Eternia

Beyond still holding it down as Canada's dopest female emcee, Eternia has an ability that's rare among musicians regardless of genre, gender, race or creed. She can strum the crowd's pain with her fingers -- kill them softly with her songs, as she did during showcases at this year's SXSW and NXNE festivals (in Austin and Toronto respectively) as well as on the Warped Tour. I guess that would technically be killing them extremely loudly then. But you get the idea.

"A lot of people come up to me after shows and say, 'You literally took my story and wrote it and put it in a song,'" the Toronto-based hiphop hellraiser relays over the phone during a lunch break from her day job. "And that's kind of what I try to do."

But Eternia's ability to convey her personality and experiences fluidly through her rhymes (in addition to the ease with which she can annihilate people lyrically, as she's proved since her days with that sick Connecticut clan DemiGodz) has kept the heads who know what's up checking for her over the last 10 years.

During that time she's dropped a number of one-offs on a range of labels, from BattleAxe to Warner Music Australia. But Wednesday marks a momentous occasion for Eternia. She hopes it'll be the biggest night of her life, she says. After independently releasing Where I Been: The Collection, she's only now dropping her first album, It's Called Life.

It comes as a shock even to her pals.

"Most of my friends assume that I've had more than one record out already," she says. "I have a big catalogue of musical features and things I've done -- so it's really about time. Now that I have an album wrapped, packaged and about to go in stores, my job is done."

Is that a relief or nerve-wracking? The question makes her sigh.

"I think that every single time you conquer one mountain, there's another taller one to climb."

Regardless, as expected, the debut is fresher than mountain air -- but way smarter. On It's Called Life, Eternia kicks it on a spectrum of life and interpersonal relationships with an arsenal of poignant concepts and very smart phrases over some true-rap beats.

Tragically, among these hearty, carefully crafted pearls, there are zero tracks about shinin' jewellery and grindin' in da clubs.

"There's only one track I missed on this record, and that's the party track," she laughs. "We definitely have tracks that DJs will like spinning, but when it comes to the get-down-and-shake-your-ass track... ," it'll have to wait for the next mountain.

- Now Magazine

Canadian-bred MC Eternia has garnered acclaim both at home and abroad with a roster of studio sessions, live shows and hard-earned hype. The wordsmith’s debut long-player, It’s Called Life, is set to cement her in hip-hop lore. She chats to 3D on the eve of her appearance at Sound Summit 05.



A lot of people may not realise but Australia is your second home. You even spent a semester studying journalism here. How did you find that experience?
Well, overall very positive. I was homesick, but I found the hip-hop community in Sydney and in Australia in general was extremely welcoming. That’s what helped me deal with my homesick-ness. I loved the hip-hop community in Oz, it was…so untainted to me. I’ve used that word before in interviews, but its true. I’m sure its changed since 2003 though.

What did you think of the local product?
I thought the local product varied. I mean, some of it was mad impressive, others I couldn’t really get down with. It was an individual case-by-case basis. I won’t get into names. I will say that I realised when I was in Oz that my specific taste in hip-hop music is quite narrow. I need to broaden my horizons more – especially when it comes to international hip-hop music.

Be honest. Is it true you weren’t down with Australian boys?
No comment! You gonna get me in trouble! Nah, but seriously though? I am just used to men being a little more…umm..forthright and romantic in North America. So not scared to approach you, and also able to be a gentleman and smooth about it. I love Aussies, but I love my Canadian boys too!

Since heading back to Canada you have been super busy. What was it like touring on the Vans tours?
Man, oh man. I thank God everyday for the blessings and opportunities he has thrown my way. But sometimes I wonder how I’m gonna juggle it all. It only gets worse (or better – busier – depending on how you look at it). Warped Tour was…a learning experience. It was incredible as it was my first full-on tour, two months, non-stop grinding. Next time I wanna do a hip-hop tour though, instead of punk rock. Being one of the only hip-hop acts on that tour was difficult.

I once heard an interview where the announcer described you as one of the most successful MC not have a full-length album out. How did you earn the title of Canada’s ‘dopest female MC’ without having released a proper album?
Damn, I dunno. I mean, I think I’ve been featured on sooo many other projects (I lost count – see the cover of my Collection mixtape release) that people started making statements based offa that or live shows. Done a lot of those too. But also…what I’m about to say really sucks but, ummm…very few female hip-hop artists in North America have full lengths out. It’s sad. We all build our reps off guest appearances and live shows. Sucks to say, but I find that’s true for a lot of my peers as well. So dropping this record is monumental for me.

