Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests and political unrest, first-generation Black Canadian artist, Emanuel, has released his passionate EP entitled ALT THERAPY Session 2: Transformation, via Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company, and his new U.S. label partner Motown Records.

Canada is home to many Black artists who have hit the big leagues and put our country on the map. It's safe to say that Toronto is the epicenter of such talent. International composer, producer, and Grammy Award-winning jazz musician, Larnell Lewis, is one of them.

TiKA Simone, who now goes by TiKA, has been out of the music-making scene for some time. We’ve seen her work on other projects with Sephora and as a film composer, but after all of her work supporting other artists via her showcase The Known Unknown, and dropping singles and notable EPs STABLU and Carry On over the years, everyone was anxiously awaiting a full album drop.

On Saturday, October 17th, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will host “The First Ladies of Soul,” a performance of classic Black Soul music by Nina Simone, Billie Holliday, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, and many more sung by Canada’s own ‘Queen of Rock n Soul’, Shakura S’Aida. The drive-in theatre show — one of the first of its kind introduced in this period of pandemic induced social distancing — will be conducted by Daniel Bartholemew-Poyser, a highly celebrated conductor of Trinidadian and Jamaican descent.

Rap music was born in the 1980s as a response to the social, economic, and political exclusion of Black people, infused with the storytelling of the lived inequality of predominantly Black youth who have had enough of being poor, in projects, in danger, hungry, and seemingly without options.

Whether you’ve heard the facts or felt the effects for yourself, it’s evident that change is on the horizon socially and economically for Black people.

Skipping her summer trip to Toronto due to the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic, songstress Lila Iké, like most of us, has had to acquaint herself with digital software apps to connect with the would-be audiences of the annual Grace JerkFest. Along with a set of other Reggae and Dancehall household names including Beenie Man (recently seen on the Verzuz soundclash series), Jah Cure, and some of Toronto’s local Caribbean-bred entertainers, Lila Iké’s online gig is set for this Saturday and Sunday evening.

This week, the headlines and tweets have read, “Female Hip Hop Artist Makes History,” referencing “...her historic win and what it means to Black female artists,” and many more fitting accolades for the 2019 Polaris Prize Winner Haviah Mighty.

Coyote Records/Universal Music artist Naya Ali has been making waves and creating art on her own terms for the past couple of years. Since 2017, the Ethiopian-born Montrealer’s raspy delivery and sharp-tongued technique brought attention to her skills on the singles “Ra Ra” and “Out The Dirt”.

Over a decade ago a young Just John could be seen sitting on the bleachers with his parents about to take in a soccer match starring his two older brothers; soccer phenoms in their own right. While sitting on the sidelines he played his retro walkman with the following albums in rotation: Snoop Dogg’s Blue Carpet Treatment, K-os’ Joyful Rebellion, Black Eyed Peas’ Elephunk and a bunch of other random records.