About Witch Prophet
Witch Prophet is a queer, Ethiopian/Eritrean singer-songwriter, and the Co-CEO of Heart Lake Records. She provides her fans with a soundscape of vocal layers, loops, raps, and harmonies on a bed of hip-hop, jazz, and soul-inspired beats: think Erykah Badu meets Lauryn Hill meets Portishead. She finds depth and connection in creating music as a portal for self-growth and discovery, as she navigates and better understands her cultural and queer identity.
Witch Prophet has shared the stage with and opened for acts like THEESatisfaction, Shabazz Palaces, Lido Pimienta, A Tribe Called Red, Climbing Poetree, SAMMUS, Sean Leon, JPEGMAFIA, The Cliks, Rae Spoon, Zaki Ibrahim, Kae Sun, and LAL, to name a few.
Her vocals have appeared on Shad’s Flying Colours LP (2013), 2009’s Polaris Prize winner Fucked Up’s LP Dose your Dreams (2018), as well as DillanPonders’ newest album Because We’re Alive (2020). She has toured Europe independently twice, playing shows in Paris, Amsterdam, London, and Berlin, and performed at North American and European music festivals including Black Women Rock, New Skool Rules, Soul Of Brooklyn, Allied Media Conference, Montreal Jazz Festival, Sappy Fest, Electric Eclectic, Summerworks, Ottawa Capital Pride, Pride Toronto, Pop Montreal, and Halifax Pop Explosion.
Witch Prophet released her Ontario Arts Council-funded sophomore LP DNA Activation in 2020, an ode to her Ethiopian and Eritrean ancestral roots, fusing Jazz, Hip-Hop, Soul and RnB with songs sung in English, Amharic, and Tigrinya. Co-produced by herself and her partner SUN SUN, praised by press and music lovers alike, DNA Activation was shortlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize. She has since been signed to Ki An Projects, a new label in the UK for the release of a deluxe edition of DNA Activation. The video for her song Tesfay directed by Leah Vlemmiks was nominated for the 2021 Prism Prize and was an official selection at the 2021 SXSW Music Video awards.
