Women in Hip Hop

Keysha Freshh: Dubbed “Hip Hops kid sister”, Keysha Freshh blends everything you love about the 90’s with everything you appreciate about Hip Hop. Born in Toronto, Keysha found a love for hip hop spending summers in NYC. She was exposed to the culture at an early age, listening to mixtapes her cousins would have. Keysha had her first song published when she was 5 years old, the song was titled “Summers coming” and she has been performing ever since. Keysha performed her first written rap, at the age of 12 while she was a member of the Toronto Children Concert Choir.

Dijah SB is a female rapper who has been making quiet noise for almost seven years. Initially as a part of the rap duo Class of 93 before going solo and switching things up. Though it’d be easy to label her one of Toronto’s best and brightest ‘skrewface’ locals, in reality she’s a humble, passionate artist who wants Toronto’s hip-hop community to win, especially women, which, to be frank, is long overdue. She was recently selected to rap on BET’s Freestyle Friday.

Tracey Kayy is a multidisciplinary musician based in Toronto. She is a singer, song-writer, producer, rapper and spoken-word artist. Her creative creations mostly shed light on the difficulties and traumas within our societal realities which are often ignored, and are brought to light by her musical compositions. She is a radiant light, and a messenger who raises awareness by being a voice for multiple communities across the globe. Her performances not only include festivals, showcases and concerts but weddings and restaurants as well.

Sydanie Nichol is a media communications graduate of Toronto’s Humber College and rap supermom focused on shifting the landscape by continuing to push female voices to the forefront. Born to Jamaican and Trinidadian parents in Toronto’s Jane & Finch neighborhood, her music is as political as it is club-ready, tackling the complexities surrounding her identity as a queer single mother from one of the city’s most vilified areas. After a stint supporting Polaris Prize-winning artist Lido Pimienta on tour and her own slots at festivals like POP Montreal, Sydanie returned to the city with more under her belt — and even more to prove. On her latest album 999, she blends earnest lyrics, a spitfire flow, and pulsing electro-house with ease, but her musical dexterity didn’t always come to her so easily.

Brittany “Exmiranda” Manu, is the founder of Ear Appeal is an advocate, cultural connector and rapper with a unique androgynous sound and dynamic flow. As a board member of tangled Arts disability brings awareness to issues facing artists with diverse needs. Exmiranda is also a 2019 Emerging Artist Award Finalist from Toronto Arts Foundation, a Chalmers award recipient by the Ontario Arts Council as well as the recipient of an artist entrepreneurship nomination from RISEhelp. With her recent track ‘Autonomy’ success on Worldstar Hiphop, Exmiranda continues to grow globally.