Photos courtesy of Ms. Jully Black.

Cool, confident and calm, she comes out from the back room and walks quickly past all distractions (promoters, reporters, sound technicians, etc) her eyes see nothing except for what is ahead of her. She walks directly to where her heart is, directly onto the stage where she greets her guitarist, pianist and back up singer and begins to sing. The sound check was a preview of the great show to happen later that night at the Media Club in Vancouver, and those in attendance heard Jully perform a few of her songs she had planned to perform later that night; including Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” After sound check she attends to the media and their questions and leaves the venue to prepare for her performance at General Motors Place; where she is tonight’s special guest, singing both the the American and Canadian national anthem for a crowd of thousands before an NHL hockey game. She sang so passionately that it incited hollering and applause from all in attendance. From there she rushed back to the Media Club to perform an intimate performance for her day one fans. It seems really hectic and fast paced, but it’s just another day for Ms. Jully Black.

So, Ms. Jully Black…. First off, is it still Ms.?
Ms.? Oh yes! still miss!

So not to say you’ve been gone for a while, but for those that don’t know you been keeping busy, what have you been up to?
Well I’ve been hosting TV on eTalk, I’ve been working on this album, “Revival” I’ve been writing and living, it’s been a few years since “This Is Me” but, it doesn’t really feel that long ‘cause I have been keeping busy.

Many people have seen you on television lately doing entertainment correspondence work for CTV, how did you get involved with that?
I am their celebrity correspondent, I do specific interview with people like Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Bill Clinton, as well as musicians I look up to like Sean Paul, Shakira, and Aerosmith, I just got involved because they saw me be myself. I basically bum-rushed an interview that Ben Mulroney was doing and later on the higher-ups saw the footage on the cutting room floor and the rest is history. CTV has been very good to me and always support me, especially being a big network, they support me in a big way.


So about your new album “Revival” can you tell us about it?
It’s the old me to the new me with all live instrumentation. It’s a record that Keith Harris (drummer for the Black Eyed Peas and Will I Am’s co-producer) produced. He and I became good friends and we were thinking of taking it back to the days of Motown, with not much technology and doing it live off the floor, it’s a record for everybody. I would say it’s an R&B pop record, and when I say pop I mean popular, like the days when we listened to Marvin Gaye & Stevie Wonder and it was Pop R&B ‘cause everyone knows about them. It’s feel good music with deep subjects.


How does it differ from the 'old' Jully Black or better yet the Jully Black from the very late 90’s (Baby Blue Soundcrew).
It’s basically a jambalaya of everything I am ‘cause I am Hip-Hop, Gospel, Reggae, R&B, and a bit of Rock. It’s just growth, it’s evolution. Back then when I made music with Kardinal and Baby Blue Soundcrew, it was sort of my apprenticeship, in my opinion, to become the voice of Hip-Hop and R&B in Canada, to find my place, because there was no outlet then.


Apparently when “This is me” came out in 2005 a lot of downloading affected sales of your album, can you explain your views on downloading?
It’s something we do have to talk about, because it has to do with the time we are living in. We are not listening to cassette tapes anymore, and we rarely use vinyl. Nowadays I’m seeing DJ’s mix with computers (Serato/Scratch Live). So basically when it first happened I was totally devastated, but I realized that I am from that era as well. We don’t use typewriters; we are from the computer era. I just decided to embrace change, and try to use this technology to reach through to my fans through things like Facebook & MySpace. It let’s me know there is a demand for Jully and already in two weeks we’ve surpassed the sales of “This Is Me”. So I realize if people commit to you and your project then they are going to support it, you just have to be patient.

For those who haven’t heard of you or your music how would you explain it?
It’ll ignite, excite and inspire you. It is from me for you, it is music from the soul.

Your music has definitely evolved throughout the years and definitely gotten more jazzy/soul-ish, what made you want to change this style from the Jully black who did joints like “Money Jane”?
I actually haven’t changed my style; I think people are just finally peeling the layers and hearing who I really am.

On your album, the song titled “7 day fool” speaks about a crazy love that you have, what was the inspiration for this song?
That’s actually an Etta James song…but my mother. My mom is old school, she’s 70 now. She had me very late and raised nine kids on her own. I remember her before my dad left, kinda just standing by her man, washing, cooking and cleaning. Keith found the song for me and I usually always do Etta James Ballads, and Keith challenged me to do this song.

By the way, I heard it’s your birthday in one week (Nov.8), If I may ask how old will you be turning?
Ahh…You don’t ask a woman her age! C’mon now! (laughing)

In closing, do you have any shoutouts or thank you’s you’d like to make?
I would like to thank all my new fans and old ones who stuck by me. My friends and family, there are too many to thank. I wanna thank everyone I’ve come in contact with from the age of zero 'til now…Thank You!

Two of Vancity's nicest - Red 1 & Nardwuar The Human Serviette. Vancouver, B.C. 2009

Jr. Flo & Matisse pose after performing a live show at Bar None in Vancouver, B.C. 2009

Private location Jam session - British Columbia -- From Time. (R.I.P. Randy 'Tupaco' Ponzio)

The Chemical Brothers perform for a sold-out show at the Rocky Mountaineer Train Station. Vancouver, B.C. 2010.

Canadian Songstress Divine Brown posing backstage with her Juno award. Vancouver, B.C. 2009

With the release of his brand new track "Supernovas" taking over the music charts in 2020, I decided to take it back well over a decade (2006) to when i first met the artist known as K-OS. He is undoubtedly one of Canada’s better-known Hip-Hop/Soul artists, who is constantly on a mission to guide music towards what it should be: Original. Before one his sold out performances K-OS took a few minutes to share with me his thoughts about music, love and life.

