The TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival presents:
viisi | RAW:JazzFest
with F E R R O x Sadye
Thursday June 20, 2019
Doors at 9:30 PM | Show at 10 PM | Tickets $20
Nestled on St Boniface’s waterfront in Parc Elzéar Goulet, RAW:JazzFest is an experiment in sound and design. Built with a vision for an exceptional sound quality experience, this unique pop-up venue will also feature our 2019 festival cocktail.
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Dropping his first rough cut as a high school freshman when he was just fourteen, viisi couldn’t have known that five years later he’d be touring Europe, playing packed shows in France.
Born Matthew Christian Eric Borley, the rapper and songwriter didn’t experience the typical “suburban white kid” upbringing. viisi grew up surrounded by family dysfunction and he battled addiction growing up. Over time, things at home improved immensely and viisi’s family bond grew, as did his desire to express his life’s story – both the good and the bad – through his art.
As the hip hop landscape was shifting to the likes of 50 Cent and Lil Jon, viisi’s father introduced him to select verses from ’90s hip hop pioneers, starting with the most controversial rapper of his time, Eminem. While most of Eminem’s lyrics were PG-13 at best, the senior Borley was careful to only show his young son lines that connect at a deeper level. Not satisfied with only hearing bits and pieces, viisi did what any typical adolescent would do: he snuck out an old laptop and dove deep down the hip hop rabbit hole.
Eminem led to Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre to Tupac, Tupac to Biggie . . . suddenly, an inspired obsession overtook him, along with a new moniker, and the rapper who previously called himself Matt Redd was born.
Over the next five years, Matt Redd evolved, making way for viisi. For Borley, “viisi” (the Finnish word for “five”) represented the years that came before, and what has yet to come. Writing prose with a message from personal experience, of life and dreams, of merit and substance, viisi breaks the stereotypes surrounding much modern hip hop and its artificial rappers. viisi is unapologetically honest, bringing a visceral approach to his shows.
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ＦＥＲＲＯ x Sadye are a pop producer/songwriter duo that split their time between Winnipeg and Los Angeles.
On his own, ＦＥＲＲＯ is a Canadian pianist/multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, engineer, and songwriter. He studied music and computer science at the University of Manitoba, and is actively working in the music industry, fusing his two passions of music and technology.
As a composer, his work can be heard in such films as The Movement and Spring Breakers, in which he collaborated with electronic pioneer Skrillex.
Sadye is a singer/songwriter and frontwoman of the Canadian alt-rock band Efflo. As the lead singer of Efflo, Sadye recently opened for Ke$ha in Milwaukee on the Fourth of July, and has performed throughout the world, from New York to Montreal to Tokyo.
RAW:JazzFest is made possible with the support of Michael Nesbitt.
To purchase a ticket, please follow the link.