Eclectic Third Night at Ottawa Cityfolk

A little rock and roll, a little country pop, and a boat load of hip hop was on tap at Cityfolk in Ottawa on Saturday night (pun intended).

The weather was fully cooperating on Saturday night during Ottawa’s beloved Cityfolk festival. Many were heard commenting that they love the venue (the great lawn at Landsdowne) and the chill vibe of the festival, as well as the comfortable temperatures. Some were also reminiscing of the days when the festival featured two stages instead of one, hoping that those days will return someday. As the crowd gathered for the first act of the night, there was also talk of the eclectic mix of acts scheduled for the night. Kitchener’s version of Janis Joplin, JJ Wilde, Canadian country staple Tim Hicks, and hip hop legend T-Pain. Based on the size of the crowd compared to other nights this year, it seems that the residents of Ottawa may have thought it was a bit too eclectic.

Nonetheless, JJ Wilde was up first and she absolutely blew the roof off. OK, there was no roof, but she blew us all away with her gritty, expressive, and dynamic performance. Dressed from head to toe in 70s psychedelic print, she looked the part and delivered what she promised, including The Rush which made history as she became the first woman to hold the top spot on all three rock charts (Alternative Rock, Active Rock, Mediabase Rock Big Picture) in Canada. From the very first guitar chord she had the crowd hooked. If you haven’t yet had the chance to catch a live show, I can testify that she has a killer voice, her songs are vulnerable and powerful, and it’s hard to look away while she’s on stage.

Next on the roster was St. Catharines’ sweetheart Tim Hicks. Since he released his debut single Get By in 2012, he has charted eighteen top ten hits on the Canada Country chart. He has also been nominated for no less than four JUNO awards and has won a CCMA award. From all account, Hicks is a genuinely nice guy who has been known to buy a beer or two for concert photographers. His fun-loving casual personality shines through on stage, making him a fan favorite. Early in his career he built a loyal and dedicated fan base by frequently playing at the local pubs and wineries. This is what led to him being discovered by Open Road Recordings and the rest is history. Telling the crowd that he just flew in that day, and thankfully all their gear also arrived, he treated the crowd to hit after hit including the ever popular No Truck Song. Catch him at the CCMA awards in Calgary this week.

Finally Faheem Rashad Najm, better known as T-Pain was up. The multi talented artist is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Throughout his career as a singer, T-Pain popularized the creative use of the Auto-Tune pitch correction effect, used with extreme parameter settings to create distinctive vocal sounds. His success with the effect has influenced several other major artists to adopt it as well, namely rappers Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Future and Travis Scott, among others. After signing with singer Akon’s Konvict Muzik, T-Pain subsequently founded his own vanity label imprint, Nappy Boy Entertainment, established in 2005. If you look very closely you will see the word Nappy tattooed on his arm.

I’ll be honest and say that before last night I didn’t know much about T-Pain. I must have been living under a rock, because everyone around me kept talking about a Saturday Night Live skit about T-Pain and a boat. If you, like me, don’t know what they were talking about, I looked it up. You can watch the song parody making here. “I’m on a Boat” is a single from The Lonely Island’s debut album Incredibad. It was also featured as a Saturday Night Live Digital Short and features T-Pain. The song is a parody of many rap video clichés, especially the music video for the Jay-Z song “Big Pimpin'”. T-Pain’s fame and talent goes far beyond making fun of other rappers while cruising around on a yacht. From 2006 to 2010, he was featured on more than fifty chart topping singles. His most successful feature to date was on Flo Rida’s debut single “Low”, which has since been certified diamond (10× platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America. The man is really talented and can sing and he delighted the smallish crowd gathered to sing along with him. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if the openers were also R&B and hip-hop ar

Cityfolk continues next weekend and we’re most excited to bring you coverage of the enigmatic Orville Peck and of course living legend John Fogerty.

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