Full Name:
Kheaven Terrence Brereton

Date of Birth:
Feb 20, 1972

Birthplace:
Saint Michael’s Hospital (Toronto, Ontario).

Profession:
“I’m a soul man, that happens to make music”

How would you explain your music to anyone who has never heard it before?
A musical schizophrenic. A fan of all types of music, who listens to all types of music at all times of the day.

All your albums have kept that originality that you are known for, but each album you put out has definitely evolved from the previous one. Can you tell us what you think the difference is between your albums, Joyful Rebellion and Atlantis: Hymns for Disco, how have you evolved?
Just a guy who wants to have more fun, and instead of taking the issues of the world seriously to heart everyday and every moment of his life, still taking those issues to heart and having fun with the life I have been given, and using music to have fun and address those issues in a more subversive poetic way then to talk about how fucked up shit is. There is something to be said for that also, but I think that subversive text in art and poetry is deeper, where someone will look at it and say there is no message because it’s not overt, sometimes it’s more poignant when it’s more covert. And this album reeks of undertones of everything I’ve ever talked about but in a more relaxed way, I think, in my opinion.

Love has played a major part in many of your songs. On the subject of love, relationships and past experiences, how much of your experiences with love do you let influence your music and why?
I mean on this record it’s a major influence, mostly because on my first record I had a girlfriend of three years, and we broke up right before the album was finished, and I’ve only really started to get over it on this record, which is seven years later, so this is the first time in my life that I’m actually open to not perceiving my life as someone who’s a broken hearted person, or a victim, not necessarily that I even knew that but I think sometimes we walk around with ideas of ourselves that we don’t know, and now on this record I was fully confronted  because when I started making music I was happier to address those issues, like 'The Rain' or 'Sunday Morning', to see that  “Hey! I‘ve been walking around thinking of myself in that way when I don’t even want to be that person anymore.” Love has started the evolution, which was the first record, and it’s bringing to an end a section where I don’t look at myself anymore as a person whose heart was broken but instead as someone who is set free to have many other experiences in life.


Being form the east coast of Canada and having connections to the west coast as well would you agree that having a connection to two different Canadian lifestyles makes you that much more knowledgeable when it comes to making your type of music?
Yes! it’s amazing (Canada), Ask any musician who ends up representing their nation wether It’s Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Maestro–Fresh Wes... those guys travel the country. I spent time in Nova Scotia, I spent time in Montreal, I think I get a clearer viewpoint of what Canada is all about, by hanging out in different places in Canada, because Canadians are the same generally on the surface, but every place has it’s own accent. So yeah the fact that my band lives in Vancouver and there are mountains here and it’s very natural here, people aren’t stressed, no worries. In Toronto you need to know what’s the latest in the magazines, what song is out. I usually come out and sing a song like Crucial (Which was made out here), or Crabbuckkit, which was made in T-dot. It just depends ya know?


Fans are wondering what you been up to when not touring. Are you currently working on new material or any other new projects?
At this point I am just enjoying this record, cause there was a lot of labour put into it and record companies have a certain amount of cycle for a record, cause they have a certain amount of money to spend on a record, so basically when your favourite artist moves onto another record, sometimes, I shouldn’t even make that generalization, but a lot of times the reason artists move on and start making another record it is because their budget is depleted and they can open up a new budget and start making a new record; (laughs) and I am pretty much at that point, especially because the way the music industry works today, but I am not really using that as a key this time to go make a record. Now I’m not working on another record until this is completely out of my system, and I feel like I’m just getting started, because there are so many songs on this album that can be released I can perform live or would like to make videos for. When I make the next record It’s hopefully going to be over the span of a longer time and without any preconceived idea of anything I’m gonna do.


What’s the difference between performing in a place like Vancouver, as opposed to cities like Montreal or Toronto?
In Vancouver people have the image of being people who smoke more weed, and are much more free. That alone affects how we perform and there is also a deep paranoia that accompanies smoking weed, so it’s that type of vibe. In Toronto they have seen everything, they’ve seen the circus, they stare, they watch. Just because a Toronto crowd is not moving, it doesn’t mean they’re not feeling you, it means they’re checking you out, everything from your fashion to your style, to how you're moving on stage. In Montreal it’s pretty much the type of audience that if you stop singing a song they might just continue singing the song and clapping their hands, until you have to change what your doing to what they are doing, cause they are so into it they start dancing singing and being so celebratory that you got to be like “I guess I should go with them then.” (laughs) They lead the way they ain’t at all afraid to get with something new, if you wanna play a new song they’d be down to hear it, they are about forward thinking art wise.

Anything you’d like to tell your Vancouver fans?
Umm I’m cool man, I love Vancouver, I am glad it’s not raining, but let’s not speak yet. I did two sold out shows here a while back, but now my life is a whole lot different. I didn’t really get to enjoy it at first, and I been walking back here now and realizing I didn’t realize what things looked like, I was so in a frenzy that I didn’t stop to see any of the writing on the wall, and now my mind is much more clear so now I’m like “WOW!” it’s cool to come back with people still knowing of my music and who are still excited about hearing it. But the hype has all evaporated into admiration and respect, hopefully now I can be a bit calmer about how I approach it. So that’s the best part about coming back is playing here; it is a place I will keep visiting for as long as I play music.

Dave-1 & P-Thugg (CHROMEO) backstage after performing in Vancouver, B.C. 2014

WALE performs at Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver, B.C. 2010.

G.O.O.D. Music artist Common performing at Burnaby Lake, B.C. 2009.