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Nomadic Massive

Canadian hip hop supergroup From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nomadic Massive
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Nomadic Massive is an independent Canadian hip-hop collective based in Montreal.[1] The group formed in 2004, and has since performed globally. The fundamentalist ensemble consists of multi-instrumentalists and rotates members depending on the song. The members include rappers, singers, keyboardists, saxophonists, trumpeters, trombonists, guitarists, bassists, and drummers.[2]

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Some of the group's roster includes Waahlie, Modibo Keita, Meduza Ma'at, Jason "Blackbird" Selman, Butta Beats, Diegal Leger, Tali a.k.a Iam Blackgirl, Lou Piensa, Ali Sepu, and Vox Sambou.[2]

A multicultural group, Nomadic Massive songs are in English, French, Haitian Creole, Ecuadorian, Swahili, and Arabic. In 2024, the band celebrated its 20th anniversary in Montreal. Their genre has been described as an Afro-Latin take on hip-hop. They have performed at the Montreal International Genre Jazz Festival for several years.[3]

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Band History

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In 2004, a collective of solo artists got together in Montreal to participate in a hip-hop festival in Havana, Cuba. After three weeks of immersive living and collaboration with Cuban artists, the group returned to Montreal to record a mixtape and a show to present the experience. Subsequently, Nomadic Massive decided to perform shows between Montreal and Toronto.[1]

In 2005, the group launched its first EP, Nomad's Land.[4] The record was reviewed by several local and international media outlets,[5] and Nomadic Massive began to establish a niche in the music scene.[6]

The group continued to perform at various events across Canada and returned to Havana in 2006 to present their new material during live shows. In 2008, the group independently organized a tour in São Paulo, Brazil.[4] They produced a new mixtape with local artists. In 2009, Outside Music offered them a national distribution deal for their second self-titled album.[7]

In 2012, the group released a mixed tape project entitled Supafam[8], which came out digitally and on 300 exclusive cassette tapes[9]. During that time, the group continued to tour in new areas, such as French Guiana and the United States.

With the arrival of the EP, Any Sound,[10] in 2013, they announced the beginning of a tour across Canada, the United States, and France.

In 2016 Nomadic Massive launched a new album on the Coop Les Faux-Monnoyeur's record label, titled The Big Band Theory. The album included elements of soul, jazz, and funk music, and deals with issues of politics and social justice.[11] Following its release, the band toured in Europe and Latin America.[12]

From 2017 to 2019, the band toured Europe twice a year (France, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain) and recorded and released an EP (Miwa, 2018) and a full-length album (Times, 2019). They represented Canada at the 2019 Cervantino Festival in Mexico.[13] In November 2019, they celebrated their 15th anniversary with a show in Montreal, part of the Mundial Montreal showcase.[14]

In 2022, the band started another international tour with a week-long project in Paraguay, where they recorded and released a live session of a new song called "Pocket Full of Lingo." This was followed by shows in New York and Marseille at international showcases. A second single, "Fly Sh*t," entirely shot in Marseille, was released in July 2023 as they toured Mexico at the Querétaro Experimental Festival. In 2024, their EP, "Out of Town" was released.[15]

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Performance highlights

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Active founding members

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Lou Piensa

Lou Piensa is a French-born MC, producer, and educator. Born in France, he had a nomadic childhood, spending time in Ecuador, Algeria, Canada, and Cuba. Active in the international hip-hop scene since his teenage years, Piensa has been involved in many aspects of the movement across the industry, including radio, music production, performance, and event organization. His pursuit of music led him to travel and share the stage with world-renowned artists such as Common, Wyclef Jean, Dead Prez, K'naan, and Julian Marley. Piensa speaks multiple languages, often incorporating French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese in his lyrics.

Lou Piensa founded The Loop Pilots in 2015 with his former English student and established producer, Dr. MaD.[19]

In 2007, NoBad Sound Studio, a music studio for youths, was founded in affiliation with Maison des Jeunes Côte-des-Neiges, where Piensa, alongside bandmate Butta Beats, was hired to conduct workshops.[20]

In 2016, the two would help create Up Next Studio at James Lyng High School.[21]

Waahli

Waahli (also known as Wyzah) was born in Montreal, Canada, to Haitian parents, with his father being a musician himself.[22] As a solo artist and member of Nomadic Massive, he is a self-taught rapper, freestyler, and guitarist. Waahli has shared the stage with acts such as Guru, Antibalas, Yasiin Bey, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Blackalicious, K’naan, and Wyclef Jean. His musical styles and influences range from traditional to soul, funk, and jazz. He has cited the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, J Dilla, and KRS-One as inspirations. Beyond his musical influences, Waahli also derives inspiration from the work of black activists such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. He also has explored beatmaking, releasing the instrumental EP series Soapfactory Volumes 1[23] (2011) and 2 (2012), which he showcased at Artbeat Montreal Revelation in 2012.

