Performers

Social activism and a feverish dance party make a tantalizing combination and 2022 JUNO winner for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year, Dan “DJ Shub” General is the grand marshal we nominate to lead this jubilant parade. Shub is a true original: a title-holding battle DJ/producer, a joyful collaborator and a non-stop creator who skillfully weaves craft, message and heritage. Since exiting A Tribe Called Red, Shub has continued adding jewels to his “Godfather of PowWowStep” crown. War Club is Shub’s latest celebration of Indigenous power: a special filmed on Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve in Ontario that features Shub’s trademark finger-smoking scratch-a-thons, an all-ages cast of traditional dancers, and plenty of bustles shaking to outstanding musical collaborations with Phoenix Pagliacci, Boogát and Fawn Wood that tells the tale of a young girl searching for her brother with the help of an enchanted war club. Shub’s uncompromising pride in Aboriginal heritage and talent is the driving force behind his art. Join the parade – Shub’s made sure there’s enough hip hop, Indigenous culture, power, protest and humanity for all of us.

With their latest single, ‘Paranoid,’ Fake Shark fully embraces their rock influences with an immensely hooky earworm that takes on the day-to-day doubts that, if left to fester, can seriously damage your state of mind.

“With each album cycle, what inspires me to make a song changes,” explains lead singer Kevvy Mental. That’s been a hallmark of the band’s output since they started in 2015 – something that's reflected in their ability to fearlessly, fluently, and seemingly effortlessly incorporate elements of dance music, pop punk, industrial, funk, EDM, and straight-up pop and rock to create a sound that’s impossible to pigeonhole but uniquely their own.

Their upcoming record, Smaze (their fifth in roughly six years), is no exception. That’s crystal clear on ‘Paranoid,’ a compact rocker that, like all of Fake Shark’s music, finds the band blending the styles of a diverse array of artists and refusing to adhere to a paint-by-numbers, approach.

Semiah is a Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk), Turtle clan electro RnB artist from Six Nations, ON. Now based out of Toronto, Semiah's songs radiate the energy of an artist with an international heart who grew up touring around the world: from art festivals in the Australian outback to the beaches of Trinidad since the age of 7. Semiah's distinctive vocal sound is supported by melodic and production elements of RnB, Electronic, Lofi, Hip-Hop, Psychedelic-rock, and Dream pop.