Kardinal Offishall, Haviah Mighty, TOBi & More Give Flowers To The Black Icons Who’ve Inspired Them

What does Black History Month mean in 2023?

For Shad, it’s about telling a fuller story.

“To me, what Black History Month means is shining a light on a lot of our history that’s been erased or downplayed,” the Toronto rapper and Emmy award-winning host explains to ET Canada. “Part of what that does is it introduces so many new possibilities to the imagination, especially of Black people. When our history is erased or reduced, it limits our imagination as far as what’s possible for us.”

But it’s also, quite simply, about having a “more complete history, period,” he adds. “If you don’t have the Black presence and you don’t have the Black perspective, then you have a limited story.”

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The story of Canada would certainly be incomplete without the innumerable Black artists who’ve shaped the country’s music scene over the decades. From rappers to R&B singers to dance music producers, these talented visionaries have left an indelible mark on our culture, and have put our nation on the map worldwide.

To celebrate Black History, we asked eight Black Canadian artists to tell us about a person they want to give their flowers to this month. From Kardinal Offishall to Haviah Mighty to Adria Kain, these inspiring musicians tell us about the Black icons (both famous and under-the-radar) who’ve inspired them.

Kardinal Offishall On Master T

I would love to give flowers to Master T. You know, Master T is somebody that quite literally had a brainchild and was able to create multiple platforms that showcased Black music weekly in Canada. But not just Canada, because a lot of people don’t realize that back in the day MuchMusic used to be shown in the States as well, and there were a lot of Americans that used to tune into to MuchMusic as well. 

So, shout-out to Master T, who was brave enough to really be himself. I remember when I was a little kid, he started off with all these random characters. And at first I was like, “Yo, What is this?” But I realized that it’s the same way that in order to stand out even today on social media, you have to have something unique, something special. Otherwise, people will just keep scrolling. And I think it’s the same back in the day with television. Like, people probably would have just changed the channel if he was just a regular random guy.

But what I love is that he really evolved into this television mogul who interviewed everybody from Madonna to whoever you can think of and was a sought-after journalist. He also had a place where anybody could have performed on his show — any big dancehall artist, like Terror Fabulous, Spragga Benz and people who, you know, there’s no way you would see them on nationally broadcasted television. From people like them to your favorite hip hop artists or even, it was an honour for us to be able to perform on “The Mix”. Master T doesn’t get enough flowers for really being such a solid foundation in this country and really providing exposure to Black music of all of all types. 

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Haviah Mighty On Omega Mighty

I want to give flowers to an incredible Black woman who’s done a lot in the scene, who has not yet done anywhere near what they’re meant to do. This person is my sister, Omega Mighty. She’s been a very big inspiration and influence for me over the years. Since before people heard about me, Omega has been inspiring me, particularly creatively. I think that she’s someone who is just a champion in every single right and has created a lane for me as a younger sister to take up space in this society in an unfathomable way and has given the opportunity for me to learn as an individual, but also continues to teach me as well.

I would say, as a musician, as a powerhouse, I know she has a lot more to contribute and she has important messaging to share as well. And it’s just beautiful to see my sister doing her thing. So I’m going to I’m going to throw it to Omega Mighty for Black excellence this Black History Month, and just let people know the history that she’s going to make. I don’t think you’ve yet felt the impact of it. She’s a very powerful person.

TOBi On bell hooks

I want to give my flowers to bell hooks. Rest in peace. But bell hooks probably is one of the most transformative thinkers of the 20th century. And she’s really impacted my life so much with with her words, with her with her lectures and just what it means to be a man growing up in society and forging a new path and a new existence outside of the confines of patriarchy and what a man is supposed to look like, what a man is supposed to feel like.

I put out a song called “Flowers”, which is on the next album, and one of the central themes of that song is giving people the love that they deserve. One bell hooks quote that I’m not going to I’m not going to recite verbatim, but it goes along the lines of, “When when you choose to love somebody, put yourself in their shoes; almost superimpose your image in front of them and say, ‘What’s the kind of love that I think I deserve?’” And that’s the love that you project onto them. And it’s aptly titled “Flowers”, because that’s what we’re doing. 

Shad On The Fabulous Bohee Brothers

George Elliott Clarke, the former parliamentary poet laureate, hipped me to this story of the Fabulous Bohee Brothers. They were based in Saint John, New Brunswick in the later Victorian era, and they can be credited with helping to popularize the banjo globally. So they went over to England, and amongst their students were actual royalty over there, and they became the first, quote unquote African-Americans — even though they were in Saint John, New Brunswick — to be recorded by Edison’s new invention at the time, the phonograph. This was in the in the late 1800s.

