Hip-hop ecology for kids

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This article was published 06/07/2023 (835 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As an artist, Ruby Singh is hard to pin down.

The Juno-nominated, Vancouver-based rapper, film composer, poet, visual artist and photographer uses an array of media to explore his multifaceted interests.

“A lot of my projects end up sounding very different, but there is a through line,” Singh says over the phone. “The intersection of justice and the arts has always been something where my life has overlapped — whether that’s looking at climate justice or social justice.”

Winnipeg Folk Festival attendees will be able to experience at least two of his creative personas.

Singh takes up residence at the family-oriented Chickadee Big Top this weekend at the festival, which runs tonight through Sunday at Birds Hill Park, while also entertaining an older audience during concert and workshop appearances at Snowberry Field and Green Ash on Sunday.

A professional musician for 20-plus years, Singh started making music for kids more than a decade ago, after being invited to host a literacy program at a local youth correctional centre. The program — which involved teaching writing and reading skills through hip hop — opened the door to school workshops and a new musical endeavour called RupLoops.

As RupLoops, Singh delivers a high-energy show full of beatboxing and live looping. Other than a bit more audience participation during concerts, his children’s music shares a lot of similarities with the rest of his catalogue.

“My goal has always been to create a show that could be engaging for the whole family, from the youngest members of a family all the way to the grandparents,” he says.

Still, the vibe of a kid’s concert is unmatched. “I get really excited on stage performing for kids because of the amount of energy that’s out there,” he says.

Friday through Sunday, Singh will be sharing his current RupLoops show, entitled Magnetic North, daily at the Chickadee stage. The set focuses on environmental themes and human impact on the natural world.

“I just really want to open our eyes to this beautiful, interdependent world we all live in and rely on,” he says. “We’re heading toward an uncertain future when it comes to climate change, so I want to bring this idea of tuning into nature and tuning into the more-than-human aspects of the world.”

Tuning into nature is something Singh has done quite literally.

Both his Magnetic North show and his kraKIN project — which will be showcased at his Sunday concerts — make use of field recordings and bio-sonification, a process that uses technology to turn the bio-electrical signals of flora and fauna into musical sounds.

To capture the necessary components, Singh spent a lot of time outside hunting for sounds atop mountains and within marine reserves.

“There were also a lot of mosquito and insect bites as well,” he says with a laugh.

The result is a collection of hip-hop tracks punctuated by flowing water, howling wolves, calling birds and pulsing fungi. For Singh, kraKIN is an interspecies collaboration that offers plants and animals a voice during a critical time in human history.

“I think as artists, one of our roles is to speak to the things we’re facing in the world,” he says. “So I feel a pretty deep urgency right now to be speaking to the subjects of climate change and ecology.”

Earlier this year, Singh received a Juno nomination — his first — for the a cappella album Vox.Infold, which brought together Indigenous, Inuit, Black and South Asian vocalists for a cross-cultural exchange. Artists Dawn Pemberton, Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik (of PIQSIQ), Russell Wallace, Tiffany Moses and Shamik Bilgi contributed to the project.

Singh last performed at the Winnipeg Folk Festival as RupLoops in 2019.

“It was just such a great time,” he says. “I’m looking forward to being back in Winnipeg… and bringing some music and taking in a whole lot of music as well.”

Also performing at the Chickadee Big Top this weekend are Winnipeg-based, African-born storyteller and cultural performer Bola Oriyomi; multilingual West Coast indie-folk artist Ginalina; French-Canadian and Métis performance group La troupe jeunesse de l’Ensemble folklorique de la Rivière-Rouge; Winnipeg’s own family-friendly DJs the Wackydoodle Dance Party, and a closing performance by local Indigenous dance group the Walking Wolf Singers and Dancers.

The family area field next to the stage will host daily interactive performances by Castlemoon and Green Fools theatres.

Visit winnipegfolkfestival.ca/lineup for more information on family entertainment.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @evawasney