Anytime someone in Ottawa does well, it inspires other Ottawa artists so thatвЂ™s what IвЂ™m looking to do.вЂќДЇidelia plans to re-release his first full-length album, Painkiller, which originally came out in the fall of 2019 and had a big tour planned for 2020. вЂњItвЂ™s really got me back into wanting to compete in the music side of things. The studio space has been very therapeutic, just being in there every day, seeing the smile on peopleвЂ™s faces,вЂќ he said. вЂњIвЂ™ve been super inspired by being around a lot of artists in the city. Working with them has rekindled his passion for making music. So with all the knowledge I gained over those years, IвЂ™ve increased my network, and now that IвЂ™m back in Ottawa, I brought it back to share with the artists in the city.вЂќДЇidelia, whoвЂ™s 30, came back to discover a new generation of hip-hop talent had arrived on the scene, artists young enough to consider him one of OttawaвЂ™s OGs. вЂњBut the goal was always to help the infrastructure in Ottawa.

вЂњI went to Toronto to challenge myself, to really expand my knowledge and skills in the music industry,вЂќ he said. He and a partner opened the ByWard Market-area studio last year, a year or so after Fidelia moved back to Ottawa. The song is FideliaвЂ™s first track to be released in more than a year, and the first he recorded, mixed and mastered in the Real House of Ensemble. Not all cops are bad, but if the bad apples are driving by me, they might think I have drugs and loaded weapons in my car, and that tension flares up in my body.вЂќ вЂњI was like, вЂWow, there is a difference.вЂ™ IвЂ™m an individual who is Black and has dreads, and even if IвЂ™m doing everything right, I always feel this tension in my body when police are around. The song touches on FideliaвЂ™s experience in the line, вЂњEvery time I see the red and blue, I feel some tension,вЂќ a stress he only recognized after talking to a white friend who barely notices when police are in the vicinity. It really felt like we had no worth: The way the cop had his knee on GeorgeвЂ™s neck and the other cops (were) ignoring the fact that he said he canвЂ™t breathe.вЂќ It was disgusting to watch how they treated a Black life. вЂњI was frustrated at the way the cops on the scene were very nonchalant. вЂњI was really angry,вЂќ Fidelia said of his reaction to the Floyd video. Nine months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, Ottawa rapper Luigi вЂњCityвЂќ Fidelia is releasing a powerful new song that was written in the aftermath of the incident.Дrugs and Loaded Weapons not only seethes at the anti-Black racism that cost Floyd his life, but also draws on FideliaвЂ™s own experience with the police in Ottawa. Rapper City Fidelia, seen here outside of the Ottawa Police Service's Elgin Street police headquarters, is releasing a new song called Drugs and Loaded Weapons that illustrates the tension between young Black men and the police.

City fidelia