Aquakultre
Canadian soul and R&B musical project
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aquakultre is a Canadian soul and R&B[1] musical project from Halifax, Nova Scotia, whose core member is singer and rapper Lance Sampson.[2] Formed in 2015, they are most noted for their album Legacy, which was a longlisted nominee for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.[3]
Aquakultre | |
|---|---|
Aquakultre performing at Grand Parade for New Year's Eve | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Genres | hip-hop, soul, R&B |
| Years active | 2015- |
| Label | Forward Music Group |
| Website | aquakultre.info |
Background
Sampson's ancestors are from Africville, and he grew up in the Uniacke Square neighbourhood of Halifax.[4][5] He is the great-grandson of Daniel Perry Sampson, a Halifax resident who was executed for murder after a disputed conviction in 1935, with new evidence having emerged in the 2020s, in part through Lance's own research, that Daniel likely did not write or sign the confession statement attributed to him.[6]
At 20, he was charged with robbing a taxi driver of his cell phone.[7] He was later found to be in possession of a loaded handgun, crack cocaine and the stolen property.[7] He received a five-year prison sentence, but was released after 19 months. He taught himself to play the guitar while incarcerated after being exposed to the music of Common and Erykah Badu.[8]
Career
Sampson began performing as a rapper and singer in 2015, and in 2018 he won CBC Music's annual Searchlight competition with "Sure", a song he had written in prison.[9]
He recorded Legacy in just seven days at the National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta, with a band that included Nathan Doucet, Jeremy Costello and Nick Dourado.[10] Following the release of preview singles "Pay It Forward", "I Doubt It" and "Wife Tonight",[11] the album was released in May 2020 on Black Buffalo Records.[12]
In August 2020, he announced that his second album Bleeding Gums Murphy, a collaboration with DJ and producer Uncle Fester, would be released on October 9.[13]
His video for "Pay It Forward", directed by Sampson and Evan Elliot, won the Audience Award at the 2021 Prism Prize.[14]
Aquakultre performed on the 2021 FreeUp! The Emancipation Day Special.[15] He contributed vocals for "Summer Night Songs", the title song of the 2021 documentary The North Star: Finding Black Mecca.[16]
His third album, Don't Trip, was released in July 2022,[17] and was longlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize.[18]
His latest album, 1783, draws on the history of Black Nova Scotians, and was released in February of 2026.[19] It explores both Black Nova Scotian history and Sampson's own family heritage, including "Gallows", a song written from the perspective of his great-grandfather in the final moments before his death.[20] The album was shortlisted for the 2026 Polaris Music Prize,[21] and the songs "Gallows" and "Holy" were longlisted for the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize.[22]