Black Artistic Expressions in BC: Ndidi Cascade / Shad

On November 18, join us and your host / performer Ndidi Cascade as we welcome Shad for a live Q&A, part of our series of events centred on joy and resilience, fun, and activism that bears witness to what it means to be Black in BC.

This event will feature a performance by your host Ndidi Cascade, followed by a Q&A with Shad.

Ndidi Cascade, who is of Nigerian-Italian-Irish-Canadian heritage, is a Vancouver born and based hip hop vocalist. She is also a songwriter, recording artist, educator and program facilitator. Ndidi has showcased her music across North America and internationally– from classrooms to stadiums, and her music has been featured on Much Music and MTV Canada. She has shared the stage with talents such as Wu-Tang Clan, Femi Kuti, Digable Planets, The Mad Professor, De La Soul, K-OS and K’naan.

Juno Award-winning rapper, Shad, is considered a leading voice in Canadian rap. With his six studio albums–four of which have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize–Shad has developed a reputation for skillfully blending pop craftsmanship with serious subject matter, from the personal to the political and philosophical. 

Shad has also lent his voice to the industry in other ways – as the host of CBC Radio’s “q” and as current host of Netflix’s Peabody Award-winning docuseries Hip Hop Evolution.

Black Artistic Expressions in B.C. is a community-university collaboration developed in partnership between local Black artists, IBPOC Connections: Staff and Faculty, and the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education at the University of British Columbia. Join us at the heart of each month for a celebration of Black lives, Black culture and activism, and Black musical and poetic expression.

UBC is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.

Ndidi Cascade, who is of Nigerian-Italian-Irish-Canadian heritage, is a Vancouver born and based hip hop vocalist. She is also a songwriter, recording artist, educator and program facilitator. Ndidi has showcased her music across North America and internationally– from classrooms to stadiums, and her music has been featured on Much Music and MTV Canada. She has shared the stage with talents such as Wu-Tang Clan, Femi Kuti, Digable Planets, The Mad Professor, De La Soul, K-OS and K'naan.

Ndidi Cascade also facilitates and manages programs that use hip hop, spoken word and dance as a medium for healthy self-expression. She is the founder of the “Word, Sound & Power” and “Elementalz” education programs, which are designed to raise awareness of the origins of the hip hop movement. Ndidi is also a World Music Education independent school teacher, and she currently tours with her group Metaphor, showcasing interactive hip hop shows in elementary and high schools around British Columbia.

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