Kavale is a Canadian alternative hip-hop/r&b recording artist and producer hailing from Toronto, ON. His versatility, which he attributes largely to the environment he grew up in where multi-faceted skillsets were a necessity, has become one of the musician’s defining traits. There’s no single lane he occupies, giving him adequate room to express creatively.

Born in 1991 as Oneko McTaggart, Kavale started experimenting and recording at the age of nine; the singer, songwriter, and rapper’s first experiences were split between the church choir and his sister’s piano and voice lessons, where he’d sneak in and acutely absorb all she was being taught. He’d record his first original songs to tape with a microphone connected to a makeshift stereo recording system. That foray into music blossomed quickly, as he was soon making demos inspired by some of his direct influences including Ludacris, Usher, and Kanye West (whose sample-driven style catalyzed him into producing himself).

His trajectory into music professionally was imperfect and staggered, facing tons of adversity along the way. But Kavale is a musician’s musician, and is an artist for any era. His reemergence from his hiatus comes with a fine-tuned grasp of his craft. And his unapologetic nature, with such rawness and honesty, exists to challenge the status quo and inspire above all else.

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