AFROWAVETO Toronto’s newest Black music festival launches power packed BHM all-female lineup

All-star cast of talents includes Omega Mighty, Chelsea Stewart, Dynesti, Chizzy Bashment

Toronto, ON (February 11th, 2022) – Today, AFROWAVETO, Toronto’s newest Black music festival launches its Black History Month virtual winter concert series lineup featuring eight buzzworthy all-female Toronto acts who will be performing on February 24th, leading up to this year’s festival. The Supernatural Showcase will be streaming on AFROWAVETO’s YouTube page and boasts a stellar lineup of Toronto’s rising rap, dancehall, R&B, afrobeat, reggaeton stars of today and tomorrow. AFROWAVETO is here to intentionally champion a more diverse and inclusive urban music scene in Toronto, while bridging the gap between more obvious Black music forms (rap, R&B) and less recognized genres (Afrobeats, dancehall). This Black History Month all-female edition features performance sets by:

Omega Mighty – Omega is an eclectic singer-songwriter and performance artist who seamlessly fuses elements of R&B, reggae-dancehall, afrobeats, and trap. This multidisciplinary talent has choreographed everything from the Grey Cup halftime performance for the Arkells, and for her Polaris Music Prize award-winning sister Haviah Mighty.

Chelsea Stewart– One of the hardest working female artists on the reggae music scene today, this Juno Award-nominated indie artist has performed crowd pleasing sets at Rototom Sunsplash (Europe), and Reggae Sumfest (Jamaica) among many others. Her last self-titled album includes instrumentation from GRAMMY winning reggae legends Sly & Robbie and serves as a Jamaican music history lesson of sorts, incorporating nyabinghi drumming, dub poetry, mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae and dancehall sounds.

Dynesti– Dynesti AKA Dyna dishes royal hip-hop & soul with a dash of Rudegyal (feminine Caribbean attitude). Dyna is half Jamaican, half Trinidadian, and “Dyna” is also how Caribbean people pronounce “Diner”. In 2021, her debut album The Dyna was released in five parts: Say Grace, Break Fast, Lunch, The Last Supper, and Dessert.

Chizzy Bashment – Canadian bred, Jamaican descendant Chizzy Bashment is that dancehall and reggae diva whose sounds have been featured on mixes in the United Kingdom, Japan, Jamaica and Canada. Her single “Highway” featuring ZJ Prapa (now known as Prapa Dat) hit number #1 on the Rebel Vibez “Top 10 Canadian Reggae Chart”.

Alicia Cinnamon – In 2013 Alicia Cinnamon came to national attention after she wrote and performed a song dedicated to a young man named Tyson Bailey who was gunned down in Regent Park, Toronto. A year later she released her debut mixtape “A Dash of Cinnamon” featuring the track “Liar’s Game” which went on to chart on Toronto urban radio and garnered her a following with R&B fans as far away as the UK and Atlanta, Georgia.

Benita– Benita is an independent artist and songwriter whose music incorporates elements of R&B, pop, and alternative. Benita sang backup vocals on a string of sold-out shows for GRAMMY award-winning singer Daniel Caesar. In 2019, Benita reached the top 10 list of CBC’s Canada wide Searchlight competition for her song “Anything.”

Imah– Imah is a Senegalese singer/songwriter whose music is inspired by afrobeats, afro house, RnB, pop and hip hop. Being multilingual is something she’s very proud of and it shows up in her music, by mixing French, English and Wolof. Imah’s talents also include photography, graphic design, videography and fashion design and more.

Fridaee– Canadian pop-fusion artist Fridaee has been performing in Toronto since the age of eight, singing with the Toronto Children’s Concert Choir & Performing Arts Company (TC3) for over 10 years as a soloist, and performing as a member of their African, Contemporary, and Hip Hop dance teams. This led to touring with TC3 across Canada, England, and the United States. Fridaee has also performed alongside EDM-crossover band Sound Empijah.

Founded in 2019 and spearheaded by Jamaican-Canadian artist Lexxicon , AFROWAVETO’s mission is to provide growth opportunities for Black multi-genre musicians working within the Toronto music industry through intentional music programming, the creation of safe spaces, and through community and cultural connections. While Toronto has a large population of emerging and successful African, Caribbean, Indigenous Black Canadian and Afro Latinx musicians, this is not reflected in the local music festivals, showcases, panels, or song writing sessions held within the city. Despite the unprecedented growth globally in these culturally-driven sounds, that momentum hasn’t been reflected in the national Canadian marketplace and ecosystem or the local Toronto music landscape.

SOURCE Dalton Higgins PR