Mustafa

Mustafa is a Sudanese-Canadian hip-hop and folk artist. Mustafa has used his musical platform to condemn genocide.

After writing an open letter urging former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to show support for Gaza, Mustafa organized two Artists for Aid benefit concerts. Ticket sale proceeds from the first concert went to Human Concern International, a Canadian organization that provides humanitarian aid to Gaza and Sudan. The second concert raised money for War Child UK’s work in Gaza and Sudan.

“In the last few years I visited both my homeland, Sudan, & Palestine. My visit to both had a principal intention, to connect with artist communities, with young organizers — for parallels of sorrow and hope and faith,” he said in his message announcing the first Artists for Aid.

“The violence in both nations seized the dream. Here it is revived for me in some way. The intention remains, on this evening we give our voices to make room for theirs.”

Nemahsis

Palestinian-Canadian artist Nemahsis had her recording contract terminated in October of 2023 after she shared pro-Palestinian content on social media. She spent the next few months trying to find a label to distribute her debut album. The only offer that she received fell through.

Nemahsis and her team then made the decision to release two singles, “you wore it better” and “stick of gum” independently. The “Stick of Gum” music video was filmed in her family’s hometown of Jericho, Palestine.

“We want to show Palestine in a light that has never been seen,” she said to Q’s Tom Power about the “Stick of Gum” music video. “Some people didn’t even know Palestine existed until October, and now we want to show them in a way where we’re humanized again.”

Leith Ross

Leith Ross is a Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter who is originally from Manotick, a neighbourhood in Ontario just south of Ottawa, that they described as “conservative and cut-off” to NME. Ross’ 2020 project Motherwell explored their feelings about identity, belonging and coming out as trans non-binary.

Their 2023 debut album, To Learn, was inspired by the safe community they found in Winnipeg after isolating years in Toronto as a student at Humber Polytechnic (then called Humber College). Ross’ passion for community carried over to their 2025 album I Can See The Future, particularly the album’s title track.

“It refers to this depth of understanding about the world that then allows you to believe that the world is good or will be good,” they said to The Line of Best Fit. “And, maybe, that belief extends to you as an individual knowing that you are doing your best and that you deserve to live and continue to try to do your best.”

Debby Friday

Debby Friday is a Toronto-based Nigerian-Canadian electronic artist who uses music to tackle the nuances of being both Black and 2SLGBTQIA+.

She spent most of her childhood moving around Montreal and shared in an interview with RANGE that the city’s grit and social intermingling have shaped her context.

In an interview with Loud And Quiet, she said that her music is aggressive because she exists in a world that is aggressive towards her Black and 2SLGBTQIA+ identities and her body.

“There is a whole stigma around being an angry queer black woman. I’m just really tired of it, it’s very un-nuanced,” she said. “The energy I have in my music is about not being afraid to embody that confrontation.”

Although Friday feels the weight of the realities of oppression, she still feels the need to challenge it by not conforming to society’s rules about what a Black woman should act or sound like.

“Change is a violent force. It doesn’t often happen quietly or nicely. It’s what brought the universe into being, it’s what allows society to progress. It’s an aggressive force,” she said to Loud And Quiet.

“The energy I have in my music is about not being afraid to embody that aggression. The things that come up in our cultural artefacts are just a reflection of what is going on in our collective consciousness. I’m aggressive about changing the world, I’m not going to apologise for that.”

CEC

CEC is a Winnipeg-based artist whose music blends genre (R&B and jazz) and language (English and Spanish).

Their passion for helping underrepresented artists inspired them to create The Clubhouse alongside Canadian indie-pop artist Lana Winterhalt. The Clubhouse is a studio and community hub in Winnipeg that provides training for women and 2SLGBTQIA+ people.

In 2025, CEC was chosen as one of seven producers for the Women in the Studio National Accelerator hosted by Music Publishers Canada. The program helps Canadian women and non-binary producers with their branding, financial literacy and technical skills.

When talking to The Manitoban about the program’s uniqueness, CEC acknowledged how difficult it is to find producers and engineers that aren’t men.“It’s really interesting and important that there are programs like this every year that happen, to specifically train women and non-binary people,” they said to The Manitoban. “Every year, there’s a new cohort of six or seven professionally trained producers that come out of it.”

The post Five Canadian artists who play the music of social change appeared first on rabble.ca.

The Cannes Film Festival is any fashion lover’s dream. For two weeks in May, the world’s biggest stars dress up to the absolute nines and hit the red carpet day in and day out. Picking from their favorite couture moments or ready-to-wear gowns, the festival is a time for some of fashion’s most extravagant pieces to shine. No precise aesthetic defines the festival’s red carpet aside from a penchant for statements and a bit of adventurous glamour.

