Latest news with #Haitian-Canadian
Hypebeast
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
FLO and KAYTRANADA Get in 'The Mood' for a Summer-Ready Single
Summary London-based R&B girl groupFLOhas joined forces with renowned Haitian-Canadian producer and DJKAYTRANADAfor a catchy new single titled 'The Mood.' Blending Kaytranada's signature house-influenced production with FLO's smooth, confident vocals, the track is a breezy yet punchy anthem perfect for summer. The song kicks off with bass-heavy synth notes and ambient swooshes, leading into Jorja's sharp opening verse, immediately setting the tone. Stella's raspy yet feminine vocals take over on the chorus, adding flair and rhythm, while Renée brings lush vocal layering that adds depth. With Kaytranada's signature bounce and subtle techno textures underneath, the track builds into a club-ready groove — a bold, fresh sound that feels destined to become a new summer anthem. Speaking on the track, FLO shared: ''The Mood' is a fun and fresh take on sex. Sometimes you're not in the mood! We made this song two years ago and it still feels brand new to us. We are so honored to have been able to work with Kaytranada and so happy that the world can enjoy it with us!!!' Known for charting hits like 'Walk Like This,' which landed them on the UK Singles Chart Top 100, FLO continues to build momentum following collaborations with artists likeMissy ElliottandKehlani. On the other side of this powerhouse pairing is Kaytranada, one of the most critically acclaimed producers in contemporary music, known for his Grammy-winning work and signature genre-fusing sound. Together, their new track 'The Mood' arrives as one of FLO's most anticipated releases to date. Check out 'The Mood' below — now available to stream on all platforms.
Hamilton Spectator
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Transgender-owned, LGTBQ-run music label Errant Records launches in Canada
TORONTO - A transgender-owned and LGBTQ-operated record label has launched with goals of supporting 'left-of-centre' Canadian musicians. In founding Errant Records, Toronto-raised entertainment lawyer and former music manager Dani Oliva becomes a rare example of an openly transgender executive at a music label. Oliva says he intends to focus on artists outside the mainstream and fill a void left by widespread layoffs at major labels that he says left many artists floundering. Errant's first signings include Haitian-Canadian singer-songwriter Charmie, who co-wrote Nelly Furtado's 'Better Than Ever' for her latest album '7,' and Toronto native Gus who released 'I Think We're Worth Saving' earlier this year. Its management division has signed two-time Grammy-winning engineer Emerson Mancini and Canadian-Japanese guitarist Hiroki Tanaka, formerly of Juno-nominated band Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. Errant is backed by David Massey, former president of Arista Records, and Shane Carter, president of Sony Music Canada, and its releases will be distributed through New York-based media company the Orchard. The label is headquartered in Vaughan, Ont., with a Canadian staff and plans to focus primarily on Canadian musicians, especially those who are queer and/or Black, Indigenous or people of colour, Oliva added. 'The ethos is representing artists that are not typically represented in the public purview,' Oliva said by phone from Los Angeles. 'That's BIPOC artists, queer artists, artists with a little bit of a left-of-centre perspective.' Oliva points to Vancouver indie label Nettwerk Music Group as a shining example of what he hopes to achieve. That company was founded in the 1980s and helped establish the careers of Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies and others on the global market. 'I do think it's important to foster relationships within Canada, but you also, in my opinion, have to have a global perspective in mind,' Oliva added. 'And (Errant) is centred around helping artists grown in Canada develop their global relationships in a way that feels good to them, and that includes in the U.S.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Transgender-owned, LGTBQ-run music label Errant Records launches in Canada
TORONTO – A transgender-owned and LGBTQ-operated record label has launched with goals of supporting 'left-of-centre' Canadian musicians. In founding Errant Records, Toronto-raised entertainment lawyer and former music manager Dani Oliva becomes a rare example of an openly transgender executive at a music label. Oliva says he intends to focus on artists outside the mainstream and fill a void left by widespread layoffs at major labels that he says left many artists floundering. Errant's first signings include Haitian-Canadian singer-songwriter Charmie, who co-wrote Nelly Furtado's 'Better Than Ever' for her latest album '7,' and Toronto native Gus who released 'I Think We're Worth Saving' earlier this year. Its management division has signed two-time Grammy-winning engineer Emerson Mancini and Canadian-Japanese guitarist Hiroki Tanaka, formerly of Juno-nominated band Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. Errant is backed by David Massey, former president of Arista Records, and Shane Carter, president of Sony Music Canada, and its releases will be distributed through New York-based media company the Orchard. The label is headquartered in Vaughan, Ont., with a Canadian staff and plans to focus primarily on Canadian musicians, especially those who are queer and/or Black, Indigenous or people of colour, Oliva added. 'The ethos is representing artists that are not typically represented in the public purview,' Oliva said by phone from Los Angeles. 'That's BIPOC artists, queer artists, artists with a little bit of a left-of-centre perspective.' Oliva points to Vancouver indie label Nettwerk Music Group as a shining example of what he hopes to achieve. That company was founded in the 1980s and helped establish the careers of Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies and others on the global market. 'I do think it's important to foster relationships within Canada, but you also, in my opinion, have to have a global perspective in mind,' Oliva added. 'And (Errant) is centred around helping artists grown in Canada develop their global relationships in a way that feels good to them, and that includes in the U.S.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025.
