Alida Kinnie Starr (born 1970) is a Canadian multidisciplinary recording artist.

Early life

Starr was born and raised in Calgary, where she attended

Western Canada High School Western Canada High School (WCHS) is a public senior high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It has classes for grades 10 through 12. Western is located in the 17th Avenue business district of the Lower Mount Royal community, and is the most cen ...

. Her ancestry is French, German, Irish and

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

, specifically

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

. She is trilingual (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

). Starr has a BA in Race and Gender Studies from Queen's University. After moving to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Starr formed her first band in 1992. According to legend, the true extent of her talent was first revealed on trip to New York City, when a friend pushed her onstage at an East Village club's open-mic night, where her impromptu

spoken-word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

poetry met an enthusiastic reception.

Career

Following a self-released demo called ''Learning 2 Cook'' in 1995, she released her debut album ''Tidy'' in 1996, mixing rock, punk, pop, and hip-hop, along with her trademark spoken-word poetry. On that album, she rapped in three languages: English, Spanish, and French. Starr signed to major label group Island/Def Jam in 1997, following a massive bidding war during which Clive Davis personally flew out to dine the young artist to try and sign her to his roster of pop stars. The next year,

Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the ...

bought Polygram, the parent company of Island Def Jam, and merged it into

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. In the resulting upheaval, Starr felt she was lost in the shuffle and she asked to be released from her contract. The material she recorded for her first album with Island Def Jam, 1998's ''Mending'' was never released, though some record labels have talked of releasing the lost album. In 1997, Starr appeared on the

Lilith Fair Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 ...

tour. In the late '90s and in 2004, she toured Canada with Veda Hille and

Oh Susanna "Oh! Susanna" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published in 1848. It is among the most popular American songs ever written. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all ti ...

as part of the "Scrappy Bitch Tour". She performed in November 2000 at

Lee's Palace Lee's Palace is a rock concert hall located on the south side of Bloor Street West east of Lippincott Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The two-floor facility in The Annex neighbourhood has a long history prior to being adapted in September 198 ...

in Toronto.

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

pursued Starr to sing in their productions, and in 2003 she contracted with them to perform in

Zumanity ''Zumanity'' (zoo-manity) was a resident cabaret-style show by Cirque du Soleil at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, placed into the theatre previously occupied by Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance (musical). The ...

for two years. After releasing her 2003 album '' Sun Again'', she moved to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. However, she was back home in Canada by the following year, where she continued to perform and record. Her 2013 album "Kiss It" was made available to fans at Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival one week before the official release. Her 2018 album, ''Feed the Fire'' explores finding one's truest self amidst the digital chaos of the 21st century.

Musical style and influences

Her musical style has been described as "hip hop aggro

groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...

". Starr has enlisted other Canadian musicians to appear on her albums over the years, including

Swollen Members Swollen Members is a Canadian hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting mainly of Madchild and Prevail. Frequent collaborators include vocalist Moka Only (who was actually a member of the group for a short period of time in the ...

Moka Only Daniel Denton (born November 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Moka Only, is a Canadian underground hip hop artist. He has won 3 JUNO Awards, 5 MuchMusic Video Awards, and has been nominated for 11 Western Canadian Music Awards. Origina ...

Coco Love Alcorn Coco Love Alcorn is a Canadian pop and jazz singer. The daughter of jazz singer John Alcorn, she released her debut album in 1995. She toured as an opening act for Burton Cummings, Chantal Kreviazuk, Jesse Cook, and Ani DiFranco and perform ...

, former Dream Warrior Spek and Tegan Quin of

Tegan and Sara Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumenta ...

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

credits Starr as an influence.

Music videos

*"Ophelia" Director: Marsha Herle *"Month of Trickery" Director: Marsha Herle *"Nearer" Director: Marsha Herle *"Home is Everywhere" Director: Hannah C *"Go Go See It" Director: Hannah C *"High Heels" Director: Hannah C

Film

Starr's songs have been included on the soundtracks for the TV series ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene ...