Waahli is also a father, a grassroots community builder, a youth worker, and a soap maker (Wyzah Musk).[24]

Ali Sepu

Ali Sepu is an Ottawa-born musician. Sepu has been in the music industry since the age of twelve when he received his first guitar from his father. He proceeded to become involved in many Chilean cultural events, which served to develop his unique guitar style. He was influenced by the traditional music of the Andes, as well as the blues and the psychedelic music of the 1970s. He later grew interested in hip-hop, which expanded his musical repertoire, as he explored new styles emanating from the diverse cultures in the Montreal music scene. Although his original loops were done on the same classical guitar he received as a child, he opted for a Japanese Stratocaster when the group decided to go with a live band.[25]

Butta Beats

Butta Beats is an Argentinian beatboxer, emcee, multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and educator. Butta Beats was often seen and heard in freestyle sessions and beat-boxing encounters at concerts, on street corners, and on the radio. He was part of the WEFUNK Radio with DJ Static and Professor Groove. He also collaborated with Ali Sepu on the Iron Chef Project, which allowed him to integrate his South American folkloric influences with occidental urban music. Joining Nomadic Massive gave him the medium to express positive social discourse through music.[26]

In 2007, NoBad Sound Studio was founded in affiliation with Maison des Jeunes Côte-des-Neiges, where Butta Beats, alongside bandmate Piensa, was hired to conduct workshops.[20]

In 2016, the two would help create Up Next Studio at James Lyng High School.[21]

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Past members

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Nantali Indongo

Nantali Indongo (who also goes by Tali, IamBlackgirl, IBG, or Taliwah) is a Caribbean singer, songwriter, and MC. Indongo studied literature at the University of Ottawa and received a graduate certificate in journalism from Humber College. She is also the daughter of activist Kennedy Frederick, one of the six original plaintiffs and a leader in the infamous Sir George Williams Affair. In the 1960s, students at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) held protests after allegations of racism against Perry Anderson, a professor at the school, were ignored by the administration. In 2015, Indongo starred in a documentary film based on the events, Ninth Floor.[27]

Indongo is the co-founder of Hip Hop No Pop, an educational and interactive workshop series that looks at the non-violent origins of hip-hop culture and uses hip-hop as a tool to encourage storytelling and foster confidence in youth.[28] She currently sits on the board of the Maison des Jeunes de la Côte-des-Neiges as well.[29]

Indongo is also a researcher and reporter for CBC Radio Montréal, and is the host-producer of CBC's The Bridge, producing content on current affairs, arts, and culture. She has also hosted national programs for both the network and CBC Music and was also a regular contributor to the popular program "Plus On Est Fou, Plus On Lit" and other Radio-Canada and ICI Musique programs.[30]

Meryem Saci

Meryem Saci (also known as Meduza Ma'at) is an Algerian singer, songwriter, and MC. Saci was born in Algiers, Algeria, and immigrated to Canada in 2000 to escape the civil war. Fluent in Arabic and French, she learned English through listening to music by hip-hop artists such as Wu-Tang Clan, Big L, Fugees, and Public Enemy. Her love for hip-hop comes from the genre's tradition of encouraging social critique and free speech. She joined Nomadic Massive in 2005 after recognizing the group's passion for music and positive social change.

While mentoring young women and facilitating singing workshops at La Maison des Jeunes de Côte-des-Neiges, she obtained a degree in commerce, a license in real estate, and began her bachelor's degree in political science. As a singer, she has collaborated on soundtracks for films and TV shows like Lance et Compte, On the Beat (Sur le rythme), Omertà, Dérapage, and more, adding the Netflix Marvel Original Iron Fist to the list in 2017.[31] Saci released her debut single "Concrete Jungle" in March 2017;[32] her debut solo album, On My Way, was released on June 1, 2017.[33]

Rawgged MC

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Diegal Leger moved to Montreal in 1982. Between two academic diplomas, he will become Rawgged MC. He is a founder of the Students for the Advancement of Hip Hop Culture at Concordia University and is responsible for the symposium on hip-hop culture that was held in Montreal from 2002 to 2005 and again in 2009;[34] and in Port-au-Prince in September 2011. Leger is also a founding member of Solid'Ayiti, an association dedicated to cooperation between artistic and academic communities in Montreal and Haiti.[35] He continues his parallel evolution in the worlds of medicine and music.

Leger owns an expanding private podiatry practice, Leger Foot Clinic. He also plays bass in fellow Nomadic Massive bandmate Vox Sambou's solo project.

