D'bi Young's Tour Kickoff and Album Release

It was an inspiring and emotional night last Monday at Lula Lounge, as the Jamaican-Canadian poet, d’bi. celebrated the release of her new album 333 and launched her global tour with a high-energy performance. Not only is d’bi. a dub poet, but she is also an author, and a theatre practitioner, Dora Award-winning playwright and actor. She actualizes her poetry and brings it to life through the use of dance and theatre.
Even with seven albums, d’bi. has just been experimenting with sound, but now says that she has created art that expresses who she is, on her new 16-track album.

“333 I feel is the boldest work I’ve done so far. It’s unapologetically everything. It’s unapologetically dancehall, unapologetically womanist and unapologetically political. It’s a love-letter to all the dancehall queens, all the queers who refuse the norm in any way and to all the questioners of the status quo,” she says.

The album is produced by Jakofire, Mandiemafu and Baski Njovu, who add worldly sounds to the mix. The combination of dancehall, hip-hop, rock and dubstep make her music completely unique. Later this year d’bi. will travel to South Africa, the Caribbean, Australia and Europe to share her original niche and her message of love, life and change.

d’bi. focused on her two young sons, Moon and Phoenix, before her performance, who embodied the same energy as their mother and stood at the front of the stage, watching her perform. d’bi. is a second generation dub poet, as her mother, Anita Stewart, was also a dub poet and raised her in a community environment. d’bi. does the same with her boys and brings them on tour and to events with her, because they keep her grounded and vulnerable, she says.

Charlie Bobus, the Jamaican dub poet who opened the show, sending out positive vibes while performing tracks on his album, Creative Expression, explains that d’bi.’s work is important and gives inspiration to dub poets like him. “It’s a phenomenal experience [working with d’bi.], because she has a vibe and energy and she’s so real and she captures the whole energy of dub poetry with her presence.”

Performing barefoot and in a tight black ensemble, d’bi. entered the stage and performed an emotional and powerful a cappella piece with intense energy and passion. She tackled extremely serious topics throughout the show on issues related to race, rape, gender issues, motherhood and HIV. Through her vocals, music, facial expression and body movement, her performance was larger than life. She spoke, sang, screamed and laughed, captivating audience members, who rose to their feet in a standing ovation when d’bi. bowed at the end of the show.

Nico Contreras, who lives in Montreal, was visiting Toronto and when he heard that d’bi. would be performing, he made sure to attend the event. “I really admire d’bi.’s ability to draw upon her roots, her understanding of the world, understanding of herself, of humanity, beauty and truth, and to share that in a way that is completely unique and at the same time touches upon elements that are universal to all of us.”