Kim Villagante, known professionally, Kimmortal, is a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

Filipino-Canadian musician, singer-songwriter and visual artist based in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Style

Music

Kimmortal is engaged with music genres such as

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

, R&B,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

indie-rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by th ...

and experimental. Kimmortal released their first album ''Sincerity'' in 2014, and announced the release of their second album ''X Marks the Swirl'' in 2019. Their works deal with themes such as race, gender, identity, indigenous rights, personal growth and community building. Through their activities, they attempt to include diverse voices that they believe to be unheard or overlooked. Outside of musical activities, Kimmortal leads musical as well conversational workshops in which they open discuss ideas of gender, race, and

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

issues associated with youth.

Influences

Kimmortal claimed to be inspired by artists including

Princess Nokia Destiny Nicole Frasqueri (born June 14, 1992), known professionally as Princess Nokia, is an American rapper and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, ''Metallic Butterfly'', in 2014, followed by the 2015 mixtape ''Honeysuckle''. As P ...

, JB the First Lady, Future Star, Ziibiwan,

Lido Pimienta Lido Pimienta (born 1986) is a Colombian Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, '' La Papessa'', won the 2017 Polaris Music Prize.Snotty Nose Rez Kids Snotty Nose Rez Kids are a First Nations hip hop duo composed of Haisla rappers Darren "Young D" Metz and Quinton "Yung Trybez" Nyce. They are originally from Kitamaat Village, British Columbia. Their 2017 album '' The Average Savage'' was shortl ...

, Ostwelve, Ruby Ibarra, Witch Prophet and

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a Mississauga Nishnaabeg writer, musician, and academic from Canada. She is also known for her work with Idle No More protests. Simpson is a faculty member at the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning. She l ...

and her poetry+music project. Kimmortal addresses their parents' influence on their works. Kimmortal touches on their cultural background and represents their family's experience of immigration as part of the working class in Canada. In ''

BeatRoute ''BeatRoute'' is a monthly print and online magazine published in Western Canada. The magazine is distributed across Alberta and British Columbia, with offices in Calgary and Vancouver. BeatRoute is a primarily music-oriented publication, with a ...

'' magazine, Kimmortal states their strength "comes from my mom, she has the most powerful voice and she's 4'11…She's definitely a part of me when I'm on stage." Also, In ''Cut From Steel'', Kimmortal indicated the experience of marginalization of their father who struggled as an artist. Kimmortal describes that they are privileged to pursue their artistic career on the basis of their parents struggles and sacrifices.

Collaborations

Kimmortal often collaborates with other musicians. In ''Cut From Steel'', Kimmortal addressed the crucial role of the mutual support among artists that shows respect to their efforts. They have collaborated with Missy D, Jb the FirstLady, Immigrant Lessons, Jillthy, Khingz and Ostwelve.

Notable performances

As well as performing shows in musical venues, Kimmortal performs at various festivals and events, including:

Venues

* Fox Cabaret, Vancouver BC, March 2019 * Rio Theatre, Vancouver BC, March 2019 * Havana Theater, Vancouver BC, February 2019

Festivals/events

* West 4th Ave Khatsahlano Street Party, Vancouver BC in January 2019 * The Lamentable Tragedy of Produced by Urban Ink Sal Capone, the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, Vancouver BC in April 2018 * PuSh Festival at The Beaumont Studios, Vancouver BC September 2018 and Rifflandia, Victoria BC * Kultura Filipino Arts Festival, Canadian Music Week * New West Pride Festival * The Queer Women of Colour Film Festival, San Francisco, CA

Selected songs

Jungle

Kimmortal said that the song "Jungle" came from the beatmaking experiment. Kimmortal sampled

Kulintang Kulintang (, ) is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums. As part of the larger gong-chime culture ...

YouTube performance and recorded birds in a cage from their mother's kitchen. They integrated the sounds into a drum component. Editing was done by Kimmortal. They collaborated with Missy D. And Jillthy who composed the lyrics. The music video was shot by Khalil (AKA Khingz) in summer in 2016 in a parking lot.

88 and Beyond

Kimmortal wanted to express self-determination and power as well as self-identification. They wanted to challenge the male centred and

cisgender The word ''cisgender'' (often shortened to ''cis''; sometimes ''cissexual'') describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is Latin and ...

hip-hop field and to give queer, persons of colour, and

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

artists more opportunity to speak for themselves and reach the community.{{Cite web, url=https://dominionated.ca/songs/88-beyond-kimmortal/, title=Kimmortal "88 and Beyond", last=Di Gioia, first=Jim, date=January 24, 2018, website=DOMINIONATED, language=en-CA, access-date=March 12, 2019

Identity

Kimmortal uses ''

they In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accus ...

/them'' pronouns, and was born and raised in Canada, a second generation

Filipino Canadian The Filipino Canadians (); () are Canadians who have a Filipino descent or ethnicity. The Filipino Canadians is the second largest subgroup of the overseas Filipinos, surpassed only by the United States, and one of the fastest-growing minorit ...

. Kimmortal is inspired by the

communities in Western Canada. In ''Cut From Steel'', Kimmortal identities as "Being

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

and brown as well as non-black and a non-indigenous

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

on stolen land are facts to keep in mind when framing my story in a system that consciously disenfranchises certain communities."

Discography

Albums

*''Sincerity'' (2014) *''X Marks the Swirl'' (2019)

Songs

* "I'm Blue" * "Brushing by Heaven's Shoulder remix" * "She"

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian musicians of Filipino descent Canadian non-binary musicians Non-binary singers 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian LGBTQ singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people