‘Giving back to the community’: Mi’kmaq rapper Wolf Castle to perform for IWK telethon

Crystal Garrett speaks with musician Wolf Castle, one of the featured performers at this year's IWK Telethon Tribute show.

The IWK Telethon for Children is set to begin Saturday night with a tribute show of live performances.

The telethon has become a Maritime tradition and is the IWK’s biggest fundraising event.

The tribute show will be live on CTV from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. The telethon broadcast will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Some of the Maritime artists performing Saturday are Neon Dreams, Funk Unit, Ian Janes, Amelia Parker, Declan and Ryker Power, Joce Reyome, Reeny Smith and Wolf Castle.

“I just love that this event supports the children in the region and is highlighting and giving back to the community and putting a spotlight on it,” Wolf Castle told CTV Your Morning Atlantic’s Crystal Garrett. “Everything we do should be for the next generation.”

Wolf Castle is a Mi’kmaq rapper from Pabineau First Nation in New Brunswick.

“Growing up as an Indigenous person, yeah, I wanted to make music that kind of expressed and explored what that was like,” he said.

Wolf Castle grew up on the reserve with a supportive, musical family.

“It was just kind of normal for me to be a creative person, I always joke it would have been weird if I wanted to be like, a scientist of something,” he said.

Music and creativity have always been around throughout his life, with influences from Tupac to his own mother. She created films for the National Film Board of Canada, so Wolf Castle was able to familiarize himself with the equipment she used.

He says she provided him with a computer and the technology he needed to learn the ropes to enter the music industry.

“She gave me internet connection and was like, ‘Go wild!’ So, just having access to technology and being able to be creative and try to explore all sorts of different avenues,” he explained.

Looking forward to the IWK tribute show, he emphasized the significance of seeing Maritime talent on-stage.

“I love that this is sort of like, a glorious declaration of the amazingness of the people that live in this region, and we can share the stage with such amazing talent that is all from here,” he said. “It seems to me just a wonderful event that celebrates life and this whole area, and it’s so important for that reason.”

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