‘Where you are doesn’t determine your destiny’

Juno-winning singer Jully Black is set to perform in Yellowknife on March 7, bringing with her a 13-person crew and promising a high-energy, full-production live show.

The performance at Chateau Nova is part of BACupNorth’s annual Black History Month gala, a cornerstone event in the organization’s celebrations recognizing Black culture, community and achievement.

Black, who is Jamaican-Canadian, has been dubbed the country’s “Queen of R&B.” The CBC named her one of the “25 greatest Canadian singers ever.”

While she has previously been to the North, this will be her first time visiting Yellowknife.

Below, read the full transcript of our interview.

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This interview was recorded on February 10, 2026. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Aastha Sethi: You are coming to Yellowknife for Black History Month. Is this your first time in the North?

Jully Black: I’ve been to Whitehorse and I’ve been to Nunavut, a different part of the North. I’ve been north of the northern part of Canada, but I’ve never been to Yellowknife.

I came there to do a full workshop with an organization that serves Indigenous women and girls who have experienced trauma. It’s 300 women and girls. I did a workshop called “turning grief into greatness.”

What does it mean to you to perform in Yellowknife for the first time?

I am really projecting the energy I want to reflect. When I say that, I mean being a born-and-raised Canadian to immigrant parents. My parents’ dream was always to see and experience Canada, which means outside of Toronto, outside of your neighbourhood, outside of your province, the people who make up Canada.

To do this in Black History Month is extra special because I believe that beyond thinking about the trials and tribulations, the persecution that Black people and Black Canadians experience, we’re in a time where we could celebrate triumph and we could celebrate how far we’ve come and how far we still need to go.

To be able to come to Yellowknife, I know my late mom would be very, very happy, very proud. I would have brought her with me, especially as an immigrant who came from Jamaica, I think it would have been something she would have been excited to experience.

Many people here may be seeing you live for the first time. What can they expect from your performance?

Well, let me tell you, Yellowknife, you’re in for a treat because we are coming with the entire band, full band, backup singers, and of course my own energy, live singing. To me, it’s a hybrid between a church service, a keynote, an R&B concert, not to mention a comedy show. You’re going to laugh, you’re going to cry, you’re going to feel, you’re going to be able to heal, release and be inspired and motivated, too.

I often say how you come into the room is not going to be how you leave the room because you’re going to experience a feeling almost so visceral that you’re going to wonder, “Wow, how long have I not been letting myself be free enough to kind-of be deposited into?”

You’ve been a strong voice for Black communities across the country. Why is it important to keep telling these stories through your music?

I am Black but I want people to see that we’re all… cut us, we bleed red. When I share my lived experiences through my music, it’s a way to kind-of disarm. It’s a way to also include.

So, I might be singing a song – Break Through the Glass Ceiling – and no matter what walk of life, no matter what race, religion, ethnicity, orientation, you might have your own glass ceiling that you’re going through. You might be going through cancer, you might have lost a loved one, you might be having to study for that exam, you’re wondering: “Am I going to pass?” You might have to change a career, you might have just retired and you’re not sure what to do next.

We all have our own glass ceilings. And so, yes, it comes through the portal of a Black woman. Trust me, I’ve had my own glass ceilings and still do, but I think that I make really, really relatable music.

Are there any messages you hope people take home with them after your performance?

Yeah, mainly that I’m enough. I want everyone to really declare that “I am more than enough” and that it’s OK to own a desire for more. It’s OK to want more, desire more, need more.

I think we live in a time and, as Canadians especially, sometimes we can be very … just kind-of limiting and passive. But I think especially as I’m newly married – I’m married to an American man who is a war veteran and this amazing father and son and human being and just go-getter – I realized, you know what, we as Canadians and Black Canadians especially, it’s like, hey, don’t wait until someone else has to celebrate you after you passed away.

While you’re on Earth, take those steps, knock on those doors, be a part of community. This is why I’m coming to Yellowknife. I need to get there and I want the word to be spread. Let’s get to Yellowknife. Let’s make music. Let’s build community. Let’s learn. I’m coming to learn. I’m not just coming to perform and leave everyone with what I do. I want to be poured into as well and I want to come back.

Are you planning to visit other communities in the Northwest Territories?

I hope so. But if it doesn’t happen on this trip, it means I just have to come back and come back not for a concert, come back to actually tour the North, learn.

For young artists in the North who are watching your career, what advice would you give them about staying true to themselves?

I think I’m going to really lean into what my mom would say: where you are positioned doesn’t necessarily determine your destiny. I was raised in what would be deemed an “at-risk” community, inner city kid, single-parent home, all the strikes against me, so to speak. But yet I was able to follow the breadcrumbs of different programs, different opportunities – whether it was a talent show, various places, summer camp, music camp. I just put myself in positions.

You might have been born in a place that it may seem like you don’t have as many opportunities, but there’s always opportunities, especially now with the internet, right? So, I just want everyone to stay encouraged and inspired.

Right now, what the world needs is love, needs more hope and faith, right? One thing I think Black people could help others learn is about faith and resilience.