KTHECHOSEN SHARES +VICE WITH THE MASSES
WATCH VIDEO FOR STANDOUT TRACK HER ANTHEM
FEATURING DORSA LENA, BVITAE AND ZHE THE FREE
CALGARY ARTIST DELIVERS POWERFUL SONIC NARRATIVE AROUND MENTAL HEALTH,FEMINISM, GRIEF, COLONIALISM, ALLYSHIP AND BEYOND - LISTEN
KTHECHOSEN TO PERFORM ON NOVEMBER 13 LIVESTREAM PART OF LEMONADE FALL CREATOR FESTIVAL - TUNE IN
Toronto, ON – October 29, 2021 – Zimbabwe-born, Calgary-based Hip-Hop and spoken word artist, gender equity advocate and public speaker, KTheChosen, delivered his new album, +Vice to the world on October 22 - listen here. A conscious, concept project driven by an underlying story around an unnamed female character the audience doesn’t formally meet, but learns much about, KTheChosen dives into feminism, grief, loss, colonialism, relationships, allyship and more with immense depth, layered instrumentation, and spoken word interludes. In addition to the launch, he shares the video for standout track, Her Anthem, examining the female experience within the music industry - watch it here.
On the inspiration behind the visual, KTheChosen says: "I wanted to flip the common trend of hip-hop videos being focused on women and cars by having the same elements involved but in a narrative that focused on female empowerment. Our heist story draws inspiration from popular movies such as Kill Bill and Charlie's Angels as our three main performers use their cunning and fighting skills to obtain two mysterious boxes and a set of keys. The contents of these boxes are never revealed and will be explained in a future music video. This video was also an opportunity to give back to our community by filming in local businesses and promoting their locations at the end of the video."
The video features Bvitae, Dorsa Lena, Zhe The FREE and KTheChosen. It was directed and filmed in downtown Calgary by Jerome de Gourville with BTS Photography by Mikey B Photography, stunt choreography by Kevin Kay Mak and lights and setup assistance from Tre Davies. KTheChosen selected some of the city's best local spots including 10th Street Boxing Kensington, The Urban Shave and Kaffeeklatsch with local artist Tyler Lemermeyer's pieces displayed inside.
On September 24, KTheChosen examined the the impacts of colonialism on new song, LONO. The track’s title draws from a phrase that stands for “locals only, no outsiders” and features a verse from Blackfoot artist, TRIBETheArtist, with singing and hand drumming from Cree artist, Chantal Stormsong Chagnon. Proceeds from song purchased via Bandcamp supported Colouring It Forward, an Indigenous social enterprise that collaborates with Indigenous Artists and elders to produce authentic books, cards and journals, and Pokaiks – the Children: Orange Shirt Day.
The artist celebrated the album launch in Calgary on October 23 with a performance at Kaffeklatsch, and will deliver a live set on November 13 at the Lemonade Fall Creator Festival. Audiences can tune in here commencing at 2 pm ET.
KTheChosen is celebrating many accolades with the album launch. He is currently Artist of the Month at Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation in Calgary (see here), and recently spoke with CKUA about the acknowledgment - listen here. In addition to a stellar review by Calgary's 10 at 10, he also spoke about the project with The Creative Imbalance Podcast, Calgary Eyeopener on CBC, and Calgary Herald, amongst others.
KTheChosen will continue to share advice through his work to come. For now, take it in here.
As a TEDx speaker, hip-hop and spoken word artist, KTheChosen believes in the power of storytelling and uses his voice to share the experiences of those around him. Inspired by artists such as King Los and Kendrick Lamar, KTheChosen challenges himself to write lyrics that are both entertaining and enlightening. The music video for his single, Amazon, was covered by Canadian music publication, RLGT.
The video features Zimbabwe's infamous bearer cheques and united the Calgary community by involving several local artists from varying disciplines. The article highlights the importance of this collaboration and what it meant for the Calgary art scene. 2021 has been a big year for KTheChosen, with a nomination for the Zim Achievers Canada Awards in the Young Achievers category in February and the opportunity to perform and speak at a TEDx event in July. His talk focused on the importance of authentic leadership in a time when social media campaigns have been the driving force .
From February through May, he was an ambassador for Science Genius (a program co-founded by GZA of the WuTang Clan), teaching youth in grades 7 and 9 how to rap and create songs using content they were learning in their science classes. In June, he taught a three-part workshop for Antyx Arts, mentoring teenagers on freestyle rap and the importance of storytelling in music and marketing.