'' and the movie ''

Thirteen Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

''. In 2001, Starr co-starred in ''Down and Out with the Dolls'', a

Kurt Voss Kurt Voss (born Kurt Christopher Peter Wössner) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician-songwriter. Voss's credits include Will Smith's debut ''Where The Day Takes You''; the Justin Theroux, Alyssa Milano and Ice-T action film ...

movie about a fictional all-girl rock band. Starr conceived of, and co-produced, the 2016 documentary ''Play Your Gender'', which explores the gender gap in the music industry, asking why only 5% of professional music producers are female. Produced by Sahar Yousefi and directed by Stephanie Clattenburg, the film premiered at the Canberra International Film Festival in Australia. At the 2017 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival the film was awarded "Best Music / Art Documentary" (in a tie). In 2018, the film was screened at the

Reeperbahn The Reeperbahn () is a street and entertainment district in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife (the other being Sternschanze) and also the city's major red-light district. In German, it is also nick ...

Festival as part of the "Key Change Festival Initiative". Starr composed the score for the 2018

Haida language Haida (', ', ', ') is the language of the Haida people, spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of Canada and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. An endangered language, Haida currently has 24 native speakers, though revitalizat ...

film

Edge of the Knife ''Edge of the Knife'' ( hai, SG̲aawaay Ḵ'uuna, ) is a 2018 Canadian drama film co-directed by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown. It is the first feature film spoken only in the Haida language. Set in 19th-century Haida Gwaii, it tells the c ...

Activism

Much of Starr's work engages positively with female sexuality, in contrast to male perspectives often associated with hip-hop culture. Starr identifies as bisexual, and has enjoyed popularity in the queer community. In 2006 she formally became a mentor for aspiring indigenous musicians as a faculty member with the Manitoba Audio Recording Industry Association's Aboriginal Music Program (AMP) Camp. Starr appeared as a guest on ''

The Rachel Maddow Show ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public p ...

'' on 11 August 2006. On 31 August, her single "Anything" was the first-ever No. 1 single on

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

's new countdown show ''

The R3-30 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which lanu ...

''. Starr has often spoken out, for example during a 2013 performance at Vancouver Folk Music Festival, about the importance of protecting water.

Discography

Filmography

*2001: ''Down and Out with the Dolls''. Director:

. *2016: ''Play Your Gender'' (host, curator & co-producer). Director: Stephanie Clattenburg. Producer: Sahar Yousefi.

Awards and recognition

In 2004, Starr was nominated for the Juno Award for New Artist of the Year. Starr was featured in the

Royal British Columbia Museum Founded in 1886, the Royal British Columbia Museum (sometimes referred to as Royal BC Museum) consists of The Province of British Columbia's natural and human history museum as well as the British Columbia Provincial Archives. The museum is loca ...

's major 2008 exhibition, "Free Spirit: Stories of You, Me and BC", as one of 150 cultural icons of BC. She produced the album ''We Are...'' by

Digging Roots Digging Roots is a Canadian musical group consisting of husband and wife duo Raven Kanatakta and ShoShona Kish, whose musical style blends folk-rock, pop, blues, and hip hop.while Raven was awarded the Cobalt Award at the 2016 Maple Blues Awards. ...

, which won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2010 The Juno Awards of 2010 honoured music industry achievements in Canada for the latter part of 2008 and for most of 2009. These ceremonies were in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada during the weekend ending 18 April 2010. Primary ceremo ...

. In 2011, Starr was honoured as a Pioneer in Canadian Hip Hop Culture by the ManifesTO festival.

References

External links

Official website
*
Kinnie Starr
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Kinnie 1970 births 20th-century Canadian rappers 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian rappers 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century women rappers Bisexual musicians Bisexual women Canadian women rappers Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of Mohawk descent Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian spoken word artists Def Jam Recordings artists French-language singers of Canada Island Records artists LGBT First Nations people Canadian LGBT singers LGBT rappers Living people MapleMusic Recordings artists Mercury Records artists Musicians from British Columbia Musicians from Calgary People educated at Western Canada High School Spanish-language singers of Canada Canadian people of Indigenous peoples descent 20th-century women rappers