Backxwash

Ashanti Mutinta is a Zambian-Canadian rapper, better known as Backxwash. A graduate of her native Lusaka, Zambia, she moved to Montreal and, after a series of EPs, caught the attention of underground hip-hop fans with her debut album "God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It" (2020): always teetering on the edge of the abyss, shot through with lacerating tensions that reflect the limits of a violently intolerant society, the album sidesteps the clichés of contemporary hip-hop and establishes itself as a personal and creative work, albeit a very short one. The album nonetheless wins the "Polaris Music Prize" in 2020.

"I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses" (2021) is the album that cements her status, where the narration of her own deep personal malaise is paired with an increasingly aggressive and chaotic sonic amalgam, handled by the Zambian-Canadian artist with a greater awareness of her own means. In 2022 it is nominated to the "Polaris Music Prize" long list.

The third and final chapter of a painfully personal trilogy is called "His Happiness Shall Come First Even Though We Are Suffering" (2022) and closes, surprisingly, with a more serene, soul-influenced track.

(Antonio Silvestri)