I\u2019m based in Ontario. I\u2019m born and raised in Toronto, Canada and spend my time going back and forth between Toronto and Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m the founder and editor-in-chief of the online Black\/urban culture magazine SHIFTER<\/a>. Aside from my editor duties, I also write about music, film\/TV and fashion. I do double duty as the CEO of SHIFTER Agency Inc, a PR, personal branding, and content marketing agency that works with artists\/talent and brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m also a career\/business coach for people in media and entertainment. I help people get noticed and make consistent income through their craft. Lastly, I\u2019m a freelance journalist. I\u2019ve done some local and national radio hosting, and TV journalism and have appeared on Fox Soul in the US. But my bread and butter is reporting on music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been getting into UK Grime music and a little Reggaeton lately. I\u2019ve also been listening to a lot of music from the artist MadeInTYO, but I mostly listen to a lot of Canadian hip-hop. Drake is #1 for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My pallet is wide, though. My family is from Barbados, so I listen to a lot of soca, both the classics and whatever is hot right now in the Caribbean. I have days when I listen to classical music, and other days it\u2019s 90s grunge music or 90s pop. Sometimes it\u2019s 80\u2019s music or 60\u2019s Motown. Depends on my mood. But it\u2019s mostly hip-hop and soca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lately, it\u2019s been TV. I Shazam like crazy while watching TV; especially since they just dropped a new season of Top Boy. Spotify playlists like Northern Bars help me to stay on top of Canadian hip-hop. YouTube is great as well. They make good suggestions. Sometimes it\u2019s scrolling through Instagram or a submission we received at SHIFTER. I was actually late in getting into SoundCloud<\/a>, but some of my favourite sounds right now were suggested on SoundCloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Spotify playlists like Northern Bars help me to stay on top of Canadian hip-hop. YouTube is great as well. They make good suggestions.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I grew up on vinyl, cassettes and CDs, but now it\u2019s strictly streaming services. It\u2019s too convenient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mostly while I\u2019m working or driving, whether it\u2019s to the grocery store or between cities. Those drives between Ottawa and Toronto are long. My wife doesn\u2019t like loud music, so those times in the car by myself are amazing. I put my music on blast. I also listen to music at random times, like cleaning or doing anything around the house. At home, I usually listen to music on my phone with my earbuds, but we have a Google Nest in the kitchen that does the trick when I wanna play music out loud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I grew up on vinyl, cassettes and CDs, but now it\u2019s strictly streaming services. It\u2019s too convenient.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Mostly through the submissions from artists, PR companies and record labels at SHIFTER. I also do a lot of studio visits while people are recording. I really enjoy those. There are also listening parties. Sometimes I\u2019ll get an artist asking me if they can jump on a Zoom call to preview some upcoming music for me. Studio visits, listening parties, and Zoom calls help me to become a fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are you listening to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you discover new music?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services? Why?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Where do you do most of your music listening?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you find and listen to pre-release<\/a> music?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n