Ashanti Mutinta, known professionally as Backxwash, is a

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

rapper and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. She is most noted for her 2020 album ''

God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It ''God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It'' is the second studio album by Zambian-Canadian rapper Backxwash. It was self-released on May 28, 2020 through Grimalkin Records. Production was primarily handled by Backxwash herself, along wi ...

'', which won the

2020 Polaris Music Prize The 2020 edition of the Canada, Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on October 19, 2020. The longlist was announced on June 15, 2020, with the shortlist following on July 15, 2020 and the winner announced on October 19, 2020. Due to the CO ...

Biography

Born and raised in

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

, Zambia, Mutinta began rapping and producing music in

FL Studio FL Studio (known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. It features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. It is available in four different ...

before moving to British Columbia, Canada at age 17 to attend university for computer science.Philippe Renaud
"Backxwash, elle et son autre"
. ''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'', May 30, 2020. After completing her degree she moved to Montreal, where she began performing at jam nights and released her debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) ''F.R.E.A.K.S.'' in 2018. She followed up later the same year with the EP ''Black Sailor Moon''. Around the same time, she came out as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

. ''

'', her second full-length album, was released in May 2020. Her musical style blends hip hop with heavy metal and

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

, including

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

samples and instrumental interludes influenced by

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock collective that originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation Records (Canada), Constellation, an in ...

. However, the album featured numerous uncleared samples, which have forced its removal from online music stores and streaming services, meaning that it is now available solely as a free download from Backxwash's

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

page. She would then release her third full-length album, ''

I Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses ''I Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses'' (stylized in all caps) is the third studio album by Zambian-Canadian rapper and producer Backxwash. The album was self released on June 20, 2021, through Ugly Hag Records. The album features gues ...

'', on June 20, 2021, to generally positive reviews. ''I Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses'' was longlisted for the 2022 Polaris Music Prize. Backxwash's "Don't Come to the Woods" and "Devil in a Moshpit" appeared in Season 1, Episode 2 of the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

series, ''

Work in Progress Work in process or work-in-process, (WIP), work in progress (WIP), goods in process, or in-process inventory refers to a company's partially finished goods waiting for completion and eventual sale, or the value of these items. The term is used in ...

''. Her fourth full-length album, ''

Only Dust Remains ''Only Dust Remains'' is the fifth studio album by the Zambian-Canadian rapper Backxwash. It was self-released through Ugly Hag Records on March 28, 2025. Release In October 2024, Backxwash announced that she would be releasing a new album, wit ...

'', launched on March 28, 2025, was also longlisted for the

2025 Polaris Music Prize The 2025 edition of the Canada, Canadian Polaris Music Prize will be presented on September 16, 2025 at Massey Hall.Kerry Doole"Polaris Music Prize Announces 40-Album 2025 Long List, Announces SOCAN Polaris Song Prize" ''Billboard (magazine), Bil ...

Discography

Studio albums * ''Deviancy'' (2019) * ''

'' (2020) * ''

'' (2021) * '' His Happiness Shall Come First Even Though We Are Suffering'' (2022) * ''

'' (2025) Extended plays * ''F.R.E.A.K.S'' (2018) * ''Black Sailor Moon'' (2018) * ''Stigmata'' (2020)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 21st-century Canadian rappers Canadian women rappers 21st-century Black Canadian musicians Black Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian transgender women Canadian transgender musicians Canadian LGBTQ rappers Zambian emigrants to Canada Musicians from Lusaka Living people Polaris Music Prize winners Zambian rappers Zambian LGBTQ people Trap metal musicians 1991 births 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Women heavy metal singers 21st-century women rappers Transgender rappers Horrorcore artists Canadian rap rock musicians Musicians from Montreal Rap metal musicians Alternative hip-hop musicians Nu metal singers Transgender women singers Punk rappers