CIVL Station Manager Aaron Levy focuses here on four excellent black artists in advance of Black History Month for the pre-February edition of the shuffle.
Haviah Mighty – In Women Colour
She played at the Scotiabank Arena in January during halftime at the Bulls versus Raptors game in Toronto. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, she became the “first black woman and first rapper” to win a Polaris Prize, and the “first woman to win the Juno Award for Rap Album of the Year when her mixtape Stock Exchange (2021) won in 2022.” With songs as catchy and danceable as they are thoughtful and subversive, Haviah is mighty and worth a listen.
This song emerged from the early months of the 2020 pandemic lockdown cycle. This song speaks to social justice, police violence, and disillusionment with the health mandates that divided families and communities.
This celebratory song name-checks multiple cultural cap tips: “Growin’, growin’ like a Baobab tree / Of life on fertile ground, ancestors put me on game / Ankh charm on gold chains, with my Oshun energy, oh / Drip all on me, woo Ankara Dashiki print / Hol’ up, don’t I smell like such a nag champa incense?”
Lastly, we return to the basketball theme of the original entry. Juno Award-winning Shad’s 2005 release evokes a wealth of statistical awareness to question if some black NBA players were better than many better-known white NBA players from league history.
