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McKinley Dixon

Interview by Jesse Meush

Stylus: When did you decide you wanted to rap? Was there any particular time, event, or person that especially influenced your decision to choose to make rap music?

McKinley Dixon : I started rapping in my second year of high school and then ever since 2010-2011, I kinda had the idea of incorporating a lot instrumentation into it and a lot of political messages but I didn’t have the vocabulary. It wasn’t until I branched out and moved to different places, including where I’m at now in Richmond, that I found communities and more stories and intersectional dialogue and identities than what I was used to. That’s kinda influenced where I’m  at now with my music.

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Winnipeg State of Mind

by Nigel Weber

“Lest I must confess, my destiny’s manifest” – Lauryn Hill

Playing Big Fun Festival in January was a big show for Marisolle Negash. She was premiering a new song with new visuals filmed by Victor Ilunga. But it was far from her first performance at a music festival. The local singer and multi-instrumentalist began performing at classical music festivals at the age of 8. Classically trained on both piano and voice, Marisolle’s music has come a long way from her roots in the classical world.

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Blessed

by Kaelen Bell

There are a lot of things to find fault with in 2019 – devastating climate shifts have become a reality more quickly than many expected, right-wing fascism is on the rise, and social tribalism has pushed us further and further away from existing within a collective consciousness.

If there’s a band coming up today that can understand the social isolation and anxiety that come with living in 2019, it’s Blessed. The Abbotsford-based quintet has been performing together since 2015, creating music with a force and precision that feels invigorating and rare.

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Video Premiere :: Merin :: Coral Island

by Ryan Haughey

Hot and ready to release their new EP Coral Island is Merin, a band of friendly minstrels that play the saddest song in the happiest of keys. Cole, Jordan, Kathryn, and Joel make up the team that has been playing a live show every month for the past two years. Coral Island is the second EP from Merin and it comes out on May 24th at their release show at The Good Will Social Club. Today we are happy to share the new video for the title track “Coral Island” check it out underneath this interview.

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King Nipsey Hussle

by Renee Batson

Ermias Joseph Asghedom, most commonly known as Nipsey Hussle, was born August 15, 1985 in the South Los Angeles neighbourhood of Crenshaw. In the mid-2000s Nipsey stepped onto the West Coast hip hop scene and became recognized in the music industry for his numerous mixtapes, including his Bullets Ain’t Got No Name series, The Marathon, The Marathon Continues, and Crenshaw.

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EP Review :: Man Candy :: Model Boyfriend EP

by Derek Loewen

Out of the way humans, punk rock duo Man Candy (Transistor 66) is ready to release its EP Model Boyfriend to the masses. They’ll be playing at The Handsome Daughter on April 6. Building on hard hitting garage rock sounds made famous by Jay Reatard and Made Violent, these rockers aren’t messing around and are ready to steamroll onto the stage.

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Winnipeg State of Mind

by Nigel Webber


“My journalistic range is a catalyst for change” – Black Thought

Music is meant to inspire. The right music and lyrics can deliver a message powerfully in a few minutes. In hip-hop, vocals are the focus, giving rappers an unique opportunity to speak their minds in their songs. Rappers have seized the opportunity. Their lyrics can often be a front line perspective of harsher elements of society. In popular music, lyrics become more vapid and have less meaning. Through the years there have been songs with a wider audience appeal that have had such a powerful message that they are still remembered. Music can be a snapshot, a brief look at the zeitgeist and a window into understanding that era.

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