.-born singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has a knack for turning melodic hooks and catchy choruses into platinum-selling records. Despite being known as the ‘featured guest’ on many records in the past three years, Ty Dolla $ign has proved that the science he uses to cr...

"To have someone who could go anywhere to start a label and find any artist wanna sign me first? It changed my life."
Just days before the release of her Opia EP, Savannah Ré was hosting a select group of people around the city of Toronto in a Sprinter van (adhering to COVID regulations, of course) and walking them through the project. Though technically serving as her debut EP, Ré has been sneaking in and out of the music industry for a decade with sporadic singles. This time, however, she's...

INTERVIEW: The balaclava-wearing rapper-slash-singer, RMR, talks to us about his journey from obscurity to viral fame, and reveals the depth of his person.
It’s fair to say that 2020 has been full of unexpected events, such as the death of Kobe Bryant, COVID-19, and the world finally recognizing that Black Lives Matter is more than a hashtag, it’s a human rights movement. And yet another unexpected event happened at the end of February when a soft-voiced crooner wearing a ski mask and a Yves ...

A lot can change in 10 years, and the hip-hop landscape and the artists that mold and influence its direction, is no different. Hip-hop remains one of the genres that dominates the charts and most importantly evolves, as it continues to be blended into other genres of music. Pioneers like Dr.Dre, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and Nate Dogg paved the way for newcomers and continue to influence the sounds we hear today. Some would argue that what makes an artist or a song influential is how quickly they ...

Chicago's murder rate has decreased for the third year in a row, yet the effects of gangs, violence and a failing socio-infrastructure are still present in everyday life. And thus, it also comes out through the music from the city.
G Herbo is a product of this system and understands the realities of his environment and the associated PTSD that comes with it. (Ironically, the album was initially titled PTSD.)
Despite having faced legal issues in the past two years, including a battery charge...

In a world that puts aside supergroups (or groups in general) for label collectives, Travis Scott's JACKBOYS serves as an introduction to his Cactus Jack signees: Don Toliver, Luxury Tax 50 and Sheck Wes, who is also signed to GOOD Music. The sampler EP JACKBOYS sets itself up for a high energy product, divided into seven songs, often being led by Scott himself.
Opening the EP is a remix single of Scott's "Highest in the Room," initially released in October. It features both breakout artist...

Shocked, confused, angry and devastated were a handful of emotions that zip-lined through the hip-hop community on March 31, 2019. It's a story this community has heard several times before — a rap star on the brink of their breakout gunned down for reasons not truly clear, but this one felt different. This one wasn't like the others. This one was Nipsey Hussle.
Born Ermias Asghedom in 1985, the Los Angeles-bred rapper led a life rooted in Black excellence and financial freedom. In some respe...

Nearing the end of the third quarter, Fat Joe, like many veteran rappers in 2019, pulled up with new energy and hunger that had seemingly been under wraps. He released his first single, "Yes," featuring Latin trap rapper Anuel AA and Bronx star Cardi B in September, leading fans to wonder what the 49-year-old rapper was up to.
It turns out Fat Joe was readying his 12th studio album, Family Ties, a collaborative project with Dre (of production duo Cool & Dre). Coming in at 11 tracks, Family ...

When Solange Knowles released her fourth studio album, When I Get Home, in March 2019, she did it to highlight Black cowboy culture.
"I knew about a year-and-a-half ago [that] it would be really, really important to me to tell a story about Black cowboys. I feel so privileged to meet so many of these cowboys, hear their stories and see them pray before they go in the bullring, and see what they're willing to do to their bodies for the sake of entertainment — which is something I can relate to...