Iskwē

iskwē
Birth nameMeghan Lynne Meisters
Born1981 (age 43–44)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
OriginHamilton, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupationsinger-songwriter
Websiteiskwe.com

iskwē (Cree syllabics: ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, formerly transliterated IsKwé) (short for waseskwan iskwew, meaning "blue sky woman" in English)[1] (born Meghan Lynne Meisters,[2] 1981) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.[3]

Personal life

Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, iskwē has lived in Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto, and now lives in Hamilton, Ontario.[4]

iskwē is a Cree Métis and a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation, a federally recognized Métis government.[5]

Career

She released her debut album Iskwé in 2013.[6] Her debut single "Nobody Knows," produced by The Darcys and featured in the Netflix series Between, focused on the Missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis in Canada.[7]

Her second album, The Fight Within, was released in 2017.[8] In 2018, she received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination for the song "Healers".[9] The Fight Within garnered a win at the 2017 Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA) for Electronic/Dance Artist of the Year, she also received a Juno Award nomination for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2018 and was longlisted for the 2018 Polaris Music Prize.[10][7][11]

Her third album, acākosīk, was released on 8 November 2019.[12] The album won a Juno Award for Music Video of the Year for the song Little Star directed by Sarah Legault[13] and was a Juno Award nominee for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020.[14] Her song "Breaking Down" was shortlisted for the 2020 SOCAN Songwriting Prize and the video PRISM Prize.[15]

iskwē's fourth album The Stars was released 5 March 2021 and is a "reimagination" of her album acākosīk (saying that "the stars" is English for acākosīk.[16]) featuring new arrangements (by Darren Fung) of six songs with iskwē accompanied by a trio of piano (Michael Shand), cello (Mariel Gonzalez), and violin (Laura C Bates) recorded live-of-the-floor at Revolution Recording[17] in Toronto and an orchestral arrangement of “Night Danger (Lovers Mix)” recorded with the FILMharmonic Orchestra (Prague).[18]

Discography

Songs

Iskwé Album Tracks[20]

  • iNewYork
  • So Over You
  • Recycle ft M1 of Dead Prez
  • Another Love Song (remix)
  • Wandering (remix)
  • One Better
  • Midnight
  • Another Love Song
  • Not Today
  • Slack Jaw

The Fight Within Album Tracks[21]

  • Ice Walker
  • Soldier
  • Healers
  • The Storm
  • Will I See
  • Disturbed
  • Nobody Knows
  • Sometimes ft. Keolya
  • Say It Sweet

acākosīk Album Tracks[22]

  • Intro
  • Breaking Down
  • The Unforgotten
  • Little Star
  • Interlude
  • Sweet Tuesday
  • Night Danger

The Stars Album Tracks[23]

  • Little Star (Stars Mix)
  • Night Danger (Lovers Mix)
  • Sweet Tuesday (Stars Mix)
  • Interlude (Stars Mix)
  • Breaking Down (Stars Mix)
  • The Unforgotten (Stars Mix)

Awards

  • 2020 Juno Winner – Little Star Music Video of the Year[24]
  • 2020 Juno Nominee – acākosīk for Alternative Album of the Year[25]
  • 2020 Nominee SOCAN Songwriting Prize - for the song "Breaking Down"
  • 2020 Nominee PRISM Prize for 'Breaking Down"
  • 2018 Juno Nominee – The Fight Within Indigenous Album of the Year[7]
  • 2018 Polaris Prize Long List – The Fight Within[11]
  • 2017 WCMA Winner – Electronic Artist of the Year[7]
  • 2017 Winner – REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award[7]

References

  1. ^ Karen Bliss (13 February 2019). "iskwē Takes on Callous Coverage of Indigenous Youth Murders In 'Little Star': Video Premiere". Billboard.com.
  2. ^ "Indigenous musician's Facebook page suspended for using traditional name". CBC.ca. 16 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Remembrance, by iskwe". The Walrus. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Indigenous artist iskwē shares her inspiration for music". Unreserved, 10 September 2017.
  5. ^ Loo, Olivea (15 December 2023). "The blue sky woman "Iskwē" performs new music live in Toronto". 106.5 ELMNT FM Toronto (CFPT-FM). Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Iskwé’s fight for the greater good". The Coast, 9 November 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Iskwé". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  8. ^ "First Play: Iskwé, The Fight Within". CBC Music, 26 October 2017.
  9. ^ "2018 SOCAN Songwriting Prize Nominees Revealed". Exclaim!, 24 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Arcade Fire and Daniel Caesar lead 2018 Juno Award nominations". CBC Music, 6 February 2018.
  11. ^ a b "2018Polaris Music Prize Longlist". polarismusicprize.ca. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  12. ^ Graham Rockingham, "Hamilton-based singer-songwriter shares her journey of Indigenous self-discovery with new album". Hamilton Spectator, 6 November 2019.
  13. ^ "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  14. ^ Melody Lau, "Alessia Cara and Tory Lanez lead the 2020 Juno nominations". CBC Music, 28 January 2019.
  15. ^ Allie Gregory, "SOCAN Announces 2020 Songwriting Prize Finalists". Exclaim!, July 16, 2020.
  16. ^ "iskwē Swaps Out Electro-Pop Immediacy for Orchestral Haunt on 'The Stars' EP, by Alisha Mughal". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  17. ^ "Revolution Recording". revolutionrecording.com. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  18. ^ "FILMharmonic Orchestra". musa.cz/filmharmonic-orchestra.htm. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  19. ^ Spill Magazine Staff (11 January 2024). "Spill New Music: iskwē Announces New Album nīna + Shares "Waiting for the Laughter"". Spill New Music. Spill Magazine. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  20. ^ "iskwe, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  21. ^ "The Fight Within, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  22. ^ "acākosīk, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  23. ^ "The Stars, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  24. ^ "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  25. ^ "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2021.