Hailing from a small town in the Philippines, HAIDEE‘s passion for music started in karaoke, singing contests, and Sunday worship services. At 16, she moved across the world to reunite with her mom, who had immigrated seven years before. Now based in Edmonton, music remained the only thing familiar to her.
The first three years of HAIDEE’s career made her a household name in the Edmonton music scene, and she independently landed placements with radio stations CKUA, CJSR, and CBC Radio One.
Her new eight song LP, This Shouldn’t Be Typical, is an honest take from HAIDEE about the good and bad from her life, and her experience growing up as a woman of colour.
The song “Typical” was inspired by her and her family’s experiences as first-generation immigrants in Canada. HAIDEE watched her parents leave a comfortable life with a supportive community back home in the Philippines, to move to Edmonton and start all over again with next to nothing. Their sacrifices made a thoughtful impact on HAIDEE, who promised to herself to write songs not just for herself, but also for her community.
HAIDEE further explains, “During the pandemic, there was increased violence against the Asian community. I wanted to uplift our voices and experiences through a song. I wanted it to be a collaboration between another person of colour so I reached out to Josh Sahunta to write a song about this topic.”
“I hope that when people listen to this album, they find a song that speaks to them and they feel like they have a friend,” says HAIDEE. “This is my life so far. It’s both beautiful and frankly it has also been unpleasant. I’m learning to embrace the complexities of being a first-generation immigrant and woman of colour in the music industry and living in Canada.”
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