Shades Lawrence keeps pushing forward on her proud and powerful new single No Return — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
No Return is the Montreal rapper’s hopeful take on the Afrofuturistic movement. To move the culture forward, she instills a feeling of healing and recovery to stand in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of Canada as they face ongoing colonization — although the global colonization is not lost on Lawrence.
“This song is inspired by my story — coming from a background where three of my four grandparents were immigrants to Canada,” she shares. “This shared or similar way of perceiving the history of Afro-descended peoples, and people of colour, is something that we as a global community must move through if we are going to confront the very real presence of ongoing colonization, racism, anti-Black racism, colourism, fascism, and war, as well as every other form of modern-day oppression.”
Taking cues from the story of refugees and immigrants who have found their way to Canada, Lawrence’s lyricism drives this uplifting single while keeping environmental justice at the forefront. “Take heart,” she assures. “For the people who are refugees, immigrants, and are part of historically under-represented, and colonized peoples, there is courage and hope still; not only in numbers but in a hopeful Afro future that will endure indefinitely.”
Lawrence is a queer, hip-hop artist of British, Jamaican, Irish, and Scottish descent. As she’s progressed through the journey of finding her sound, Lawrence has performed as a spoken-word poet and hip-hop artist and shared the stage with a variety of artists — including Princess Nokia, Big Freedia, Cakes da Killa and more. Since stepping onto the scene, Lawrence has released three albums — Trust Takes Time (2022), 4th Quarter (2021) and East West Road (2020) — in addition to three EPs — Formidable Time (2017), Mind Right (2019) and Second Life (2019).
Check out No Return above, sample more from Shades Lawrence below, and find her at her website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
