Mouraine - Bigger Dreams

Alberta: Top 10 of 2021

by Glenn Alderson

Edmonton rapper Mouraine has been dancing through speakers all over the world with his 2021 offering, Bigger Dreams. From Raptors games to Foot Locker commercials, “Do Dat Dance” is the anthem we didn’t know we needed to shake off all the negative stress and energy that accumulated while navigating these difficult times. A dominant figure representing hip-hop in Alberta, Mouraine drops quality rhymes and big sounds, mixing his sessionable flow with modest bravado.

Bo Burnham’s transcendent comedy special isn’t the only great piece of COVID-adjacent art titled Inside released this year. The indie-rock quintet’s latest opens and closes with the sounds of the 7pm clanging pots and pans that once heralded the essential workers, and many of the tracks find them grappling with introspective thoughts while trapped in a room – being stuck inside one’s own head being an even worse fate than the physical boundaries.