/ honouring the goodness and bawdness of jamaican music culture

/ honouring the goodness and bawdness of jamaican music culture

A portrait of Bambii taken by Jorian Charlton. Bambii has medium-dark brown skin and a shoulder-length afro with small, tight curls and vibrant red hair. Bambii is positioned in the top-centre of the frame, and is sitting on top of a tall stack of bl

“I think that any sort of collective of people that are like pushing a sound, pushing a culture, pushing a sort of like ethos around music, that's a sound system.”

  • A portrait of Bambii taken by Jorian Charlton. Bambii has medium-dark brown skin and a shoulder-length afro with small, tight curls and vibrant red hair. Bambii is positioned in the top-centre of the frame, and is sitting on top of a tall stack of black speakers (a soundsystem) in a white industrial-style space cast in a subtle red hue. She is wearing an open black coat with knee-high black boots and black denim shorts with cut-outs at the thigh. Bambii’s head is slightly tilted as she looks down towards the camera.

Bambii

PARTY/SOUNDSYSTEM Give up your phone lights for this ode to Toronto’s Caribbean heritage. However, the biannual JERK bashment/dance party forgoes nostalgia by positioning dancehall in dialogue with contemporary modes of electronic club music, like jungle, house, and garage. (All the while serving free JERK chicken plates.)  

HOMETOWN Etobicoke, ON

PEAK HOUR TUNE Vybz Kartel featuring Spice — “Romping Shop” 

RWD <<  “Master T is very notable to me cuz my mom was actually on MuchMusic for a play she did,” says Bambii, whose mother, the former playwright Jay Pitter, is now a highly regarded author, placemaker, and urban planning lecturer. “People don’t understand how MuchMusic wasn’t just like MTV. Whether we remember it or not, that shaped our relationship to music in Toronto.”

FWD >> “The music industry at large will get much more interesting when it gets more multicultural and a lot less homophobic.”

INSTAGRAM @bam_bii

A photograph of Nino Brown, Ace Dillinger, and Bambii taken by Jorian Charlton. Nino, Ace and Bambii are positioned in the centre of the frame, spotlit by a bright light. They are standing on a black rug in front of a black backdrop in a white indust
A flash photograph of the inside of a white crate filled with split-open ackee. The ackee husks range from a deep red to brownish-yellow, while their insides reveal white arils and large black seeds.

    1. A photograph of Nino Brown, Ace Dillinger, and Bambii taken by Jorian Charlton. Nino, Ace and Bambii are positioned in the centre of the frame, spotlit by a bright light. They are standing on a black rug in front of a black backdrop in a white industrial-style space. On the far left is Nino, who has light brown skin and long straight black hair with a slight wave. She is wearing a long-sleeve white button-up shirt under an orange textured short-sleeve sweater with an earth-toned tie, loose khaki pants, and black shoes. Nino is drinking a juice box and has her head tilted as she looks straight towards the camera. To the right of Nino, Ace and Bambii sit together on a motorcycle. Ace is at the front of the motorcycle with her hands gripping the handlebars as she looks towards her left. Ace has medium-brown skin and straight mid-length black hair with a shag cut and bangs. She is wearing a black mesh shirt, black leather pants, and black shoes. Behind Ace is Bambii, who holds onto Ace’s shoulder with her left hand and looks straight towards the camera. Bambii has medium-dark brown skin and a shoulder-length afro with small, tight curls and vibrant red hair. She wears a brown jacket, black denim shorts with a cut-out at the thigh, and knee-high black boots. On the rug and to the left of Nino, Ace, and Bambii, is a small pile of items, including juice boxes and a 6-pack of Red Stripe. Behind and towards the far left of Nino, Ace, and Bambbii is a tall stack of black speakers (a soundsystem) with the logo ‘40hz’ spray painted on the front against a white wall cast in a purple hue.

    2. A flash photograph of the inside of a white crate filled with split-open ackee. The ackee husks range from a deep red to brownish-yellow, while their insides reveal white arils and large black seeds.