Backxwash
Backxwash | |
---|---|
Birth name | Ashanti Mutinta |
Born | Lusaka, Zambia | October 4, 1991
Origin | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Genres | Rap metal, trap, alternative hip hop, rap rock, nu metal[1] |
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 2018–present |
Labels | Grimalkin |
Website | backxwash |
Ashanti Mutinta, known professionally as Backxwash, is a Zambian-Canadian rapper and producer based in Montreal, Quebec.[2] She is most noted for her 2020 album God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It, which won the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.[3][4]
Biography[]
Born and raised in Lusaka, Zambia, Mutinta began rapping and producing music in FL Studio before moving to British Columbia, Canada at age 17 to attend university for computer science.[5][4]
After completing her degree she moved to Montreal, where she began performing at jam nights and released her debut extended play (EP) F.R.E.A.K.S. in 2018.[5] She followed up later the same year with the EP Black Sailor Moon.[6] Around the same time, she came out as transgender.[7]
God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It, her first full-length album, was released in May 2020.[8] Her musical style blends hip hop with heavy metal and post-rock, including Black Sabbath samples and instrumental interludes influenced by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.[9] However, the album featured numerous uncleared samples, which have forced its removal from online music stores and streaming services, meaning that it is now available solely as a free download from Backxwash's Bandcamp page.[10]
In June 2020, she was announced as part of the lineup of Saint-Jeanne, an LGBTQ-inclusive Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day livestream coordinated by singer-songwriter Safia Nolin, and including comedians Tranna Wintour and Karl Hardy, actress and writer Gabrielle Tremblay, songwriter and producer Annie Sama (Apigeon), and drag queens Kiara, Matante Alex and Gisèle Lullaby.[11]
Backxwash's "Don't Come To The Woods" and "Devil In A Moshpit" appeared in Season 1, Episode 2 of the Showtime series, Work in Progress.[12]
Discography[]
Studio albums
- Deviancy (2019)
- God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It (2020)
- I Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses (2021)
Extended plays
- F.R.E.A.K.S (2018)
- Black Sailor Moon (2018)
- Stigmata (2020)
References[]
- ^ Alderslade, Merlin (August 31, 2020). "Backxwash's God Has Nothing To Do With This… is the most important album of 2020". Louder Sound. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ Erik Leijon, "Trans hip hop artist Backxwash delivers unfiltered rhymes" Archived 2020-06-21 at the Wayback Machine. Cult MTL, June 6, 2020.
- ^ Philippe Renaud, "La Montréalaise Backxwash remporte le prix Polaris" Archived 2020-10-21 at the Wayback Machine. Le Devoir, October 19, 2020.
- ^ a b Friend, David (October 19, 2020). "Backxwash wins Polaris Music Prize for her album "God Has Nothing to Do With This..."". Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- ^ a b Philippe Renaud, "Backxwash, elle et son autre" Archived 2020-06-21 at the Wayback Machine. Le Devoir, May 30, 2020.
- ^ Victoria Lamas, "Rapper Backxwash Releases Innovative EP ‘Black Sailor Moon’" Archived 2020-06-22 at the Wayback Machine. The Link, December 24, 2018.
- ^ Jesse Locke, "Montreal rapper Backxwash invokes self-altering fury" Archived 2020-06-21 at the Wayback Machine. Daily Xtra, May 25, 2020.
- ^ Scott Simpson, "Backxwash Turns Hip-Hop on Its Head with Masterful 'God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It'" Archived 2020-06-21 at the Wayback Machine. Exclaim!, May 28, 2020.
- ^ Matt Bobkin, "The Metal Influences That Shape Backxwash's Ferocious Hip-Hop" Archived 2020-10-25 at the Wayback Machine. Exclaim!, August 18, 2020.
- ^ Richard Trapunski, "Polaris Music Prize 2020: Montreal rapper Backxwash’s victory is for the unapologetic" Archived 2020-10-29 at the Wayback Machine. The Georgia Straight, October 20, 2020.
- ^ Calum Slingerland, "Safia Nolin Gets Backxwash for Inaugural Saint-Jeanne Concert" Archived 2020-06-20 at the Wayback Machine. Exclaim!, June 17, 2020.
- ^ "Music from Work in Progress S1E02". Tunefind. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
External links[]
- 21st-century Canadian rappers
- Canadian women rappers
- Black Canadian musicians
- Black Canadian LGBT people
- LGBT musicians from Canada
- Zambian emigrants to Canada
- People from Lusaka
- Musicians from Montreal
- Living people
- LGBT rappers
- Transgender and transsexual women musicians
- Polaris Music Prize winners
- Zambian rappers
- LGBT people from Zambia
- Trap metal musicians
- 1991 births
- 21st-century LGBT people