/ honouring the goodness and bawdness of jamaican music culture
/ honouring the goodness and bawdness of jamaican music culture
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A portrait of Nino Brown taken by Jorian Charlton. Nino has light-brown skin and long straight black hair with a slight wave. Nino 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 red hue. She is wearing a white long-sleeved button-up shirt underneath an orange textured short-sleeve sweater with an earth-toned tie, loose khaki pants, and black shoes. Nino’s head is tilted as she looks down towards the camera. To the left of Nino is a thick white beam running from the floor to a white ceiling with piping.
“There is a spirit of competition when it comes to soundsystem culture, which is something we tend to eliminate when we're doing more inclusive parties. … And sometimes I'm like, is that erasure? Or is that just evolving?”
NINO BROWN
PARTY Regarded as Toronto’s foremost queer bashment, Yes Yes Y’all — which Brown co-founded alongside DJs Sammy Rawal, Stunts, Yes Yes Jill and L Rock — is considered a local institution for the city’s hip hop and arts scene.
HOMETOWN(S) Markham/Scarborough, ON
PEAK HOUR TUNE “The Spice dub goes first,” says the half-Trini, half-Pakistani DJ of the rare Queen of the Dancehall dubplate — the term for what is essentially unreleased, even personalized versions of popular dancehall tracks that selectors vie for — in her crate.
RWD << “I had my first club experience at 13 in Trinidad. I was going to raves at 15 and 16 and 17.”
FWD >> “For me, JERK is an ideal Toronto party. Somewhere that was taking that nostalgia but pushing the boundaries. And for me, that’s why I’ve always looked up to it.”
INSTAGRAM @yesyesninobrown
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A photograph of a gray cement wall displaying a variety of colourful event signage. Hanging in the top right of the frame is a mango tree branch with lush green foliage. At the bottom of the frame is a dark grey zinc roof.
A portrait of Nino Brown taken by Jorian Charlton. Nino has light brown skin and long straight black hair with a slight wave. Nino is positioned in the center of the frame, captured from the waist up, standing in front of a black backdrop in a white industrial-style space. She is wearing an orange textured sweater with a white collar peeking out at the neckline and an earth-toned tie. Nino’s head is tilted as she looks down towards the camera. To the far left of the frame is a white wall and a tall stack of black speakers (a soundsystem) cast in a purple hue.