You are about to release your debut full-length It’s Called Life. Has it been a liberating experience putting it together?
Liberating? I never thought of it that way. Stressful and tiring? Most definitely! Well, it was a very independent experience, being that I executive-produced the whole project and creatively masterminded the whole thing. So if anyone has complaints, I got no one to blame but me! I ain’t too worried, but still. It was… tiring because I did that as well (all myself). I’m a one-woman-hip-hop-operation that don’t stop! No manager, no lawyer, no booking agent, no label really….So what you hear and feel on this record is all me. It was tough. It’s a serious record. I hope my next record will be a little more uplifting. But I’m definitely proud of it.

Tell us about your involvement in Sound Summit. We know you are smart and opinionated. Can we expect some feisty debate from you?
Well…I’ve become more relaxed in my old age. I don’t know, I believe everyone has a right to their own opinion. And depending on the subject matter, I won’t argue on points I’m not well educated on. I been in my own lil’ bubble this year, so not that familiar with what’s goin' on outside of this lil’ world of mine. I just look forward to seeing old friends really, and perhaps sharpening some minds. Steel sharpens steel - I just intend to be one of those blades. Word up.

Eternia is appearing at Sound Summit 05, a three-day event from Friday 30 September - Sunday 2 October in Newcastle, NSW. For all the details, go to www.soundsummit05.com.


SOS


- 3D World (Australia)

Eternia
by: Karen Bliss

Who: Eternia
What: ms. master flow
Where: Toronto
To Contact: Urbnet, PO Box 10617, 998 Bloor St. W., Toronto ON, M6H 1L8 (647) 271-7736, info@urbnetrecords.com, www.eternia.ca.

It's odd that no homegrown female emcee has broken through in Canada since Michie Mee two decades ago; some have tried, but name one rapper, not R&B singer. Toronto's Eternia has a shot. For years, she sharpened her skills and served up singles in Canada, the US and Australia, which were released with assorted drops and collabs on Where I Been - The Collection, but this is her first proper full-length, It's Called Life. And it's called great. From "Evidence", with its Beach Boys nod, the tough MC tells it like it is, who she is, through to "Family" (feat. Helixx C. & DJ Dopey), a menacing dark cut about growing up in government housing, spawned by a devil and raised by a saint, she rhymes. On these tracks, Eternia's ability to tell a story without downplaying or prettying up is as refreshing as Eminem was when he first emerged. The album was recorded by Rez at ECTO.1 for Toronto's 3Bone Audio Inc. with various producers - DJ Mercilless; Rude; Simahlak; Collizhun; Kenny Neal Jr.; and Tone Mason Inc. - and mixed by George Seara and assisted by Greg "Wondabread" Kolchinsky at Toronto's Phase One Studios, except for "Understand" which was by Tao at Da Bus Stop in Brooklyn, NY.
- Canadian Musician

Journalism Grad vies for Juno Award
By Adam Gonshor
Ryersonian Staff

Last Updated: March 29, 2006.

Eternia speaks proudly about Ryerson at any chance she gets. Sunday, the country may have to listen.

Eternia, the hip-hop artist who graduated from the journalism program in 2004, is the lone female nominated for Rap Recording of the Year and promises to thank Ryerson if she wins, and if she remembers.
"Now that you reminded me, sure!" she says. "I will write that on my hand, 'shout out Ryerson.'
"It's not that you guys are number 20 on my list. It's because I'm one of those people who forgets to shout out the most important people."

Nominated for her first full-length album, "It's Called Life," Eternia, realizes she is the underdog.
She is up against strong competition, including urban music veteran Kardinal Offishall and critically acclaimed Somalian rapper K'naan.

Sounding genuinely honoured by the nomination – which she found out about by e-mail – she is not sure how excited she will be until she arrives in Halifax, where the awards are being held.

"It hasn’t sunk in yet. I might get excited when I walk the red carpet. I'll be happy when (the ceremony) is in front of me," she says.
Eternia, born Silk Kaya, invited her brother – who introduced her to hip-hop as a kid and helped finance her album – to be her date.

She admits she’s not the most fashionable person and laughs when she talks about having a stylist.

"This is stupid," she chuckles, somewhat in disbelief. "I have a stylist."

But being a Canadian rap artist is not always so glamorous.

When she's not shooting music videos and touring the world, she's dealing with rent payments and trying to survive in a business that was not designed with starving artists in mind.

The urban music business in Canada is a dichotomy, she explains. "How can you be nominated for a Juno Award and still have a hard time paying the bills? Canada has an illusion of stardom where if you're on TV every day or you attend these big award ceremonies, then you must be a rich superstar. But it's the exact opposite."

It's "discouraging" trying to make a living as a Canadian urban artist, she says, because of a lack of infrastructure – little radio support and a small audience, for example.

