Kinnie Starr

Starr was born and raised in Calgary, where she attended Western Canada High School. Her ancestry is French, German, Irish and indigenous, specifically Mohawk. She is trilingual (English, French and Spanish). Starr has a BA in Race and Gender Studies from Queen's University.[1]

After moving to Vancouver, Starr formed her first band in 1992. According to legend, the true extent of her talent was first revealed on trip to New York City, when a friend pushed her onstage at an East Village club's open-mic night, where her impromptu spoken-word poetry met an enthusiastic reception.

Following a self-released demo called Learning 2 Cook in 1995, she released her debut album Tidy in 1996, mixing rock, punk, pop, and hip-hop, along with her trademark spoken-word poetry. On that album, she rapped in three languages: English, Spanish, and French.

Starr signed to major label group Island/Def Jam in 1997, following a massive bidding war during which Clive Davis personally flew out to dine the young artist to try and sign her to his roster of pop stars.[2] The next year, Seagram bought Polygram, the parent company of Island Def Jam, and merged it into Universal Music Group. In the resulting upheaval, Starr felt she was lost in the shuffle and she asked to be released from her contract. The material she recorded for her first album with Island Def Jam, 1998's Mending was never released, though some record labels have talked of releasing the lost album.

In 1997, Starr appeared on the Lilith Fair tour. In the late '90s and in 2004, she toured Canada with Veda Hille and Oh Susanna as part of the "Scrappy Bitch Tour".

She performed in November 2000 at Lee's Palace in Toronto.[3]

Cirque du Soleil pursued Starr to sing in their productions, and in 2003 she contracted with them to perform in Zumanity for two years. After releasing her 2003 album Sun Again, she moved to Las Vegas. However, she was back home in Canada by the following year, where she continued to perform and record.

In 2011, Starr was honoured as a Pioneer in Canadian Hip Hop Culture by the ManifesTO festival.[4]

Her 2018 album, Feed the Fire explores finding one's truest self amidst the digital chaos of the 21st century.[5]

Much of Starr's work engages positively with female sexuality, in contrast to male perspectives often associated with hip-hop culture.[10] Starr identifies as bisexual, and has enjoyed popularity in the queer community.[11]

In 2006 she formally became a mentor for aspiring indigenous musicians as a faculty member with the Manitoba Audio Recording Industry Association's Aboriginal Music Program (AMP) Camp.

Starr appeared as a guest on The Rachel Maddow Show on 11 August 2006.[12] On 31 August, her single "Anything" was the first-ever No. 1 single on CBC Radio 3's new countdown show The R3-30.

Starr has often spoken out, for example during a 2013 performance at Vancouver Folk Music Festival,[13] about the importance of protecting water.

• 2001: Down and Out with the Dolls. Director: Kurt Voss.
• 2016: "Play Your Gender" (host, curator & co-producer). Director: Stephanie Clattenburg. Producer: Sahar Yousefi.

• Canadian hip hop
• First Nations music

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kinnie Starr.

• Official website
• Kinnie Starr
• Kinnie Starr at IMDb