The first thing you notice listening to Aysanabee is that huge, powerful voice.

Deep, thundering and dripping with emotion, the Oji-Cree singer’s pipes explode on songs such as We Were Here from his debut Watin.

Long after the last notes of the hit single celebrating Indigenous people’s strength and resilience fade, his inspiring delivery and solemn lyrics keep echoing.

“I credit it all to listening to the copy of Bob Marley’s Greatest Hits that my brother left for me when he moved to the city,” said Aysanabee , who hails from the Sandy Lake First Nation in northern Ontario. “At night, we would fire up the generator and I’d listen to it repeatedly. I started out writing reggae songs.”

The two-time Juno Award winner just returned from playing a music festival in Tromsø, Norway, before

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