HAVIAH MIGHTY LEADS THE PROTEST ON NEW SONG FEATURING UK GRIME MC YIZZY
TO BE FEATURED ON STOCK EXCHANGE
MIXTAPE SET FOR RELEASE FALL 2021
Toronto, ON – June 11, 2021 – Action and advocacy aren’t new words in Haviah Mighty’s vocabulary – they gobeyond lexicon. Haviah showed this in her 2019 Polaris Music Prize-winning album, 13th Floor, and the creative process that followed. Today, she shares single, Protest featuring Yizzy, which will be included on her new mixtape, Stock Exchange, set for release this fall. This international collab shows Haviah and Yizzy going beyond borders, and oceans, with a video that mirrors this powerful sonic movement, as each artist takes to their home cities of Toronto, ON and London, UK.
Watch the video for Protest, directed by Kit Weyman & Chrris Lowe, and produced by Director X-led production company, Fela (who have created videos for Drake, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Rosalia, Jay Z and more).
Produced by Young Dreadz, the single, Protest, is a visceral recall of the feelings of guilt and stress that many marginalized individuals carry with them daily due to centuries of suffering, heaviness, pain and bloodshed at the hands of law enforcement. The production blends slow, sad, ethereal piano chords with aggressive 808s and a drill-infused percussive groove, following a pace that rises like a heartbeat with tension.
“This song is my protest – a reminder that regardless of all the conversations, the chatter, the media, the justices and injustices – this feeling and fear we walk with, is as present as ever. After all these years, encountering the police as a marginalized person still triggers pure fear,” Haviah says. “These feelings within the production – the intensity and depth of the chords, the stress and tension of the pacing – it all mirrors the feelings of paranoia, fear, control, and our innate will to survive when encountering law enforcement. Having UK-based artist, Yizzy, bless this record brings it full circle. From a light skin male’s perspective from somewhere else on the globe, our experiences still mirror one another, a further testament to the eerie similarities of trauma among Black folks.”
Haviah's forthcoming Stock Exchange mixtape, featuring collaborations with US artists Jalen Santoy (Way Too Fast) and Old Man Saxon (Antisocial) to Toronto artist TOBi (Good On My Own Tonight), Grandtheft, and more to be announced, will be out this fall. The title refers to a reckoning Haviah had internally over the last year, connecting with how artists are forced to validate their value based on random data (followers, subscribers) and losing a part of the authentic human-to-human universal experience of art.
She adds, "These statistics that we use to compare ourselves to others and to define our successes, have become proof of our worth. It’s all perception. These ideas around perceived value got me thinking about the Stock Exchange. Seeing parallels between the way it flows - the constant rising and falling – all dictated by the general public’s perception of an entity’s value, and ultimately how that influences the moves that we make as individuals."
Much like Protest and her previous video for Obeah, the project’s focus will be brought to life through intentionally-produced videos, alongside artwork and visualizers by BlackPowerBarbie, connecting themes both personal and universal. In addition, Haviah’s 2020 visual for Thirteen, is now shortlisted for a 2021 Prism Prize. Voting is open until June 23.
Get familiar with Haviah Mighty’s work to date ahead of Stock Exchange and watch as she continues to rise in sound and vision.
Listen to Protest | Watch Protest and Protest visualizer
Listen to 13th Floor here | Purchase 13th Floor on vinyl here
Art by BlackPowerBarbie (@blackpowerbarbie)
Photo by whttp://www.yungyemi.com (@yung.yemi)
DOWNLOAD – Hi Res Press Photo | DOWNLOAD – Hi Res Artwork
This video was created thanks to the generous support of the MVP Project, a joint initiative of RBCxMusic and the Prism Prize (administered by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television). We also acknowledge the financial support of FACTOR, Canada’s private radio broadcasters, and Ontario Creates.
About Haviah Mighty
Haviah Mighty didn’t need to change her birth name when she decided to dedicate her career to music. Mighty could not better describe Haviah’s craft of provocative challenges and uncompromising truths.
Based out of Toronto, Haviah has spent a lifetime developing her skills as a songwriter, vocalist, producer, and performer culminating in a style of profound introspection and incisive socio-political critique. Her dynamic combinations of rap, song, and instrumental, transition seamlessly from hip-hop to soul to afrobeats with a meticulous flow and cadence that transcends any traditional expectation of genre. 2019 saw Haviah earn break-out success with her album, 13th Floor, garnering overwhelming praise from publications such as Pitchfork and Billboard, and making her the first hip-hop artist and the first Black woman to win the Polaris Music Prize, celebrating the “best Canadian album of the year”.
In 2020, the recognition spread internationally. Haviah made an acclaimed appearance on Sway in the Morning, impressing with a performance of immaculate flow and fierce lyricism, “showing you something you NEED to be looking at.” Likewise, in the UK, BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders recognized Haviah as “one of the most exciting new rappers out there.”
2021 might have seen Haviah’s momentum stalled by a certain global pandemic…But for Haviah, attrition is met with defiance, and hardship with inspiration. She describes the enforced solitude of lockdown as not an obstacle, but “a window of immense opportunity” to develop the art that has always been a realization of deep contemplation and self-examination. Haviah pushes forward continuing to carve out spaces that boldly defy gendered expectations for women in hip-hop.
Stay locked in for new projects to challenge, move, and entertain, coming your way soon. Unyielding and irresistible - Haviah Mighty will be heard.