iskwē
Birth nameMeghan Meisters
Born1981 (age 42–43)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
OriginHamilton, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupation(s)singer-songwriter
Websiteiskwe.com

iskwē (Cree syllabics: ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, formerly transliterated IsKwé) (short for waseskwan iskwew, meaning "blue sky woman" in English)[1] (born Meghan 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]

Career

She released her debut album Iskwé in 2013.[5] 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.[6]

Her second album, The Fight Within, was released in 2017.[7] In 2018, she received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination for the song "Healers".[8] 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.[9][6][10]

Her third album, acākosīk, was released on 8 November 2019.[11] The album won a Juno Award for Music Video of the Year for the song Little Star directed by Sarah Legault[12] and was a Juno Award nominee for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020.[13] Her song "Breaking Down" was shortlisted for the 2020 SOCAN Songwriting Prize and the video PRISM Prize.[14]

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.[15]) 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[16] in Toronto and an orchestral arrangement of “Night Danger (Lovers Mix)” recorded with the FILMharmonic Orchestra (Prague).[17]

Discography

Songs

Iskwé Album Tracks[18]

  • 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[19]

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

acākosīk Album Tracks[20]

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

The Stars Album Tracks[21]

  • 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[22]
  • 2020 Juno Nominee – acākosīk for Alternative Album of the Year[23]
  • 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[6]
  • 2018 Polaris Prize Long List – The Fight Within[10]
  • 2017 WCMA Winner – Electronic Artist of the Year[6]
  • 2017 Winner – REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award[6]

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. ↑ "Iskwé’s fight for the greater good". The Coast, 9 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Iskwé". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "First Play: Iskwé, The Fight Within". CBC Music, 26 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "2018 SOCAN Songwriting Prize Nominees Revealed". Exclaim!, 24 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "Arcade Fire and Daniel Caesar lead 2018 Juno Award nominations". CBC Music, 6 February 2018.
  10. 1 2 "2018Polaris Music Prize Longlist". polarismusicprize.ca. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  11. ↑ Graham Rockingham, "Hamilton-based singer-songwriter shares her journey of Indigenous self-discovery with new album". Hamilton Spectator, 6 November 2019.
  12. ↑ "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  13. ↑ Melody Lau, "Alessia Cara and Tory Lanez lead the 2020 Juno nominations". CBC Music, 28 January 2019.
  14. ↑ Allie Gregory, "SOCAN Announces 2020 Songwriting Prize Finalists". Exclaim!, July 16, 2020.
  15. ↑ "iskwē Swaps Out Electro-Pop Immediacy for Orchestral Haunt on 'The Stars' EP, by Alisha Mughal". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  16. ↑ "Revolution Recording". revolutionrecording.com. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "FILMharmonic Orchestra". musa.cz/filmharmonic-orchestra.htm. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  18. ↑ "iskwe, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "The Fight Within, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "acākosīk, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  21. ↑ "The Stars, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  22. ↑ "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  23. ↑ "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
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