Interview with Alpha Toshineza

OLIVIER LA ROCHE

After an online-only 2021 edition due to the pandemic, the Festival du Voyageur was finally back in person this February for the first time since 2020. Due to restrictions at the time of planning, capacity and activities at the park were reduced compared to prior years, with the nighttime shows particularly suffering. However, the daytime atmosphere at the park was pleasant as usual and some great concerts were put on at the CCFM not too far away.

Among the performers at the cultural centre was Alpha Toshineza, a supremely talented artist with whom I had the chance to speak about his experience with this year’s Festival where he performed on February the 20th. The rapper is based in Winnipeg, having arrived here with unique experience he gained growing as an artist in Luxembourg and Belgium. His impressive musical resume now spans over four decades and includes countless performances across the world, collaborations with a myriad of hip-hop acts, opening up for artists as monumental as De La Soul and multiple solo projects to his name.

Stylus: Can you tell me a bit about the work you did in Europe and how it kickstarted your career?

Alpha: I started listening to hip-hop very early, listening to 90s hip-hop, that’s really my era. I was into beat making too, so I kind of learned how to do everything myself. I was part of a hip-hop crew called MQP. At that time, in your crew you had graffiti artists, MCs, DJs and break dancers. We would move around to cities in Luxembourg and we’d go there to attend hip-hop parties or perform at a cypher. Around 2005 I released my first EP. At that time I was going under Gospel Emcee, but Alpha Toshineza was my alter ego as a beat maker and creative director. I would create my own album covers and make the beats as Alpha Toshineza. It’s a bit like Madlib and Quasimoto. In the end I decided to rebrand myself by just using the name Alpha Toshineza. It’s more than just a rapper, it’s also the creative director. You need to have a whole vision for your brand.

Stylus: How was the CCFM as a venue for your show during this year’s Festival? What was the crowd like?

A: It was a very warm, welcoming place. Festival did a great job actually, in creating a space for musicians to perform in a way that they feel close to the audience instead of just being on stage. I really like how the Festival did this, kudos to the organizers.

Stylus:How would you say this show compared to other performances you’ve done in your career?

A: I’d say it showed me the importance of connecting with real people. Just to be on stage, connecting with live people in front of you, dancing, shouting. The communication, that’s something when you haven’t had after a while and you reconnect, it’s really eye opening about the importance of human connection. This is beyond music for me, this is not just about performing, it’s really about connecting with people. Rediscovering this made it a very particular show to me. I would rate this one in the top shows that I’ve done, due to the circumstances. People showed up, people engaged and you could feel the energy that people were just happy to be there and share that with you. It was a very important show in my career, a very, very important one.

Stylus: Is the music scene in Winnipeg something that inspired you to move here or was that something you discovered afterwards?

A: A little bit of both. I moved here as a francophone, I wasn’t even familiar with any French community in Winnipeg, so I thought maybe Montreal would be my place, but what attracted me to stay in Winnipeg was actually to discover this artistic scene. People with little are still able to create something and it’s a very alternative music scene but at the same time it’s a growing professional music scene that still has some grassroots underground aspect to it. There’s a lot of key people here in Winnipeg and historically Winnipeg has played a major part in music in Canada. It comes down to certain festivals, we talk about Jazz Fest, we talk about Folk Fest, we talk about key artists who are from Winnipeg or Manitoba. I discovered that later on but I could feel there is a legacy that cannot be discounted. What I like about Winnipeg is there’s room for everyone. You go to Toronto, it’s a city that swallows you. Winnipeg gives you room to breathe, to create and to recreate yourself.

Stylus: Thank you so much for doing this, it’s been a pleasure.

PHOTO: BNB STUDIOS

A: Thank you.

Alpha Toshineza says he’s staying creative with some new music coming eventually and he hopes to perform more in the not-too-distant future.