Ndidi Cascade has a musical practice that aims to inspire. She sings and writes songs as well as facilitating youth empowerment workshops. Through her ORIGINZ interactive musical performance, Cascade draws connections between hip-hop, African American music, and cultural roots in Africa. Through another band, Metaphor, she has created musical shows such as Elements and HIP HOP 101, which explore explore themes ranging from anti-racism and self-empowerment to African oral traditions.
The Vancouver-born Cascade, who has Nigerian-Italian-Irish-Canadian heritage, will headline the third annual Wake Up! Social Justice Music Festival. It will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. on March 13 at the Cedar Conference Centre on Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Surrey campus (12666 72nd Avenue).
Other performers at the free event include Vancouver rapper-producer-songwriter Lowkita, Surrey-Vancouver femme punk band Dusty Pines, and Vancouver rock ‘n’ roll enthusiast and genre-bending songwriter Chico Zander.
“This performance is a collection of high-energy music representing everyday ups and downs of life,” Lowkita said in a news release announcing the festival.
KPU students will be on-stage
In addition, emerging artists and KPU students Damean Rose, Kelly Pang, and Karina Kovalenko will debut their work.
Pang is a Montreal-born Canadian of Chinese ancestry who wrote her first song when she was 14 years old. She’s currently a third-year general studies student minoring in music.
Kovalenko is from a small village in northern Kazakhstan and performs under the name Karrality. She wrote her first song at 16 and has been releasing songs in Russian and English over the past three years.
“I’m very excited about Wake Up! as it will be my first time performing my songs on stage,” Kovalenko said in the news release. “I really like that a lot of different people can relate to my music with their own experiences at points in their lives.”
A call to action
KPU music instructor Gordon Cobb co-organized the festival with more than 30 students in his MUSI 3500 class.
“In a time when civil rights, EDI, and social justice is diminishing in North America, we want to remind the KPU community of the power of the fine and performing arts in society,” Cobb said in the news release.
“For decades, music artists have worked in tandem with politicians to fight for people’s rights and freedoms,” he added. “The Wake Up! Social Justice Music Festival is one such event; a call to action by the students, staff, and faculty at KPU. We are here to ask questions, evoke discourse, and create hope through a communal expression of joy.”
KPU launched the festival in 2023 in partnership with the Surrey Music Strategy, which was developed by the municipal government. Over the past two years, Wake Up! has been embedded in the MUSI 3500 course to offer students firsthand experience in planning and producing a music festival.
Event details
Kwantlen Polytechnic University presents Wake Up! Social Justice Music Festival from 5 to 8 p.m. on March 13. It will take place at the Cedar Conference Centre on Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Surrey campus (12666 72nd Avenue). For more information and to register for a free ticket, visit the website.
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