toronto
Monique Hinds is a master dot-connector. During the day, she coordinates membership and DJ Programming for Soho House’s Toronto chapter. Once she clocks out of her day job, Monique continues to hustle as a freelance DJ consultant, Event Producer and Project Manager.
Read MoreWhere are you from?
St. Catherine’s, Jamaica. I live in Toronto now
What do you do?
I work for the Peel District School Board as a CYW. Dancing is what I do for fulfillment :)
What is your dream creative project?
Creating an amazing Start Up (funding, housing, education) program / package for homeless and at risk youth in the city from ALL walks of life.
Where are your go-to tunes for…
Rising? - 90s and early 2000s R&B
Exercising? - Trap Trap Trap... Nothing like some Migos while crushing the treadmill!
Partying? - Anything by Di teacha, Vybz Kartel
Where are your favorite places to…
Eat? - SIDCAR on College! Thank me later!
Dance? - Probably any dancehall party happening in the city..
Drink? - Jack Astor’s!
Is there something you really want to do in your city that you haven't yet?
At some point get over my fear of heights and ride the elevator up the CN Tower..
List three people that inspire you…
Lola Plaku, aka ILuvLola, is an industry insider who catapulted her career from fast food cashier to hip-hop journalist to artist development expert, supporting the careers of artists like Dej Loaf, Kehlani and Drake. After applying her OG industry wisdom to her role as manager for French Montana, Lola now takes care of marketing and brand development for Belly and Safe.
As Lola’s following soars past 70k, each post received over 2k likes, with an overall engagement rate of 3.3%.
Read MoreMatthew Progress masterfully blends house and hip-hop to craft a unique sound that goes beyond Toronto’s signature moody vibe. As his haunting deep voice flows over bass-heavy beats, he gets personal on most tracks, giving listeners a glimpse into his insightful thoughts. His years of experience in the music industry could easily classify him as an OG but his constant reinvention makes him just as fresh and exciting as a newcomer.
Read MoreJimmy Prime is an emerging rapper who has already made a huge impact. Drake has credited him for originally christening Toronto as The Six and his own music career has been gaining steady traction since his music leaked to an OVO blog over 4 years ago. Since then, Jimmy and the Prime Boyz have gradually been carving out own signature gritty sound in Toronto’s competitive hip-hop scene.
Stats: 28.8k on Instagram, 20.5k on Soundcloud
Read MoreIn a post-Drake Toronto, Sean Leon goes beyond the city’s signature moody sound. His diverse sound teeters between grungy and bubbly and his persona is authentic and irreverent. Sean’s projects include CCWMTT and I Think You’ve Gone Mad, a song ‘Matthew in the Middle’ with vocals from his dear friend and collaborator Daniel Caesar, was featured on the soundtrack for HBO’s Insecure. Beyond his own music, Sean is the founder of the IXXI collective, which is responsible for launching and developing Daniel Caesar’s meteoric career and fostering other Toronto talent.
Read MoreJay Strut is a blogger, content-creator and front-row staple at fashion weeks around the world. After years of well-curated and envy-inducing snaps of her lifestyle, she has amassed an impressive following and has secured her place as one of Toronto’s foremost fashion bloggers and influencers, with collaborations with HP, Google, Chanel and Versace under her belt.
Every photo from her international escapades gets an average of 1.1k likes from nearly 61k followers.
Read MoreWhen she isn’t mixing drinks at Oak Island, Sydney Beaumont is a go-to model for emerging Toronto designers. She is a fresh face in the fashion scene but a staple in Toronto’s social sphere, with a bold look and effortless style that can easily be considered synonymous with ‘cool’.
Read MoreJahmal Padmore is a creative multi-hyphenate living and working in Toronto. In true millennial fashion, Jahmal’s day-to-day is filled with multiple projects for multiple clients, all while balancing his own creative career. With lululemon, Jahmal works as the community lead and with Tokyo Smoke, he produces podcasts. Meanwhile, his band miracles creates music music that merges R&B with synthy pop so that you can catch a futuristic vibe.
Read MoreJayemkayem is a DJ, writer, and marketing consultant committed to amplifying good music and underrepresented voices. After thriving through Toronto’s DJ scene she created her own community radio project Istolethesoul, which hosts pop-up broadcasts around Toronto. Between pop-ups she still spins her own well-rounded mixes around the city, where she plays everything from rap, trap and grime to drill, garage and bass.
Stats: 8691 Instagram followers.
Whether or not you have heard of Dre Ngozi, you have probably seen her behind the decks at Toronto’s best parties or dancing with Miguel and Travis Scott in a music video. Her own mixes incorporate her eclectic, diverse music style and make it impossible to stay still. With collaborations with Absolut and Covergirl under her belt, she is quickly rising to the top of Toronto’s DJ scene and breaking the boys club that has reigned for far too long.
Read MoreVaughan is a Toronto-based DJ dedicated to creating space and visibility for women of colour. Through her work with Chippy Nonstop’s Intersessions, Karim Olen Ash’s Something Special, Vaughan is gradually working to disrupt the dominant male presence in music.
Read MoreKatie Lavoie is a Calgary-export currently based in Toronto. Since her big move, the self-proclaimed prairie girl has become a fixture in Toronto’s DJ scene. Her sets incorporate a wide array of genres and styles, from punk to jazz to disco to club, and though they’re unpredictable, they are always thoughtfully and masterfully mixed.
Read MoreSy Blake is an imaginative artist who prioritizes diverse representation by presenting Black life through a fantastical lens in his graphic design and 3D animation. Since mastering a variety of character styles, the UK-export has continued to craft some characters so intricate that they look cartoon ready and others so unique that look like they are “straight from the space continuum”, as his Twitter bio suggests.
Read MoreIn true millennial fashion, Vishana LDH wears multiple hats. Since graduating from OCAD, Vishana has worked as an art director, graphic designer, yoga teacher, and occasional model. Her editorial work has been featured by Vice, Zoomer Magazine and BMW Magazine.
Read MoreJamie Webster is a multidisciplinary creative at the helm of some of the coolest video content coming out of Toronto. As creative director for OVO superstars, Majid Jordan, Jamie Webster’s expertise in fashion, photography and graphic design are always on full display. In addition to this, Jamie is the founder of Common Good, a Toronto-based directing collective and full service animation, design and VFX studio.
Read MoreAs her name would suggest, Chippy Nonstop is a creative multi-hyphenate with an endless fuse. In addition to her own burgeoning career as a DJ, Chippy is the creator of Intersessions. Through Intersessions, Chippy has created a safe space for women, femme-identifying and non-binary folks to learn how to DJ. Between Intersessions, her own sets, and her no-holds-barred Twitter, Chippy is creating a culture of inclusivity in the DJ world.
Read MoreMur is a Toronto scene queen and hair and beauty expert. On-set she specializes in stage hair and gel styling and online she showcases her ever-evolving hairstyles, from a bleached crop to her two-tone bob and expertly laid baby hairs.
Read MoreNik Théberge-Dritsas definitely has one of the most creative Instagram pages ever. By day, he does advertising for OCAD and does multimedia work with Toronto retailers ZANE and Opelle. By night, Nik hosts Chopped, a monthly dance party “where Vogue Nights meets Club Kid Couture.”
Read MoreAce Dillinger is a Toronto-based DJ with a penchant for afrobeats, trap, and dancehall. Her uptempo, eclectic mixes can be heard at popular clubs like Apartment 200 and Oak Island. In addition to playing shows and building her own brand, Ace shares her DJ expertise with emerging female DJs at mixing workshop and panel series, Intersessions, hosted by Chippy Nonstop.
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