Models and actors alike have nailed the assignment over the years, wearing a range of designers including big names like Lanvin, Givenchy, and Alexander McQueen, and relatively more niche labels like Haider Ackermann (Tilda Swinton’s Cannes go-to), Narciso Rodriguez, and Ralph & Russo. As stars begin to descend on the south of France for the 2026 edition, we’re highlighting a few of our favorite statements from the Cannes Film Festival red carpet.

Rihanna, 2025

Just a few weeks after announcing her pregnancy at the Met Gala, Rihanna hit the Cannes premiere for A$AP Rocky’s film, Highest 2 Lowest, in a cobalt blue Alaïa dress.

Alexander Skarsgård, 2025

Alexander Skarsgård was the man of the moment at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025 when he promoted his gay biker drama, Pillion, in an array of out-of-the-box looks. While most men walked the red carpet in traditional black tuxes, the actor opted to wear thigh-high leather boots to complete his Saint Laurent ensemble.

Natalie Portman, 2025

Natalie Portman loves to bring a reimagined, archival Dior dress to the Cannes red carpet. Two years after she attended the premiere for May December in a recreation of the famous Junon dress, she returned in a modern version of the Mexique gown from the Dior fall 1951 haute couture collection.

Simone Ashley, 2025

Sometimes, less is more. Simone Ashley proved that when she attended the Cannes Film Festival in 2025 wearing a gorgeous, white Vivienne Westwood spring 2025 dress.

Isabelle Huppert, 2024

Isabelle Huppert broke the tradition of Cannes red carpet gowns in 2024 when she wore this elevated bathrobe from Balenciaga.

Naomi Campbell, 2024

It’s one thing to wear archive Chanel, and an entirely different thing to wear archive Chanel you modeled on the runway two decades prior. Naomi Campbell did all of that and more in 2024 when she wore this vintage couture look from 1996.

Hunter Schafer, 2024

Hunter Schafer looked breathtaking in this sculptural Armani Privé design.

Jennifer Lawrence, 2023

Jennifer Lawrence loves a flat, and her decision to wear flip-flops underneath her red Dior dress was one of the more memorable pieces of footwear to hit the Cannes red carpet.

Natalie Portman, 2023

For the Cannes premiere of May December, perennial Dior muse Natalie Portman brought the house’s archives to the red carpet. She sported a recreation of one of Dior’s most famous designs, the Junon dress, which was originally created for the house’s fall 1949 collection.

Lily-Rose Depp, 2023

There’s LBDs and then there’s archival LBDs like the one Lily-Rose Depp wore to Cannes in 2023. The actress, in town for the premiere of The Idol, sported a vintage Chanel mini dress, a take on a dress that was first modeled by Helena Christensen back in 1994.

Bella Hadid, 2022

Bella Hadid brought many archive looks to the 2022 festival, but this Tom Ford-era Gucci dress from fall 1996 absolutely takes the cake.

Elle Fanning, 2022

Elle Fanning looked like a modern day princess in a pale pink Armani Privé gown with Chopard jewels fit for royalty.

Viola Davis, 2022

Viola Davis radiated beauty in a canary yellow Alexander McQueen dress, which she accessorized with Boucheron jewels.

Anne Hathaway, 2022

Some would say this Armani Privé dress Anne Hathaway wore to the Armageddon Time premiere began the actor’s current red carpet streak, as she’s hardly had a miss since.

Deepika Padukone, 2022

As a jury member, Deepika Padukone attended many red carpets during the 2022 festival, but the sculptural orange Ashi Studio dress she wore to the 75th-anniversary screening of L'Innocent was our favorite from the event.

Bella Hadid, 2021

The model stole the show in this Schiaparelli fall 2021 couture dress which features a gold necklace shaped like a pair of lungs.

Gemma Chan, 2021

The beautiful details of this Oscar de la Renta gown are what made it a standout during the premiere of OSS 117: Alerte Rouge en Afrique Noire in 2021.

Regina King, 2021

Regina King brought major regal energy in this black Schiaparelli ball gown to the festival’s amfAR Gala.

Jodie Turner-Smith, 2021

All eyes were on Jodie Turner-Smith in Gucci at the Stillwater screening during the 2021 festival.

Isabelle Huppert, 2021

Huppert, ever the ultimate cool girl, showed up to the Tout S'est Bien Passe (Everything Went Fine) screening in head-to-toe Balenciaga.

Elle Fanning, 2019

Fanning looked like a modern princess in this caped Gucci gown at the screening of The Dead Don’t Die in 2019.

Bella Hadid, 2018

Hadid’s halter neck silver Elie Saab dress stole the show at Cannes in 2018.

Rihanna, 2017

Rihanna stunned in Dior at the premiere of Okja in 2017.

