Born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Julien grew up in a household filled with musical influences.

At the age of five, Julien began playing the drums, shortly after that he started writing and recording raps. It wasn’t long before the home studio that Julien created became the neighbourhood recording studio. Being able to create a space, and provide resources, knowledge, and access to equipment was what Julien enjoyed the most. Today Julien does just that through artist management and development, live music production, and public speaking.

Julien served as an active member on the board of The African Nova Scotian Music Association (ANSMA) from 2020-2023. During this time on the board of ANSMA, he curated panels and showcases and fundraised to fuel the organization’s mission. While engaged in his volunteer work, Julien stepped in as Interim Investment Program Manager at Music Nova Scotia in 2022. In this role, he provided information to those pursuing a career in the music industry, in addition to overseeing the distribution of public funds allocated to each of Music Nova Scotia’s Investment Programs, and much more.

Julien is currently the Programming Committee Chair at ADVANCE Canada’s Music Business Collective and also serves on the East Coast Music Association’s African Canadian Music Committee.

In 2023, Julien was hired as ANSMA’s first Executive Director in the organization’s history. In this position, Julien aims to serve the African Nova Scotian/Black community with greater emphasis on youth and career development in music. Following Julien’s time working at Music Nova Scotia, he embarked on a path to start his own music business consulting and management company. Through his company, Julien offers artist management, facilitation, public speaking, grant writing, promotion, project management, live music production planning, and will soon be adding royalty and publishing collection services.

Check him out @matwawanajulien

Robert is dedicated to spearheading a cultural renaissance on a global scale, emphasizing the essence of African creativity and ingenuity.

His mission revolves around cultivating a robust community and fostering dynamic creative collaborations with visionary artists who share a profound appreciation for Africa’s promising future. Through his endeavours, he aspires to pioneer a transformative revolution that celebrates and amplifies the unparalleled creative spirit emanating from the African continent.

Check him out @r.o.b.e.n.g.a

@b.a.t.u.o_

Fikayo Kayode (she/her) is a 21-year-old creative artist from Nigeria. After spending a couple of years in the Philippines, she moved to Canada in 2018 for her undergraduate degree and graduated with a BA in Political Science from Acadia University.

She enjoys reading anything from realistic fiction novels to academic pieces on topics like race, womanhood, and current or past politics and started reading at a very young age. Fikayo developed an affinity towards writing at 14 and would start with short stories and poems. She started to put her craft out there in 2020 when she launched her podcast, “OkayThoughts”. Since then, Fikayo has performed at spoken word events, created a social media platform for her writing and her podcast, and is currently working on a blog.

Slowly but surely, Fikayo is building confidence in sharing and honing her craft as a writer and spoken word artist and allowing her work to speak to her, and for her. She is doing this by taking up more opportunities to share her writing and putting pen on paper whenever she feels inspired to.

Find out more @fikayo_k

Lumen Lux is a multifaceted performer who fell in love with the arts at a young age. Beginning her fire journey in 2016, Lumen progressed from spinning fire to eating fire to breathing it. Their many talents also include hooping, flow arts, gogo and burlesque.

Lumen Lux has performed at festivals such as Evolve Music Festival, Fire and Water Cultural Festival, Nocturne, Future Forest, Fredericton Pride and many other events throughout Atlantic Canada

They have done collaborations with many other artists and also work with performing organizations such as Serpentine Studios and Luminosity Circus and has recently started producing her own burlesque and drag shows under the alias Lumen Lux Productions

Find out more @lumenlux_
@lumenluxproductions_

MichNat Fashion is an Afrocentric fashion brand and the epitome of bespoke and customised fashion.

One of the main goals of Michnat Fashion is to help our clients stay true to their identity by reflecting this in their fashion styles. All garments are carefully constructed with strategic cut-outs to emphasize the natural curves and this great attention to detail makes us stand out and distinct.

The brand was founded in 2020 by Funmi Odeniyi to share her passion for fashion with the world and also use this to promote diversity. Her hard work and unique designs have earned her some recognition and awards since inception.

Funmi is a wife and mother of 4 beautiful kids, She also volunteers as the Treasurer of two organisations – Craft Nova Scotia and The Africadian Empowerment Academy. She helps impact the community by collaborating with organisations such as Halifax Central Library and other organizations to offer free sewing classes to the youths and any adults interested in improving their skills.

Learn more @michnatfashion