Thandizo Joy's neo-soul rap crosses the generation gap

"A Little Death," created and performed by Thandizo Joy Mwandemange at Ottawa Fringe, opens with "When I Find My King" — a feminist rap number that defies the genre stereotypes. Reviewer Brian Carroll, admittedly skeptical of rap, found himself swaying to the beat.

Joy's heroine Chimz is a rising musical talent navigating a complicated love life. She's tired of dating women, and when a new man enters her world, her friends see warning flags. But Chimz believes she's found true love. The show moves through conversations with girlfriends (Zahra, Dee, and Minnie), her music producer, her Malawian mom, and a voicemail — all conducted via a striking lipstick-red landline phone that's more suggestive prop than communication device.

What struck Carroll most was Joy's voice — "built for auditoriums" — and the tight three-part harmonies she forms with backup singers Chloe Podage and Patrice Xavier. "With her backup singers, she forms a trio with harmonies so tight I can hear the beats where the frequencies of their voices reinforce each other," Carroll wrote. The rhythm section of Mathieu Charlebois (keys), Jensen Grant (drums), and Szymon Szanczuk (electric bass) "lay down rhythms so solid you can walk on them."

The show isn't subtle. It adapts a Malawi story about a young woman who slept with a snake; the title "A Little Death" is a translation of "la petite mort," the French idiom for the state after orgasm. But the specificity of the storytelling — particularly lines about love and loss that resonate across generations — gives the show durability.

Not every viewer will cross the generation gap. Carroll observed an opening-night audience split between young women applauding every song and older attendees checking their watches. But last night's enthusiastic crowds will spread word. If you take a chance, get your tickets early.

"A Little Death" runs at LabO until June 28. Tickets are $14 plus service fees online, at the Fringe box office (67 Nicholas Street), and at satellite box offices at Arts Court (2 Daly Avenue) and La Nouvelle Scène (333 King Edward Avenue).