Vox Sambou

Vox Sambou was born in Limbe, Haiti. He has been composing and performing for over 15 years. He sings in Creole, English, French, and Spanish. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and anthropology. For more than 10 years, he ran the Maison des Jeunes de la Côte-des-Neiges, a non-profit organization whose mandate is to prevent delinquency among adolescents in Côte-des-Neiges.[36] Sambou, as a solo artist, has always incorporated socially conscious themes since his first album, Lakay, which was released in 2008.[37] He continues with Dyasporafriken, his second solo album, combining reggae sounds with traditional Haitian music. Sambou has launched several video clips, including "DiscriminaSida" on World AIDS Day,[38] as well as "Article 14" in collaboration with Narcy and Professor Noam Chomsky.[39] Most recently, Sambou launched his video "Tout Moun," featuring Malika Tirolien and Kaytranada. His latest release, The Brasil Sessions, incorporates songs from his live show, fully recorded in Brazil with his musicians, with whom he has toured across the Americas as well as in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Sambou has been instrumental in the implementation of educational and community projects based in Limbe. He is a founding member of SOLID'AYITI, an initiative of artists and activists working for long-term solidarity between Montrealers and the movement fighting for social justice in Haiti, according to the principles of self-sufficiency, education, decentralization, and reforestation.[40]

DJ Static

Hest One

Hest One is a Paris-born graffiti artist who has lived in Montreal, Jakarta, Indonesia, and Saint-Louis, Réunion. Having made his name in the underground of Paris's 1980s and 1990s graffiti scene, he moved to Montreal at the turn of the century, and, as part of the NME crew in Montreal, he has left his mark as one of the most respected graffiti artists in the city. As an original member of Nomadic Massive, his art has graced the covers of every Nomadic Massive album and logo, as well as some of their early show flyers.

Narcy

Yassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name Narcy (formerly The Narcicyst), is an Iraqi-Canadian rapper, author, university instructor, and actor. He currently resides in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Sayen

Sayen is a Chilean-Canadian singer with influences ranging from R&B to Latin jazz and folkloric music. Based in Ottawa, she now performs regularly alongside Afro-Cuban jazzman Miguel de Armas and his musicians.

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Mentorship

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NoBad Sound Studio

Ex-member Vox Sambou served as director of the Maison des Jeunes Côte-des-Neiges youth center for 10 years.[41] The youth center is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, part of the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, the most populous and culturally diverse in Montreal. In 2007, Butta Beats and Lou Piensa would be brought on by the Maison des Jeunes to facilitate workshops in the new NoBad Sound Studio, just under their own rehearsal studio.[42] NoBad Sound Studio, affiliated with the Maison des Jeunes, was developed with the intention of offering young budding musicians a place where they can develop their musical talents and express themselves artistically. The space offers neighborhood youth a wide variety of music workshops each week that include beatboxing, rap, speech writing, singing lessons, music production, DJing, and performance skills.

In 2009, the studio began producing professional-quality music published on CD. This initiative offered young artists the opportunity to work directly with professional staff to create, record, and develop musical projects that express socially conscious lyrics. In 2010, the studio began expanding its activities outside of Montreal, which gave them the opportunity to bring five youths to Toronto, ON, after being invited to play and speak at the Regent Park International Film Festival. The studio intends to create international exchanges with marginalized youth around the world shortly.[20]

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Naïka Champaïgne (left) and Mags (right) in Montreal, QC in June 2021.

In 2014, NBS launched their first all-girl initiative, with the result being a trio of singers, songwriters, and beatmakers, Strange Froots.[43] As the most successful act to have come out of NBS to date, Sambou would go on to call them "the pride of NoBad Sound Studio and of the Maison des Jeunes" in an interview with France Ô and Outre-Mer 1ère.[44]

Strange Froots

Strange Froots, founded in 2014, is the first all-girl group to have formed at NBS.[45] The group, composed of Mags, Naïka Champaïgne (having attended NBS since 2013), and SageS (from 2014 to 2020), takes its name from the Billie Holiday song "Strange Fruit". As Nomadic Massive's protégés, they have made waves in the Montreal hip-hop scene, having released their eponymous first EP at the Hip Hop You Don't Stop festival in September 2014 with Tali as one of the fellow acts, only 3 months after their first meeting.[46] Tali, Waahli, and Piensa would open for their first music video launch in February 2015.[47] Since their inception, they have performed in many different venues and festivals across Montreal, such as WE Day, the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, POP Montreal, and RIDM. Their second EP, Blossom This Froot For Thought, was released in July 2016 through Concordia University's official campus and community radio station CJLO, by way of their OnRotation artist residency.[48] The second EP has charted across Canada in the top 10 in hip-hop for most of Fall 2016 on campus and community radio.[49][50][51] In 2017, the group was brought on by Colonelle Films to provide the score for their short film Mahalia Melts in the Rain, released in 2018.[citation needed]

The group announced in Spring 2021 that SageS had left the band to pursue other artistic endeavors.[52]

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Discography

Albums

  • Nomad's Land (2006)
  • Nomadic Massive (2009)
  • The Big Band Theory (2016)
  • Times (2019)

EPs

  • Nomads Land EP (2005)
  • Any Sound (2013)
  • MIWA (2018)
  • Out of Town (2024)

Mixtapes

  • The Canada-Cuba Get-Down (2004)
  • The Brazil-Canada Get-down (2008)
  • Supafam (2012)
  • The Radio-Tape (2015)

References

External links

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