Next Door Records at Future Echoes 2023

Hua Li 化力

Hua Li’s hazy R&B and revolutionary rap cuts to the bone and shakes your frail ass to the ground. She released her debut full-length, Dynasty with Next Door Records in September 2019 followed up by her critically acclaimed Yellow Crane EP in 2020. A charismatic performer, she has been blessed to share her work on major stages around the world, including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Pride Toronto and Reykjavik’s Secret Solstice Festival. She is also an active DJ with residencies in her hometown of Montreal and as touring DJ for Inuk electro-pop artist Riit. Subversive and sexy, Hua Li is the only half-Chinese, half-militant, half-rapper of your heart.

Super duty tough work

Golden-era taste, future-era based. Rooted in the tradition of Black American resistance arts, SDTW is known to entertain and inspire while at the same time employing scathing wit and thorough analysis to push their radical politic of revolution, party and bullshit. Inspired by the dirty jazz loop sound of 90s east coast hip hop, Super Duty Tough Work are the live incarnation of hip hop culture's quintessential era, appearing as a band (we know, stay with us) but manifesting a sound that’s more akin to something straight out of an MPC or SP-404 sampler. Revered for their methodically curated sets, SDTW mixes laidback rap action and razor-sharp delivery with effortless loops sewn together with surprising transitions, keeping audiences on their feet and salivating in anticipation as to what’s coming next. 

After being a live-show-only act for years, the group released their debut EP ‘Studies in Grey’, in September 2019, followed by a Polaris Prize nod and a nomination for a Western Canadian Music Award for Best Rap & Hip Hop Artist. The Polaris nomination makes SDTW the first Manitoba-based hip hop act to be nominated.

The group is currently in the final stages of completing their next offering, to be released with the support of Toronto-based Next Door Records in 2023.