Vox Sambou :: Born in the town of Limbe in Northern Haiti, Vox Sambou has been writing and performing since age 14. Montreal, Canada is now his home. A founding member of the international crew Nomadic Massive, he also asserts his individualism within this collective which facilitates his desire to bring light to the injustices taking place worldwide and particularly in Haiti. [MORE...]

Further, he does so using Haiti's most widely spoken language, creole. Vox hopes to bring back a sense of pride to his people by shedding light on their rich and unique cultural heritage. He feels, however, that although it is important to identify the issues surrounding the problem, it is equally urgent to find concrete solutions. He exercises this credo everyday as director of a youth community center in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges.

Having completed his first solo album and released three videos, performing as a solo artist and with Nomadic Massive has kept him busy both locally and abroad. Notably, Vox Sambou took part in the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Festival International Nuits d'Afrique, Festival du Monde Arabe, Festival Urbain de Trois-Rivieres, the Indie Unlimited Festival, The 2nd Annual Cuban Hip-Hop Symposium, Blackitude Vozes Negras da Bahia, Brazil, just to name a few. His upcoming projects include the release of the 2nd Nomadic Massive Album, his second solo album, and another trip to Brazil with Nomadic Massive to continue his mission of international collaboration.

Nantali Indongo aka I am Black Girl :: studied literature at the University of Ottawa, and got a graduate certificate in journalism from Humber College-“but my training came from my family. ��
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Not only an artist with the celebrated  hip-hop ensemble Nomadic Massive and a regular contributor to Community Contact, Quebec's major English-language black community newspaper, Nantali is an alternative educator  using hip-hop culture as a contemporary educational tool. While institutional education tends to stick to set curricula and rigid social codes, Indongo, co-founder with Maryse Legagneur, of the “Hip Hop No Pop”program has been invited to tour high-schools and CEGEP campuses and teach workshops on more relevant topics to youth today, including the history of hip-hop, sexuality and language. “The workshops I now run are rooted in an attempt to confront mainstream interpretations of hip-hop while also trying to push kids to be critical thinkers by attempting to put hip-hop into context. We look at the history of hip-hop culture as a movement and its connections to histories of struggle - from the civil rights movement all the way back to African traditions.”

Nantali Indongo sits on the governing board of the Maison des jeunes de la Côte-des-Neiges.  In addition to this, she is also currently pursuing her graduate degree in education at McGill University.

Lou Piensa :: Active in the international Hip Hop scene for over 15 years, Lou Piensa has been involved in many aspects of the movement including radio, music production, performance and events organisation. He has shared the stage with such artists as Common, Dead Prez, Tony Touch, K'Naan, Jean Grey, Foreign Beggars and more. [MORE...]

Since the year 2000,he has been living in the Cote-des-Neiges neigborhood of Montreal, Canada. A trilingual MC (English, French and Spanish), Lou also has a decade long tie with the Cuban Hip Hop scene, particularely with the pioneering duo Obsesion (myspace.com/obsesioncuba). In 2004, he helped initiate the creation of Nomadic Massive, a multilingual and eclectic live Hip Hop crew (myspace.com/nomadicmassive) with whom he has been making noise both as an MC and producer. His nomadic childhood (Lou was born in France and grew up in Ecuador, Algeria, Canada and Cuba) has given him an ability to adapt with ease and it has fueled his international vision of Hip Hop culture. His production reflects an eclectic musical upbringing, finding inspiration in the rythms from the world over. When he is not teaching high school kids or working on a project somehow related to Hip Hop, he can be found making beats and writing rhymes in preparation for travelling the world with music. Ahi na'ma'!

Waahli :: is an ovo-lacto vegetarian but once in a while he’ll eat chicken especially when it’s cooked by his mom. A black man born and raised in Quebec, his dad a skilled guitarist arrived in 1971 followed by his mom in 1972 from Haiti to escape the political instability. After completing degrees in communications, art and theater, and paralegal technology, Waahli now works as the legal coordinator at the Head and Hands clinic in NDG where he gives youth between the ages of 12-25 resources through a harm reductive approach in order to empower them to make informed decisions toward solving their legal issues.
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With music as a passion; guitarist, producer and MC (Creole, French and English), he performed as a solo artist before the Nomadic Massive Collective got together 5 years ago. He tapped into the hip-hop culture at a very early age. Growing up in St-Michel facing a lot of social injustice, the message relayed by various artists who made conscious hip-hop spoke to him directly, and he felt deeply inspired to emanate that type of lifestyle through his own personal experience and has been involved in making music for social change while celebrating life which he categorizes as “Edutainment”. So there you have it, Waahli, not a religious person but a friendly guy, whose given name is one of the 99 attributes of Allah, which means loyal to the universal laws, friendly, social, and reliable. His aim and vision is to be active in making a difference for himself and the world around him, musically and socially.

