Shades Lawrence is a Montreal-born, queer hip hop artist of mixed British, Jamaican, Irish and Scottish heritage.
A pure lyricist, Shades Lawrence’s style can be described as alternative hip hop. Her words uplift, while keeping environmental justice at the forefront.
To date, her cadence has been compared to Lauryn Hill, Princess Nokia, and Shad. Shades comes out of a tradition of spoken word. She has performed at over 40+ shows as a spoken word poet and hip hop artist, and has shared the stage with a variety of artists, including Big Freedia, Princess Nokia, and Cakes da Killa. Shades Lawrence has performed at festivals including POP Montreal, Fierté/Pride MTL, and Calgary’s Femme Wave Festival.
Shades Lawrence has released 3 full-length albums, Trust Takes Time (2022), 4th Quarter (2021), and East West Road (2020). She also has 3 EPs out, Formidable Time (2017), Second Life (2019), and the Mind Right EP (2019). Second Life was featured on Bandcamp’s home page in their New & Notable section.
She has received blog coverage from Toronto-based Aesthetic Magazine, and Canadian Beats, among others.
You can connect with Shades Lawrence and her music at shadeslawrence.com or on social media channels as Shades Lawrence.
