iskwē

iskwē (Cree syllabics: ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, formerly transliterated IsKwé) (short for waseskwan iskwew, meaning "blue sky woman" in English)^[1] (born Meghan Meisters,^[2] 1981) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.^[3]

iskwē
Birth name	Meghan Meisters
Born	1981 (age 42–43) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Origin	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Electropop indie electronic downtempo trip hop post-rock
Occupation(s)	singer-songwriter
Website	iskwe.com

Personal life

Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, iskwē has lived in Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto, and now lives in Hamilton, Ontario.^[4]

iskwē is a Cree Métis and a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation, a federally recognized Métis government.^[5]

Career

She released her debut album Iskwé in 2013.^[6] Her debut single "Nobody Knows," produced by The Darcys and featured in the Netflix series Between, focused on the Missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis in Canada.^[7]

Her second album, The Fight Within, was released in 2017.^[8] In 2018, she received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination for the song "Healers".^[9] The Fight Within garnered a win at the 2017 Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA) for Electronic/Dance Artist of the Year, she also received a Juno Award nomination for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2018 and was longlisted for the 2018 Polaris Music Prize.^[10][7][11]

Her third album, acākosīk, was released on 8 November 2019.^[12] The album won a Juno Award for Music Video of the Year for the song Little Star directed by Sarah Legault^[13] and was a Juno Award nominee for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020.^[14] Her song "Breaking Down" was shortlisted for the 2020 SOCAN Songwriting Prize and the video PRISM Prize.^[15]

iskwē's fourth album The Stars was released 5 March 2021 and is a "reimagination" of her album acākosīk (saying that "the stars" is English for acākosīk.^[16]) featuring new arrangements (by Darren Fung) of six songs with iskwē accompanied by a trio of piano (Michael Shand), cello (Mariel Gonzalez), and violin (Laura C Bates) recorded live-of-the-floor at Revolution Recording^[17] in Toronto and an orchestral arrangement of “Night Danger (Lovers Mix)” recorded with the FILMharmonic Orchestra (Prague).^[18]

Discography

• Iskwé (2013)
• The Fight Within (2017)
• acākosīk (2019)
• The Stars (2021)
• Mother Love (2022, with Tom Wilson)
• nīna (2024)^[19]

Songs

Iskwé Album Tracks^[20]

• iNewYork
• So Over You
• Recycle ft M1 of Dead Prez
• Another Love Song (remix)
• Wandering (remix)
• One Better
• Midnight
• Another Love Song
• Not Today
• Slack Jaw

The Fight Within Album Tracks^[21]

• Ice Walker
• Soldier
• Healers
• The Storm
• Will I See
• Disturbed
• Nobody Knows
• Sometimes ft. Keolya
• Say It Sweet

acākosīk Album Tracks^[22]

• Intro
• Breaking Down
• The Unforgotten
• Little Star
• Interlude
• Sweet Tuesday
• Night Danger

The Stars Album Tracks^[23]

• Little Star (Stars Mix)
• Night Danger (Lovers Mix)
• Sweet Tuesday (Stars Mix)
• Interlude (Stars Mix)
• Breaking Down (Stars Mix)
• The Unforgotten (Stars Mix)

Awards

• 2020 Juno Winner – Little Star Music Video of the Year^[24]
• 2020 Juno Nominee – acākosīk for Alternative Album of the Year^[25]
• 2020 Nominee SOCAN Songwriting Prize - for the song "Breaking Down"
• 2020 Nominee PRISM Prize for 'Breaking Down"
• 2018 Juno Nominee – The Fight Within Indigenous Album of the Year^[7]
• 2018 Polaris Prize Long List – The Fight Within^[11]
• 2017 WCMA Winner – Electronic Artist of the Year^[7]
• 2017 Winner – REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award^[7]

References

1. Karen Bliss (13 February 2019). "iskwē Takes on Callous Coverage of Indigenous Youth Murders In 'Little Star': Video Premiere". Billboard.com.
2. "Indigenous musician's Facebook page suspended for using traditional name". CBC.ca. 16 October 2015.
3. "Remembrance, by iskwe". The Walrus. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
4. "Indigenous artist iskwē shares her inspiration for music". Unreserved, 10 September 2017.
5. Loo, Olivea (15 December 2023). "The blue sky woman "Iskwē" performs new music live in Toronto". 106.5 ELMNT FM Toronto (CFPT-FM). Retrieved 25 February 2024.
6. "Iskwé’s fight for the greater good". The Coast, 9 November 2017.
7. "Iskwé". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
8. "First Play: Iskwé, The Fight Within". CBC Music, 26 October 2017.
9. "2018 SOCAN Songwriting Prize Nominees Revealed". Exclaim!, 24 May 2018.
10. "Arcade Fire and Daniel Caesar lead 2018 Juno Award nominations". CBC Music, 6 February 2018.
11. "2018Polaris Music Prize Longlist". polarismusicprize.ca. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
12. Graham Rockingham, "Hamilton-based singer-songwriter shares her journey of Indigenous self-discovery with new album". Hamilton Spectator, 6 November 2019.
13. "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
14. Melody Lau, "Alessia Cara and Tory Lanez lead the 2020 Juno nominations". CBC Music, 28 January 2019.
15. Allie Gregory, "SOCAN Announces 2020 Songwriting Prize Finalists". Exclaim!, July 16, 2020.
16. "iskwē Swaps Out Electro-Pop Immediacy for Orchestral Haunt on 'The Stars' EP, by Alisha Mughal". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
17. "Revolution Recording". revolutionrecording.com. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
18. "FILMharmonic Orchestra". musa.cz/filmharmonic-orchestra.htm. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
19. Spill Magazine Staff (11 January 2024). "Spill New Music: iskwē Announces New Album nīna + Shares "Waiting for the Laughter"". Spill New Music. Spill Magazine. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
20. "iskwe, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
21. "The Fight Within, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
22. "acākosīk, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
23. "The Stars, by iskwe". iskwe. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
24. "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
25. "2020 Juno Award Winners, by". Juno awards. Retrieved 11 March 2021.