Nanya Spark, TÖME, Khari Wendell McClelland, and Curtis Clear Sky take to the AHFOMAD stage
From Afrobeats to IndigiFunk, the artists are part of the diverse lineup at the 2022 African Heritage Festival of Music and Dance
Nanya Spark.
African Heritage Music and Dance Society presents African Heritage Festival of Music and Dance (AHFOMAD) at Surrey Civic Plaza from September 2 to 4
NANYA SPARK SPEAKS English, pidgin English, and Igbo, one of over 500 languages of her native Nigeria, and they all come together in what she considers to be her most powerful form of communication: Afrobeats. Originally from Anambra State in Nigeria’s southeast, the singer-songwriter moved to Vancouver about four years ago, then lived in Toronto before recently landing in Calgary. On her journey throughout Canada, the artist has been buoyed by the way people are responding to the music of her soul.
“When you move from a country that is heavy with Afrobeats to somewhere where a lot of people are just getting to discover it, it’s crazy exciting,” Spark says in a phone interview with Stir. “It is amazing how people are open to embracing this sound.
“There are a lot of subgenres, whether it’s Afropop, Afrofusion, Afrosoul, Afroclassic… It all comes together with percussion, drums, dance, and energy,” Spark says. “It can be dub ’n’ chill and relaxing, or you can be above the sky with energy: Afrobeats can do all that. Language is not a barrier. I always put my own language into my music; some people create their own language. But people still get the feeling of the music. A lot of people don’t understand what I’m saying, but the melody is amazing—it gets to your soul.”
Spark is among the plethora of international and local artists performing at the 2022 African Heritage Festival of Music and Dance (AHFOMAD), a showcase and celebration of Black Peoples by Black presenters. The weekend’s lineup includes a performance by Congolese singer-songwriter Fally Ipupa, an African megastar. Spark, who hits the stage right before Ipupa on September 4, will be sharing songs from her just-released EP, Yung x Wildin. She stepped out of her comfort zone to make the album, incorporating everything from reggaeaton to Spanish musical influences.
“I believe everybody has a story to tell when they are making music, especially Afrobeats,” Spark says. “Nigeria has one of the largest Black communities in the whole world, and the culture is heavy there. There is no culture without a story. Whether it’s betrayal, corruption, living life, empowerment: everybody has a way of putting a little bit of personal experience into their music. When I’m singing, I feel literally on top of the world. The energy is great. When I look at people’s faces in the audiences and everybody’s smiling: that is the world right there that I want to live in.”
TÖME.
Canadian-Nigerian singer-songwriter TÖME (Michelle Oluwatomi Akanbi), who was born in Quebec and raised in Ontario, grew up listening to the likes of Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, and Ariana Grande on the radio, while her parents played everything from Latin music to French garage rock to Afrobeats. The winner of a 2021 Juno for her single “I Pray” featuring Sean Kingston, TÖME has performed everywhere from SXSW to London’s OVO Arena Wembley. Her performance at AHFOMAD marks her Vancouver debut.
“I call my music Afrofusion, but it’s very much just fusion,” TÖME says on the line from her home base in Toronto. “Music was always a way for me to be heard in ways I couldn’t speak. It was a way for me to express my inner thoughts, things I felt were hard for me to say, and I still feel like I do that today. I’m an actor as well, and I’m passionate about storytelling. I always saw music as a way to tell a story.”
Earlier this year, TÖME released her third album, LÖV (Love Over Vanity). In September, which is the artist’s birthday month, she will be dropping a new single every week (“TÖME Tuesdays”). She headlines Afrofest in Ottawa then will embark on a tour of eastern and western Africa before closing out the year with performances in Saskatchewan. TÖME says that despite each tour stop offering a completely different experience from the next, there’s a throughline. “It’s thrilling to be able to communicate through music and connect with people that way,” she says. “It’s such a gratifying feeling.”
TÖME is especially excited about performing in Vancouver. “Beign of African heritage and being at the forefront of wherever the culture is going in Canada is extremely important to me,” TÖME says. “People are taking notice of Afrobeat in ways that haven’t been seen since King Sunny Adé. I’m extremely honoured to be part of the show; I’ve never been out west. These fests are a great way for people not yet familiar with the culture to learn more about it and to see who’s in their own backyard doing it. It’s extremely important for me to be representing our culture around the globe and nationally.”
Khari Wendell McClelland.
AHFOMAD also features several Vancouver artists, Khari Wendell McClelland among them. The singer-songwriter originally from Detroit is as comfortable performing hip-hop as he is folk music and performs with roots-gospel group the Sojourners. He garnered critical acclaim for Freedom Singer, a 2018 album and a documentary theatre piece re-creating music that fugitive slaves carried on their journey to Canada from the U.S.
More recently, McClelland has been keeping busy with his new family: he has a one-and-a-half-year-old baby and another child on the way. He has a forthcoming book co-authored with Freedom Singer collaborator Andrew Kushnir being published by Talonbooks, and he teaches public engagement at SFU. At AHFOMAD, he’ll perform newer and older music, mostly originals with a few covers, backed by a seven-piece band that includes vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums.
“It will be a big, luscious sound and gorgeous harmonies,” McClelland says by phone. “There will be songs about hope, songs about joy and resiliency, songs that make people move in terms of their bodies and their emotions.
“It’s really nice to perform in Surrey,” he adds. “It’s one of our most diverse municipalities in the Lower Mainland. I’m excited to be part of a festival that’s focused on folks from the continent of Africa and also people of the diaspora and descendants of it. I have family visiting from the States, and it will be their first time seeing me perform here. It definitely feels special to me.”
Curtis Clear Sky.
AHFOMAD is also welcoming IndigiFunk band Curtis Clear Sky and the Constellationz. Clear Sky is a Vancouver-based artist of Anishinaabe and Niitsitapi heritage who sees the festival as a unifier.
“In recognizing the focus of African heritage and the diaspora connection, as Indigenous peoples we are allies with our international relatives and all of our BIPOC relatives,” Clear Sky says in a phone interview. “It’s about solidarity, Black and Indigenous voices coming together to share songs of unity and liberation and positive messages.”
For full festival details, see https://www.festivalafrica.org.
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