So that’s very significant. The banjo, a lot of people don’t know is actually an African instrument from West Africa. But these brothers really actually helped to popularize it globally. And they were Canadian!

Adria Kain On Frank Ocean

The first person that that comes to mind for me and who is probably one of my biggest inspirations is Frank Ocean. Immediately, every time I’m asked what my inspiration is, who I want to give my flowers to, I will never stop praising that man. He’s the one that’s near and dear to my heart, if anyone. I think that what he created like for us, especially as Black artists and musicians, nobody can replace that. It’s him that started that whole thing. I think that it just something that I will always continuously celebrate for the rest of my life. 

I remember a period of time where I was trying to figure out how I wanted to sound. And when I came across him, it was very random. It came out of nowhere. I think it’s the same for all of us, because he just kind of popped up during the Tumblr days and released this whole phenomenal project out of nowhere, and he had so many different elements. It was like this R&B artist that’s singing over alternative songs and writing about real things, but in a really intricate way. It was so different from the traditional R&B sound or any other type of music. And that really just opened up my mind; it almost reminded me of the creative freedom that we have as artists. You don’t have to stay confined to one box. You can literally be whatever you want to be. You can sound however you want to sound. You can play around with things. That’s the whole point of art.

Pierre Kwenders On Papa Wemba

I would definitely give my flowers to Papa Wemba. I’ve given flowers to Papa Wemba throughout all my career; he’s been someone that’s inspired me. A Congolese rumba legend. And there is one song on my album dedicated to him, which is also also titled “Papa Wemba”, and he has inspired so many artists of the generation before me and my generation, and he keeps still inspiring more generations. He’s basically the Congolese michael Jackson, I would say. People call him the “King of Rumba”. And I think it’s important for us to pay homage to him. He was gone too soon. He passed away in 2016. But I think his music will live on forever to artists like me and through the next generation, but also through his own music that I really hope people will be interested enough to go and find out and learn more about.

I grew up watching him on TV because he was also an actor, Papa Wemba. He played in this very famous Congolese movie called “La Vie Est Belle”. You can find it easily online; it’s available on YouTube, I believe. And me growing up, I was watching him in that movie. He was this young kid moving from his village to the big city and trying to make it into music. You know, it’s just one of those movies that makes you dream and Papa Wemba had such a beautiful voice, and he was so charismatic and every kid wanted to be like Papa Wemba. Every kid wanted to dress like him. He was one of those pioneers of what we call sapologie. I think my persona has a bit of sapologie in it because I was inspired by him. 

DijahSB On Clairmont The Second

Somebody I want to give flowers to this Black History Month is definitely my boy Clairmont The Second. If you’re not familiar with him, he’s a Black Canadian hip hop artist. But he also produces, he makes his own music videos and he’s honestly the only other rapper in the city that I’m actually afraid of. And I always tell him that. But I guess it’s good to go on a media platform and confess that. I just feel like he’s such a talented human being and it’s a very healthy, competitive thing with me inside when it comes to talking about Clairmont because I admire him. He’s just too good. It just makes me want to do so much better. And it just inspires me in that way. 

Honestly, I think it’s a one-way rivalry. I don’t even think he knows that I admire him to that point. But ever since I heard his music, I always just admired the fact that he was such a to-himself kind of person — he just did everything himself, like production, video, photos. Granted, he has help from his girlfriend, but them as a combo is just a dream-worthy situation because you don’t have to rely on anybody but yourself. And for him to be producing and creating such good content and it’s just him is, for me, otherworldly. It’s a very rare thing, to be honest. 

Aqyila On Whitney Houston

I would love to give flowers to Whitney Houston. I know she’s not here, but she is the woman that inspired me to really get into music. Like, my mom played her heavily in the house when I was younger. And so, you know, when I heard she passed, I was really bawling. Like, I don’t really cry like that for celebrities, but for her, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve been songwriting all this time because I wanted to meet her and show her my music.’ It was crazy. But, you know, I really do look up to her, like she’s so talented and just inspiring in her runs. And when you get into details, like all the runs that she does and how she makes it look so effortless, I’m just like, wow, I really want to be able to emulate that in the future.

I really looked up to her all my life. And her music is touching. I don’t know. Not a lot of people can really make me cry when it comes to their music. But for her, she’s one of those songbirds that when I hear her music, I really feel every lyric. So that’s why Whitney Houston’s my go-to and I always talk about her, because literally she inspires me.