Voices of Change

Canada has always prided itself on being a multicultural mosaic—a patchwork of one-of-a-kind pieces coming together to form an even more unique whole. But we’re also a country whose identity is being reframed with new perspectives. This July, we’re highlighting some of the creative voices who effect change in our musical communities—and who signal the promise of an even more inclusive future. There’s so much to celebrate, whether it’s Indigenous-owned record labels providing new platforms for expression, mentorship programs for the next generation of creators, or artists who’ve been working to inspire others for decades. Hear from the change-makers themselves, and explore some of the music that influenced them to make a difference.

Winning a Juno Award might often signify an arrival within Toronto’s rap scene. But for rapper/producer Rich Kidd, aka Ritchie Acheampong, “the impact I have on the music scene is far more important to me,” he tells Apple Music. “I strive every day to make sure I contribute positivity and great music to this game.” Since picking up that trophy with his group Naturally Born Strangers, he’s branched out in all directions: rapping, songwriting, doing visual direction, producing, and community organizing. It’s inspired him to work with the restorative justice program F-You: The Forgiveness Project, and to join the faculty of The Remix Project, a mentorship program for artists who’ve historically been deprived of access to music business education. (He’s also an alum of the latter program.) “There are so many positive results from my work in the community, from helping young artists discover their voice to mentoring grown men in prison,” he says. “Being a voice of change to me means to influence the youth to be better, stronger, and wiser in this Canadian music industry. With my knowledge, instead of gatekeeping, I choose to mentor and uplift so we can see a new generation of amazing artists keep this city on the map.”

“Music has always allowed me to say or write things that I never dared to tell anyone in everyday life,” Samian tells Apple Music. “It is the language of the heart, but above all the reflection of the soul.” Samian (aka Samuel Tremblay) has spent his career bringing an Indigenous perspective to hip-hop, often rapping in French and Algonquin—mirroring the two sides of his heritage. “Having been raised in an Indigenous community, I always felt that my story was not unique but misunderstood,” he says. “I am part of the roots of my country. And sometimes it's important to go back to your roots.” To help nudge that along, he started Nikamo Musik, which supports both Indigenous and non-Indigenous emerging artists. “The music industry is so complex,” he says. “It is important to make them understand that it is a team effort; I'm really going down that road with them.” But what sparked his inspiration was something deeper. “Injustice has always been my greatest motivation,” he adds. “Beyond [being] a voice of change, I think there is also the path of change: We must chart new paths. ‘There are just dead fish that go with the flow’—this sentence changed my life and there is a strong link with the path of change, the importance of charting your own path.”

On their own individual career paths, singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume and Digging Roots’ ShoShona Kish have used music as a vehicle for telling stories—both of Indigenous people and of their own as artists. Now, with the creation of their label, Ishkōdé Records, they’re giving others a platform for expression. “My hope is to lift up and celebrate the voices that have been left out of the wider narrative,” Rheaume, who currently resides on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, commonly known as Ottawa, tells Apple Music. “As an artist and hopeful changemaker, I want to sing the stories of those that find themselves in the spaces in between what the colonial and patriarchal agenda has laid out for us.” “We are dreaming big, speaking truth to power, reimagining the cultural topography, and shape-shifting what’s possible,” adds Kish, who currently resides on the territory of the Anishinaabe, the Wendake-Nionwentsïo, the Haudenosaunee, and the Mississauga, covered by Treaty 18, commonly known as Barrie. But their mandate for inclusion goes beyond an Indigenous perspective: “To me, songwriting is medicine—where we can find resonance, belonging, and a sense of self,” Rheaume says. “As I continue to explore my identity as a queer Métis woman, I realize that the binary spaces that colonialism has imposed on me, on all of us, aren’t a part of my belief system, or my tradition.”

Growing up in Quebec City as the children of a French-Canadian mother and Senegalese father, sister and brother Marieme and Webster noticed a pretty pronounced lack of representation (media or otherwise) of racialized people in the region. In response, they turned to music as teenagers. “Making your voice heard is a challenge in itself when you are part of a minority group,” Webster tells Apple Music. “This is what, for many artists of my generation, brought us to hip-hop.” The music offered them agency; Marieme would make her mark within Quebec as a rapper, often collaborating with the likes of Souldia, Taktika, and others, and parlayed that experience into production and as a TV host, helping to shape Quebec rap as a person of mixed race while inspiring others to follow. “Through hip-hop culture, I found a family and my way,” she says. “I wanted to sing, rap, and shout loud and clear that we exist, and to raise awareness by sharing our realities. I'm proud of who I am, where I come from, and I speak for future generations.” Rap provided Webster with a voice—but also a launchpad for his next act as a historian of Black Quebec, which was also spurred by a similar lack of visibility for Black storytellers. “We have created our own tool to amplify our voices,” he says, “and thus better translate our realities into the public space.”