"There is a glass ceiling in Canada that’s very difficult to penetrate."

Eternia is not craving fame and fortune. She just wants enough to be able to continue making music.
The only way that she could succeed as a rap artist, she believes, is by expanding her fan base into the U.S. That is why she moved to New Jersey last year, not in search of that fairy-tale "big break," but rather more chances.

"It's been frustrating but there's been progress," she says. "It won't happen overnight. I need to increase my market to make this a living. I'm not doing this as a hobby, I've been doing this too long for it to be a hobby. It's almost like a big puzzle for me and I'm trying to figure out all the different pieces."

Last summer, she was one of the only hip-hop acts among over 50 punk bands on the annual Warped Tour, performing across North America.

Seems like an odd fit, and it was.

With punk acts simultaneously performing in other areas of the venue, she sometimes performed in front of nobody. She was lucky if people passed her without making fun of the hip-hop genre.
“How can you be nominated for a Juno Award
and still have a hard time paying the bills?”
- Eternia, hip-hop artist
"You're playing for a crowd that doesn’t really want you there," she says.

But she is proud to have been part of the tour – one of the summer's most successful and best attended – just like she is proud to be associated with Ryerson.

Her journalism training has allowed her to write her own press releases and biography.

Besides studying journalism, Eternia worked in the continuing education department, up until a year after she graduated.

"I miss everyone in that department because it was more than just work. They were always very supportive of my music from the beginning. I would have program directors from CE coming to these loud hip-hop parties to support me. The love that Ryerson has given me is a beautiful thing."

In May, Eternia will be part of a cross-Canada high school tour, which will bring AIDS awareness to students. She hopes her music video for “Love,” released last week, will raise awareness for Amnesty International's campaign to stop violence against women.
- The Ryersonian

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http://www.urbnet.com/eternia/tour-TheWire.html - The Wire

A recent event in the city -- The 411 Initiative For Change -- got me thinking about some of the faux "female empowerment" messages foisted upon young women by some female hip-hop and R&B stars.

I'm referring specifically to the contentious belief held by performers such as Lil' Kim that using sex, or your body, makes a woman powerful.

The 411 rejects such nonsense.

For 10 years, the national youth-led, non-profit organization has been utilizing arts and culture to get young people thinking about issues such as AIDS and racism. And Tamara Dawit, the group's executive director, says it makes sure to include female artists in its programming.

Eschewing fancy ads and public-service announcements, The 411 takes its message to high schools across the country and keeps things hip and interesting by using video, theatre, performances and encouraging audience participation.

Its latest campaign, Girls Rights Are Human Rights Too, which wrapped up last Friday at Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough, was in the format of a mock live-to-air TV talk show. It addressed heavy issues such as gender equality, violence against women and child labour.

Participants included local rappers Eternia, Masia One and singer George Nozuka.

By all accounts, the consciousness-raising travelling show struck a chord with many of the youngsters who witnessed it.

"We visited an elementary school in Malvern, where the Grade 5 and 6 students were almost 99% first- or second-generation immigrants, mostly from South Asia," Dawit says. "These were students from some of the countries where issues like early marriage and infanticide are affecting girls.

"I knew the show had made an impact when students were able to repeat facts and information they had learned at the end of the show," she says. "Afterward, a teacher pointed out that the students had never sat and watched a presentation for that long and stayed focused."

Eternia, who took part in the organization's What's The 411 HIV/AIDS campaign earlier this year, sums up her participation this way: "It's really the most rewarding and personally fulfilling work that I've done."

As someone who has spoken at schools and has been met with indifference, I was curious how Eternia and the crew on this campaign were received.

"The level of engagement and interest was mindblowing," she says. "And that's probably due to the fact that The 411 is a youth-led movement. The kids got involved from the beginning of the presentation and stuck around and asked questions well after it ended."

Eternia says that she was unaware of some of the frightening statistics that were shared with the audiences such as "two million girls are killed every year before or after being born simply for being born a girl.

"But, I knew that one in three women experience abuse in their lifetime," she adds. "My mom was one of those women."

Listening to Eternia, I get the sense that the show moved everyone who participated. Nozuka says he was hit hard emotionally during a visit to Haiti last year that was sponsored by Plan Canada.

"My cause right now is to raise awareness of child slavery in Haiti," he says on 411's website. "There are right now 170,000 child slaves in Haiti. It's a problem that is socially acceptable in Haiti and one that we can change little by little as long as we talk about it."

In an interview, Nozuka says his first stop in Haiti "was an orphanage with children who are either affected by or living with HIV/AIDS. They reminded me of angels on earth ... they were so compassionate. I was overwhelmed by how affectionate and sincere they were."