Kirsten Dunst, 2016

Kirsten Dunst made a marigold statement in custom Maison Margiela at the premiere of The Neon Demon.

Liya Kebede, 2016

Liya Kebede opted for something a little different—a green velvet Haider Ackermann dress with one leg hole—at the premiere of The Unknown Girl at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Amal Clooney, 2016

Amal Clooney made one of her first red carpet appearances with her husband George at the 2016 festival.

Jessica Chastain, 2016

Jessica Chastain radiated old Hollywood glamour in an Alexander McQueen gown at the premiere of Money Monster during the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Chanel Iman, 2015

Chanel Iman stunned in Zuhair Murad at the amfAR gala at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015.

Fan Bingbing, 2015

This Ralph & Russo gown was just one of a number of stellar red carpet looks from Fan Bingbing at the 2015 festival.

Lupita Nyong’o, 2015

At the 2015 Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony, Lupita Nyong’o made it her show in an emerald green Gucci dress.

Julianne Moore, 2015

The Mad Max red carpet drew all the best looks, including Julianne Moore’s Givenchy couture in velvet.

Liya Kebede, 2015

It wasn’t her film, but Kebede, in Proenza Schouler, still stole the show at the premiere of Mad Max: Fury Road during the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Blake Lively, 2014

Blake Lively revealed she almost wore this Gucci dress to the Met Gala in 2014, but last minute decided to save it for The Captive premiere later that same month at Cannes.

Zhang Ziyi, 2014

Zhang Ziyi wore this unique Stéphane Rolland dress on the red carpet of the Grace of Monaco screening during the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Tilda Swinton, 2013

Tilda Swinton, in her go-to Haider Ackermann, at the premiere of Only Lovers Left Alive at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Jessica Chastain, 2013

Chastain’s ivory, caped Versace gown was classically beautiful, but more importantly, it acted as the perfect base for her Bulgari diamond-and-sapphire pendant. The necklace was a gift from Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor, making it an appropriate accessory for an anniversary screening of Cleopatra at the 2013 festival.

Carey Mulligan, 2013

For the 2013 premiere of her Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis, Carey Mulligan selected a black-and-white Vionnet look.

Diane Kruger, 2012

This Vivienne Westwood dress looks like it was basically poured onto Diane Kruger’s body.

Naomi Campbell, 2010

Campbell reminded us why models are a fixture on the Cannes red carpet when she stepped out in this custom gold Roberto Cavalli halter dress back in 2010.

Cate Blanchett, 2010

Cate Blanchett wore an Alexander McQueen gown for the premiere of Robin Hood at the 2010 festival.

Angelina Jolie, 2008

Then pregnant with twins Knox and Vivienne, Angelina Jolie looked ethereal in 2008 in a green Max Azria gown.

Linda Evangelista, 2008

Models descend on Cannes every year, but few can pull off supermodel Linda Evangelista’s statement Lanvin at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Natalie Portman, 2005

While Portman’s beaded black gown was nice, the major statement of this look was the debut of her V For Vendetta buzz cut.

Tilda Swinton, 2003

Swinton walked Viktor & Rolf’s fall 2003 runway show, acting as the design duo’s muse, so it was fitting she wore a look from the brand’s fall 2002 collection to that year’s Cannes festival.

Cameron Diaz, 2002

Cameron Diaz brought the naked dress to Cannes all the way back in 2002 with the help of Versace.

Naomi Campbell, 2001

Naomi Campbell, a fixture of the festival, attended the annual amfAr gala in a sheer, paneled gown in 2001.

Tilda Swinton, 2001

Per usual, Swinton stood out when she hit the red carpet, this time in a quirky fruit-printed dress by John Galliano for Dior.

Bjork, 2000

Marjan Pejoski, the designer of Bjork’s pink tulle gown for the 2000 festival, would go on to make the Icelandic singer’s famous Swan Dress for the Oscars just a year later.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, 1999

Catherine Zeta-Jones looked like the prom queen of Cannes in this pink Thierry Mugler gown with a structured bodice.

Sharon Stone, 1995

Sharon Stone had some fun showing off her beaded Valentino romper with a skirt overlay at the 1995 festival.

Madonna, 1991

Madonna, in Jean-Paul Gaultier, with Alex Keshinian, the director of the film In Bed With Madonna, at Cannes in 1991.

Elizabeth Taylor, 1987

The legendary actor really brought the ’80s energy in this red Nolan Miller gown with a cinched waist and some over the top shoulders.

Princess Diana, 1987

All eyes were on Princess Diana when she walked out in this baby blue, strapless Catherine Walker dress at the festival in 1987.

Jane Birkin, 1974

Jane Birkin opted for a dancerly dress in 1974.