Erin Ashley is the Summit Coordinator for MNFSTO10 and has been involved in the festival for five years. She’s also the hip hop editor at Exclaim! and the managing editor at Boi-1da. We caught up with her this week.

SDTC: What should we be paying more attention to?

EA: Aside from the upcoming 10th Annual Manifesto Festival, which is happening September 9th-18th and is an absolute shameless plug, pay attention to the hip hop and R&B music coming out of Toronto. The city is working with an infrastructure that still caters to pop/rock music, but it’s our hip hop and R&B artists that are creating a platform that other music markets are paying attention to.

What was the last Netflix series you binged on?

Orange Is The New Black! Every year I try to stretch out the season for a few weeks, but it’s just not possible…and then in 48 hours I get so upset that I need to wait another 365 days until I can watch it again.

One new thing you learned this year?

Don’t spread yourself too thin. I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten sick this year from not eating, sleeping or winding down properly. Sometimes when you have a goal in mind, you want to do everything in every moment of the day to achieve it, but there’s no point in reaching your goals if you’re not physically, mentally or emotionally healthy enough to enjoy it.

What memory brings a smile to your face?

Every year my grandma, who lives in South Africa, will call me on my birthday and sing me “Happy Birthday,” followed by some religious hymns and offers me Bible passages to read. Every year, without fail. My birthday is just around the corner and I can’t wait for that call!

How do you recharge your batteries?

This is something I’m still trying to learn how to do. When you play so many different roles, it’s hard to put them all down at once. It’s almost as if there’s no way to be “Erin the Person” without having someone reach out to me about their latest song, something that needs to be done on social media, asking for a favour, etc. It’s incredibly difficult to find that uninterrupted time. But now, I’m more defiant in saying, “I’m not dealing with work-related things right now. I’ll reach back around when I’m ready.” Sure, people hate me for doing that, but my sanity will always be more important than someone’s request.

Describe the funniest thing you’ve experienced in recent memory.

Ah man, there was a party that was brought from the States to Toronto recently called Trap Karaoke. It’s exactly what you’d expect, until a completely packed Mod Club started singing heartbreak songs in unison, like Usher’s “You Got It Bad” and Shai’s “If I Ever Fall In Love.” You couldn’t tell us we didn’t hit those high notes, especially not the men!

Best advice you’ve been given?

It was advice that wasn’t necessarily given to me directly, but said out loud in a room full of women. “Never use your gender as a crutch for not being able to do everything your male peers can.” Working in the music industry, specifically the rap industry, women are often assumed to have an inferior knowledge of what’s happening…it’s a reality that you have to accept – but that doesn’t mean you have to abide by it personally. Do everything you want to do bigger and better, not to prove a point, but because you want to be the best at what you do, period.

What is the best part of your current age?

Being self-aware. I think my early 20s was a time where I was given all these different puzzle pieces, but none of them built a picture. Now, I can easily say I know what the bigger picture is, and although I’m still collecting puzzle pieces, I’m aware of what I want, need and can accomplish on my own.

What’s in your playlist that you can’t get enough of listening to?

In general, Scarface’s “The Fix” album. This album is all kinds of therapy in the strangest way – maybe because it’s been there through the biggest moments of my career, or it could just be Scarface’s voice being oddly soothing.

What’s on your night table?

A CD player, which gets used more often than my Bluetooth speaker, a tissue box because of all those colds I get, my glasses and a candle. Probably a chocolate bar too, if I’m being honest.

If your house caught fire and (after you saved loved ones and pets) you could make one final dash to save any one item, what would it be? 

I’d try to carry as many family photo albums as I can. My dad has been documenting our lives through every occasion, big and small, wanted or not. Everything else is usually replaceable, but those? Those memories are why I am the way I am today.

Weirdest thing in your purse right now?

Maybe After Bite, but I don’t think it’s all that strange. Bug bites are awful!

What trends are you hating right now?

Honestly, it’s the fashion trends that appropriate other people’s culture with no regard for its significance. Last summer it seemed to be the bindi, but this year, it’s definitely been the dashiki AKA the Angelina cloth. I’ve seen way too many people with this carbon-copy printed shirt with absolutely no concept of what they’re wearing, where it came from or what the colours even mean. It’s so important to understand these things before you misrepresent them.

Who was your celebrity crush when you were a kid?

If there’s any one person who sticks out, it’s definitely Tupac. Of course, given my age, I realized who he was after he was killed. But I remember watching the video for “Changes” and admiring more than the words he spoke and the catchy hook, followed by his nose ring – which ultimately led to me saying how I’d pierce my nose when I was older, which I did when I was 18.

What should people check out in Toronto this month?

There’s literally something music-related happening every week this month, so keep your ears open!