It's fair to say that as an entertainer, Eternia's 'cause' has always been to confront issues affecting young women.

"Specifically," she writes on The 411's site, "sexual assault on young girls, teenage girls. I went through it. It could have been a lot worse, but sometimes I feel like I should be talking about it in schools.

"I've had a gun pointed at me, forced to do s---. It's real. I want girls to know that other girls went through it. I want girls to know it's okay to talk about it.

"I want girls to never, ever feel ashamed." - The Toronto Sun

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http://www.urbnet.com/eternia/tour-nowtoronto.html

"My favourite rapper wears a Skirt" is the bold statement Canadian hip-hop phenom Silk "Eternia" Kaya is promoting on her new T-shirt. The T is a hit in spite of the desolate state of affairs for female MCs.

"The only negative response I've got is from a couple of insecure dudes who say, 'Yeah, that's a great shirt - for chicks,'" she says. "There was even a comment that if a guy wears the shirt, the assumption will be that it's about a guy MC wearing a skirt. It doesn't even really imply the rapper is a girl."

She proudly shares examples of people who approach her excitedly about the shirt. When they ask who her favourite skirt-wearing MC is, it's a perfectly natural opportunity for her to promote herself. She humbly adds that she doesn't mind if others select someone else. Sparking dialogue is what's important.

Eternia is one of Canada's purist vocalists making rap music today. Often writing directly from her own experiences, she can turn sorrow into sunshine with the power of her confident songwriting. From well-received debut album It's Called Life (Urbnet) to the rapid-fire impact of the promotional blend project Where I'm At - The Setup, she's been asserting herself on the mic with more emotional depth and verbal havoc than ever before. With a few hushed but highly anticipted projects in the works (including one with DJ Premier-affiliated Canadian super-producer Moss), Eternia's about to embark on her second European tour, alongside Roxanne Shanté, Bahamadia, Invincible and others. This follows her early-August performance at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City for the 411 Initiative for Change.

The "AmeriCanadian" MC has a temporary residence in New York City and says she doesn't want to have to choose between her "home and native land" and the land of the free. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

"I want to continue growing and expanding through the whole world. I want to move to Paris. I want to live in Japan one day. It's not 'Do I want to stay in Europe or come home to Toronto?' I go where the fans are. Do I have love back home? Yes. Do I think the hip-hop culture in Canada can sustain an artist who's just recording and putting out music and selling records? No. I want to go where the love and support is."

She's taking advantage of various opportunities to expand from Toronto to New York to Romania to Melbourne and onward, experiences that add to her independent business savvy. Plus, her reputation as an excellent performer keeps her hope alive in the face of perpetual hip-hop sexism and ignorance.

"Anywhere you go where people truly love good hip-hop music, they will appreciate my live show. I'm not on TV every day or heavily marketed and promoted. That's why I always say the people who love what I do are leaders, not followers. Their decision to say 'I like Eternia' is something they came to on their own."

The female MC is not extinct. She's just changing into a stainless steel skirt, preparing to continue destroying wackness in the battle for equality. And her shirt definitely ignites controversy on a number of levels wherever it is seen.

So who's your favourite rapper in a skirt?
- NOW Magazine

“The More Things Change…
The More Things Stay the Same for MC Eternia”

By: Mike Doherty

In the middle of Gould Street, on Ryerson University’s campus, stands the imposing mid 19th-century remnant of a building that no longer exists – the archway leads to a leafy quad.

Sitting on one of its windowsills is Eternia, a hip hop MC who, despite having delivered a tongue-twisting station ID for MuchMusic on this very spot, is no fan of facades.

“I’m just being me every day, on and offstage,” she says. “A lot of [male MCs] out there think they’re hardcore; their music is very aggressive, but you meet them and they’re like teddy bears. It must be a lot harder for them than it is for me.”

Onstage and on albums such as 2005’s Juno-nominated “It’s Called Life” and 2007’s “Where I’m At – The Setup”, Eternia is refreshingly free of posture: Her headily wordy, high-octane rhymes are the mark of an energetic and forthright conversationalist.

Having been based mainly in the Queens area of New York for the past four years, Eternia (nee Silk-Anne Kaya in Ottawa) is in town to record a new album with producer MoSS, whose beats, she offers appreciatively, are “the antithesis of syrupy.” Today, she’s taking some rare time off to revisit old stomping grounds, many of which, like the building that once preoccupied the quad, have been stomped out.

