Aquakultre | |
|---|---|
 Aquakultre performing at Grand Parade for New Year's Eve | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Genres | hip-hop, soul, R&B |
| Years active | 2015- |
| Labels | Forward Music Group |
| Website | aquakultre.info |
Aquakultre is a Canadian soul and R&B [1] musical project from Halifax, Nova Scotia, whose core member is singer and rapper Lance Sampson. [2] Formed in 2015, they are most noted for their album Legacy, which was a longlisted nominee for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize. [3]
Sampson's ancestors are from Africville, and he grew up in the Uniacke Square neighbourhood of Halifax. [4] [5]
At 20, he was charged with robbing a taxi driver of his cell phone. [6] He was later found to be in possession of a loaded handgun, crack cocaine and the stolen property. [6] He received a five-year prison sentence, but was released after 19 months. He taught himself to play the guitar while incarcerated after being exposed to the music of Common and Erykah Badu. [7]
Sampson began performing as a rapper and singer in 2015, and in 2018 he won CBC Music's annual Searchlight competition with "Sure", a song he had written in prison. [8]
He recorded Legacy in just seven days at the National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta, with a band that included Nathan Doucet, Jeremy Costello and Nick Dourado. [9] Following the release of preview singles "Pay It Forward", "I Doubt It" and "Wife Tonight", [10] the album was released in May 2020 on Black Buffalo Records. [11]
In August 2020, he announced that his second album Bleeding Gums Murphy, a collaboration with DJ and producer Uncle Fester, would be released on October 9. [12]
His video for "Pay It Forward", directed by Sampson and Evan Elliot, won the Audience Award at the 2021 Prism Prize. [13]
Aquakultre performed on the 2021 FreeUp! The Emancipation Day Special . [14] He contributed vocals for "Summer Night Songs", the title song of the 2021 documentary The North Star: Finding Black Mecca . [15]
His third album, Don't Trip, was released in July 2022, [16] and was longlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize. [17]
His latest album. 1783, draws on the history of Black Nova Scotians, and is slated for release in 2026. [18]
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