Ali Sepu :: Originaire d’Ottawa et n�(c)e de parents chiliens, Ali Sepu sera tr�(r)s tôt influenc�(c) par la culture et les musiques traditionnelles de sa famille. D�(r)s l’age de 12 ans, il �(c)tudiera la guitare classique en compagnie de musiciens chiliens et d�(c)veloppera un talent inn�(c) pour l’improvisation de m�(c)lodies et de rythmiques. Il sera invit�(c) à performer aux côt�(c)s du groupe folklorique Ramada avec sa jeune sœur Sayen. Tous deux auront la chance de d�(c)velopper leurs talents en donnant de nombreuses prestations au Canada et en Am�(c)rique Latine. Invit�(c) à collaborer au projet Hold Up Mental, en septembre 2003, il int�(r)grera le collectif d’artistes qui formeront plus tard le Nomadic Massive. La richesse de ses m�(c)lodies et sa pr�(c)sence sur sc�(r)ne permettra de donner la saveur et la couleur musicale qui caract�(c)rise le groupe et qui permet au Nomadic Massive d’offrir à son public un son unique.

Meduza was born in Algiers, Algeria, came to Canada in July 2000. Joined Nomadic Massive in summer 2005 up in Maison des Jeunes Cote-des-Neiges.
“Meeting Nomadic Massive opened my eyes to the fact that some people still care, not just for music, but for a better living situation and that you can have an impact on this world, that it matters who you are and what you bring.
We all have to work and pay bills. As soon as I started my career in real estate, I noticed how easy it was to get caught up in the work, run and pay bills cycle, and for what? If you're not aware and conscious of what you are doing and where it’s bringing you, you get lost.”

Rawgged MC :: Diegal Leger, alias Rawgged MC was born in Haïti, and raised in Montreal.  His upbringing was stimulated by music, sports and academics.  A shy kid, he internalized the realities of immigration, soaked in sounds and rhythms of Haitian community radio, vintage cassettes from his father's collection of kompa and other classics of musicianship from non-western traditions. [MORE...]

Later, he found the confidence to express himself first on pots and pans, by beatboxing in the shower and while commuting to and from school, through rhyming and ultimately through learning the electric bass.  Curious in nature, and with a positive outlook, he wanted to do it all. He ended up doing most of it, but not at the same time. That is, he took a break from his academic career in the life sciences to explore other disciplines such as history and administration as an independent student; to enter the workforce as a pool guy, airport security agent, customer service rep, financial security adviser, promoter and event organizer. It was through the latter activities, notely Rockdeep Tuesdays that he hosted and promoted, and the annual Montreal International Symposium on Hiphop Culture held from 2002-2005 that he met most members of Nomadic Massive.  In 2004, the year that Nomadic Massive was founded, he enrolled in the doctorate program in podiatric medicine at the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivi�(r)res. He graduated in 2008 and now practices at the Clinique et Centre de Chirurgie Podiatrique in Terrebonne. So far, he has managed to combine and balance his passions and interests in the fields of health science, music, and community involvement.

Butta Beats :: Artiste versatile d’origine argentine aimant squatter la sc�(r)ne underground, Butta Beats a particip�(c) à de nombreuses sessions d’improvisation freestyle et de beatbox lors de concerts et de soir�(c)es organis�(c)es dans la r�(c)gion de Montr�(c)al. Il fait partie de la WeFunk Familia avec DJ Static et DJ Professeur Groove qui animent une �(c)mission de radio pr�(c)sent�(c)e les vendredis soirs de minuit à 2h sur les ondes de CKUT 90.3 FM Radio McGill. Butta Beats forme aussi depuis 1999 le duo latino-am�(c)ricain Iron Chef Project avec le guitariste Ali Sepu. Ensembles, ils int�(r)grent parfaitement les influences folkloriques de la culture sud am�(c)ricaine à celles des musiques urbaines occidentales. Butta Beats a su trouver, à travers le Hip Hop et le groupe Nomadic Massive, le parfait m�(c)dium pour exprimer son discours social positif.
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beatbox, rapper(english and spanish), freestyler,multi-instrumentalist , composer, producer, singer, songwriter, draughtsman,painter,bombass chef, social worker and educator, crack-pot philosopher,audiophonically pleasing,nomadic massive member.plus everybodies favourite dairy product straight out the udder son!

Jason "Blackbird" Selman ::was born in Canada of Barbados descent. A graduate of Concordia University with a BFA (specialization in Jazz Studies), he has been performing on the Montr�(c)al Arts scene as both Performance Poet and Musician for the past ten years. He is a member of the collectives KalmUnity and Nomadic Massive. More recently, Mr. Selman has used these talents in the service of Montr�(c)al’s Black Theatre Workshop Youth Works theatre program.
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In May of 2005, he undertook the role of producer for the poetry, music and song series Intimate Sky, a showcase for some of Montr�(c)al’s most talented performers. In May of 2006 his play Death of the Bourgeois Dream was performed by members of the Youth Works team and in July of that year, he participated with Nomadic Massive in Cuba’s annual Hip Hop Symposium in Habana. In January of 2007, he co-edited Talking Book, an anthology of poetry featuring members of the KalmUnity collective. His first collection of poems The Freedom I Stole was published by Cumulus Press in 2007.