Newcastle rapper and producer Dawn Laird returns with a fierce new single, 'Canon', that bristles with attitude and plenty of spirit.
With a career that started in 2014 and has seen her release an EP 'Third Circle Raps' (2015) as well as singles 'Atlas' (2015) and 'Sandoworms' (2016), Dawn has shared the staged with the likes of Urthboy, Dylan Joel and Coda Conduct.
'Canon' marks the return of Dawn, as one of the country's hardest rhymers re-emerges ready to unleash a new batch of music in 2020 with an album titled 'Doreen' due for release in a few months. "'Canon' is about transcendence and pushing back against the status quo to create space for new stories, bodies and voices," Dawn says.
"It was inspired by 'being othered' and underestimated and eventually figuring out that, as Captain Janeway says, 'sometimes you just have to punch your way through'.
"It's also incredibly cathartic telling dickheads to go f... themselves, especially powerful ones. Isaac Turier and Bel Howden, who came up with the concept for the video, captured the power dynamic in the song so well."
Ahead of the commercial release of 'Canon' tomorrow (28 November), Dawn has shared with scenestr the music video for the new single to premiere today. Oh. Snap.
Dawn, who was part of the 2016 documentary 'Her Sound, Her Story' that documented the experiences of women in the music industry, discusses her mini break from music.
"After [2016 single] 'Sandworms' I decided to shut up for a while cos I was experiencing a combination of grief, imposter syndrome and just general overwhelm and exhaustion.
"So all I did was make beats and chip away at recording the songs I really wanted to get down. It took a long time, but as the body of work came closer to being completed I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and started to get my mojo back.
"It took that and reframing the role of music in my life. It wasn't joyful for a good while there and I realised I'd let the vapid peripheral sh.t get to me. But it's a new deal now. I've got this."
