13th Floor

The next time the Grumpy Old-School Rap Head® in your life groans, “Whatever happened to *real* hip-hop?”, get some Haviah Mighty in their life. The Toronto-born, Brampton-raised MC/singer/producer flashes sabre-toothed poetics, or, as she says on “In Women Colour”, “I courier the boom-bap over new trap.” Songs like “Bag Up”, “Squad” and “Fugazi” show her ability to muscle a track. She brings identity politics into the light on “Oh My”. And when it’s time to cool down, she taps into Caribbean styles on “Wishy Washy”, “You Don’t Love Me”, “Kiss It” and “Blame”. Haviah Mighty sounds like she’s having a blast playing verbal hopscotch while backpackers have a new lyrical saviour to dedicate mixtapes to.