While studying journalism at Ryerson from 2000 to 2004, Eternia hosted a radio show at CKLN (then located in Jorgensen Hall, now in its own building), took in sets by her collaborator DJ Law at The Beat Junkie on Richmond Street (now demolished), and presented open mic nights at Hooch on Queen West (now a pub called The Dog’s Bollocks). She worked part-time at the Chang School of Continuing Education; walking in today, she’s greeted warmly by the receptionists, who are eager to update her on the building’s dusty renovations.

She then sets off across Younge-Dundas Square, reminiscing about the flea market that was swatted by the AMC theatre and its giant ads. Back in the day, she recalls, “Nobody was doing my publicisty, my radio promotion, my flyer for an event that I was putting on myself, so in the end, I would do it all,” As music industry bling loses its luster, Eternia has been proudly forging on with skills she learned while paying her dues.

Walking as briskly as she prowls the stage, she heads near the AGO to the bohemian apartment rented by her collaborator and friend Mindbender (a.k.a. hip hop journalist Addi Stewart), who minds her cat while she’s in New York. As Isis is petted and brushed, the two humans consider how their positive expriences in local hip hop’s past can help them build its future.

“I teach kids in Parkdale,” Stewart says, “and I really try to instill this in them: The sense of community and friendship is what made hip hop great in the 80s and 90s.”

For her part, Eernia performs on “Girls Rights” tours at high schools in the GTA and beyond, “You still want to entertain and leave people remembering who are,” she says, “but it’s a completely different agenda. The more I work with positive and uplifting causes, the more the regular hip hop scene becomes very grey to me.”

¦ For Eternia’s high school tour dates, see whatsthe411.ca

National Post
- National Post

ALBUM REVIEW
exclaim.ca

ETERNIA - Where I'm At - The Setup
Reported by: Thomas Quinlan

Despite what it states within this release, it is most certainly a mixtape, although it is also a proper set-up for a new album. Where I'm At - The Setup continues the honest, heartfelt, sometimes feminist raps that were such a dominant and refreshing part of Eternia's debut, It's Called Life. From an often personal perspective, E opens up about love gone wrong ("On and On," "You Ain't Real" and "Hold On"); abusive relationships on "M.V.P." with Toya Alexis; the difficulties of being female in the often misogynist, breast-obsessed world of hip-hop ("Throw Some D's"); and the struggles that exist on the hard streets on "Struggle" with Wordsworth and Kenn Starr. A new New York resident, Eternia also gets homesick for Toronto on "The Mega," "Northside '07" and "Homebase" with Nick Fury and Freestyle. Those familiar with Eternia will know she's equally skilled with raw braggadocio battle raps, which are displayed here in equal measure. She claims dopest female credentials on "The Setup," wears the pants in the relationship fantasy of club track "Like a Boy," eats your food on the extended metaphor of "Dinner is Served" and just generally brags and boasts on posse cut "Ladies & Gentlemen" with Polyrhythmaddicts. The beats, both dubs and exclusives, are an equal mix of banging boom-bap and smooth grooves, although there tends to be a high ratio of soulful R&B, which goes overboard on "Upgrade You" and "29th Movement - On Blast." With a good mix demonstrating her varied skills, The Setup might just earn Eternia the respect she deserves Stateside. (Urbnet) - EXCLAIM! Magazine

“Eternia is a bone fide rap vet.”
- URB magazine, 2006

“Just Blaze says Eternia is Crazy on the Mic”
- Peace Magazine, 2006

“She’s driven, Juno-nominated, and prolific as hell”
- POP Montreal Magazine, 2008

“One of Canada’s Hottest Exports”
- Mugshot Magazine, 2005

“Eternia Semiramis, a true redefinition of Hip Hop.”
- The Connex List, 2005

“She is, without question, one of Canada’s best kept secrets… Eternia is a hip hop phenomenon waiting to happen”
- Pound Magazine, 2005

“She rips the mic, she tears up the stage, and she shreds all competition – male and female – to nothingness"
- The Dish, 2005

“Eternia is one of the most versatile, talented emcees in Canadian hip-hop. She's a powerhouse and a very smooth professional at what she does"
- Exclaim Magazine, 2004

"Forget everything you know, suspend all ignorance and disbelief, because Eternia is breaking all boundaries and barriers and you can't sleep on this"
- Terminal City Magazine, Vancouver 2003

"Eternia rocks the party straight with superb MC skills and a stage presence that means business"
- Scene Magazine, Australia 2003

“Eternia is a brilliant lyricist and an artist with integrity who is passionate about her craft… she is definitely one to watch”
- Eye Magazine, Toronto 2003

“Canada’s Dopest Female Emcee”
Exclaim Magazine, 2001
- URB, Peace, Mugshot, Pound, The Dish & more.