Speakers

Kinnie Starr is a genre-defying artist, producer, poet, filmmaker, and activist whose three-decade career has moved fearlessly between music, spoken word, visual art, film, and cultural advocacy.

A pioneering voice in Canadian independent music, Starr has built a fiercely DIY career on her own terms, blending hip-hop, art-pop, electronic music, and poetry while touring extensively across North America, Europe, and Japan, including appearances with Lilith Fair. Her work as a producer includes Digging Roots’ JUNO-winning album We Are, and she is the creator of the acclaimed documentary Play Your Gender, which examines gender inequality in the music industry. She has also been a longstanding mentor and advocate for artists and creative communities.

In 2026, Starr returns with her tenth album, DestroyHer—an urgent, grief-lit record shaped by the rain-soaked edge of Haida Gwaii. The album extends a creative and activist lineage reaching back to her critically acclaimed 1996 debut Tidy, confronting the impacts of technology, environmental crisis, social fracture, and personal loss while remaining rooted in resilience, humour, and human connection.