Morocco World
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Morocco World
Jazz, Memory, and Migrant Mourning at the World Sacred Music Festival
Fez – Yesterday at Jnan Sbil, the Fez World Sacred Music Festival offered a transcendent experience that blurred the lines between the sacred and the political, the ancestral and the contemporary. The 28th edition featured remarkable performances that each, in their own way, served as invocations of healing, memory, and spiritual resilience. Jowee Omicil: Jazz as ceremony and ancestral breath Opening the evening was Haitian-Canadian multi-instrumentalist Jowee Omicil, Jr., known artistically as Jowee BasH! A musical shaman of sorts, Omicil drew on his Haitian heritage, free jazz traditions, and gospel roots for SpiriTuaL HeaLinG, an improvisational, genre-defying performance. With collaborators including jazz legends like Pharoah Sanders and Roy Hargrove in his artistic lineage, Omicil led his trio of singers and nine instrumentalists through an ecstatic rite that evoked the revolutionary spirit of the 1804 Haitian uprising and the avant-garde ethos of 1960s New York jazz. More than a concert, it was a sonic liberation. Omicil refused fixed composition in favor of spiritual improvisation, in what he calls 'written in the spirit.' The result was a living ritual, a soundscape charged with ancestral memory and collective resilience. Inspired by the Bois-Caïman ceremony that sparked Haiti's path to independence, this performance summoned unity, freedom, and sacred resistance, breathing what Omicil calls a 'healing Haitian breath' into the Fez night. Les Illuminations: A lament for the lost in 'Le Jardin d'Afrique' The second act brought an entirely different, yet equally moving, dimension to the evening. 'Le Jardin d'Afrique', an oratorio conceived by ensemble 'Les Illuminations' under the direction of composer Benjamin Attahir, performed a poetic and deeply human homage to the migrants who perish crossing the Mediterranean. Inspired by the visionary Tunisian sanctuary created by artist Rachid Koraïchi, a cemetery for drowned migrants near Zarzis, the piece sets to music a libretto by Isabelle Junca and Aurélie Allexandre d'Albronn, giving voice to silenced stories. Vocalists Joël Terrin (L'Architecte), Julie Mathevet (La Poésie), and Aimery Lefèvre (Le Destin) embodied grief, memory, and transcendence, supported by a chamber ensemble blending harp, archlute, flugabone, flutes, and bassoon. A requiem both intimate and universal, Le Jardin d'Afrique echoes the sacred interweaving of cultures and faiths. Twelve vines for the apostles, five olive trees for the pillars of Islam, three ceramic spheres for the monotheistic religions, the cemetery's design found its musical mirror in Attahir's polyphonic, contemplative composition. Fez and the Tijâniyya: A spiritual center of gravity No place could be more fitting for such performances than Fez, a city that remains a vital node in the spiritual geography of the Muslim world. Central to this is the Tijâniyya Sufi order, founded by Ahmad al-Tijânî in the 18th century. The movement, which quickly spread across North and West Africa, continues to shape the spiritual lives of millions, especially in Senegal, Mali, and Nigeria. The mausoleum of Sheikh Ahmad al-Tijânî stands in the heart of Fez's Medina, not far from Jnan Sbil itself. Pilgrims visit daily, seeking baraka (blessings), spiritual insight, and renewal. The Tijâniyya emphasizes direct divine presence, disciplined spiritual practice, and communal unity, values deeply mirrored in the music of both Omicil and Les Illuminations. In bringing such performances to Fez, the Sacred Music Festival doesn't merely entertain, it honors the city's unique place in the global constellation of faith, resistance, and transcendence. A night of sacred resonance This night at Jnan Sbil was a passage through collective memory, ancestral energy, and spiritual invocation. Whether through the mystical breath of Haitian jazz or the poetic lament of Mediterranean mourning, the artists reminded us that sacred music does not only belong to temples or texts. It lives where people gather in remembrance, in grief, and in hope. Fez continues to be that place. Tags: Fez festivalFez World Sacred Music FestivalSufi musicsufism
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AfroFuture Detroit unveils first wave of festival acts: Davido, Kaytranada, more
An international array of artists will help create the musical tapestry this summer at the inaugural AfroFuture Detroit festival. Organizers on Thursday announced the first wave of artists tapped for the event, which will run Aug. 16-17 at the Bedrock Detroit Douglass Site, just north of downtown. Also unveiled Thursday were Nigerian gospel singer Flavour and rising Afrobeat artist Lojay, with Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley as the first hometown act named to the 2025 lineup. Producers also revealed the first batch of DJs and party hosts to lead the action elsewhere on the AfroFuture grounds, including DBN Gogo, Juls, TxC, and DJ K-DAWG & EZ Pass, whose sets will fuse culture-spanning music with classic Detroit sounds. The fest's main-stage artists will include Nigerian star Davido, Haitian-Canadian DJ Kaytranada, Brazilian pop singer Ludmilla and Congolese singer-rapper Gims. AfroFuture was launched in Ghana in 2019 — then as Afrochella — setting out to celebrate African music's global diaspora. The festival's U.S. debut comes this August at the Douglass Site in Detroit, where a previous fest brand, Afro Nation, was presented in 2023 and 2024. This year's event will feature two music stages, a designer marketplace and other amenities. More: Metro Detroit spots celebrate first day of spring with free ice cream, Italian ice More: Detroit concerts on sale this week: Black Keys, Babymetal, Jamey Johnson, more 'This summer in Detroit, we're creating something truly transformative — a celebration where every sense is engaged and every aspect of culture is elevated, AfroNation cofounder Abdul Karim Abdullah said in a statement. A ticket presale launched Thursday, with general-admission passes starting at $99 and VIP packages at $199. In anticipation of a visiting audience, organizers also announced lodging partnerships with the Roost Detroit at Block Tower and the Courtyard by Marriott Detroit Downtown, and an airline partnership with Delta that offers discounted flights. AfroFuture Detroit is sponsored by Bedrock and produced by Paxahau, whose other events include the annual Movement electronic music festival at Hart Plaza. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: AfroFuture Detroit unveils wave of fest acts: Davido, Kaytranada, more
