Aquakultre

Aquakultre is the artistic voice of Lance Sampson — an uncommonly versatile singer, rapper, filmmaker, and storyteller from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Aquakultre came to national prominence in 2018 after winning CBC’s Searchlight songwriting competition with the second song he ever wrote. He has gone on to release multiple singles, EPs, collabs and two full albums, 2020’s Legacy and 2022’s Don’t Trip, both of which were long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize along with numerous East Coast Music Awards and other nominations and wins. Aquakultre’s co-directed video for Pay It Forward won the Audience Favorite at the 2021 Prism Prize Awards.

In October 2024, Lance presented his first major audio-visual installation titled Matriarchs as an Anchor Artist at Nocturne, Halifax’s annual art-at-night event. In October 2025, Aquakultre was honoured with the 2025 Creative Nova Scotia Black Artist Recognition Award. He is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at the Black Cultural Centre in Cherry Brook, NS.

Driven by his passion for history and culture, Lance is creator, host, and director of the TV documentary television series GeneratioNS: Black Memories; the first season was nominated for two Screen Nova Scotia awards; season two is on air now, seasons 3 and 4 are in production.

Lance’s third full-length Aquakultre release, 1783, will be released worldwide on February 6, 2026 via Next Door Records. The title refers to the year when over 3000 people of African descent boarded 81 ships and sailed out of New York. These were the so-called Black Loyalists: some of them free people, many of them still enslaved, who fought for the British in exchange for the promise of land and freedom. Arriving in Nova Scotia, they were given the poorest housing, little food, few supplies. Yet they survived and went on to found Black settlements across the province.

Descended directly from those first settlers, Aquakultre has created a profound concept album that is deeply rooted in his own rich family history. The 17-track album comprises 11 full-length songs and six interludes, with each track describing Lance’s life, Black Nova Scotian history, family stories, and intergenerational reflections on carrying the torch passed on to him from elders, acting as a beacon of light for a brighter future.

Produced by 2 x Music Nova Scotia Producer of the Year Erin Costelo, mixed by 2 x Grammy winner Qmillion (Robert Glasper), and mastered by multiple Grammy nominee Chris Athens (Drake), 1783’s musical direction seamlessly blends a range of historically Black musics, with hints of gospel, blues, jazz, and soul, mixed in with vintage R&B overtones. Standout tracks include the first single, “Scotia Born”, a catchy, celebratory anthem of regional pride. Second single, “What Are You Sayin’” is a smooth and heartfelt R&B tribute to the block. The hard-hitting “Gallows” gives voice to Aquakultre’s great-great-grandfather Daniel P. Sampson, a WW1 veteran who in 1935 was wrongfully convicted of murder and became the last man to be executed by hanging in Halifax. “The Avenue” takes listeners on a breezy, nostalgic stroll along the main street of a historically significant Black neighbourhood in Dartmouth that has since been nearly gentrified out of existence.  The noteworthy and intentionally poignant musicianship throughout the album, highlighted by strong horn and string arrangements, provides just the right backdrop for Lance’s big, warm vocals to shine through. Guest musicians include a who’s who of African Nova Scotia’s best kept musical secrets, including blues diva Linda Carvery, R&B vocalists Haliey Smith and Gary Beals, gospel legends The Sanctified Brothers, and celebrated soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee. At once sweeping and intimate, 1783 pays tribute to a uniquely resilient corner of the Black diaspora that is being brought to the musical fore – it’s quite literally an album for the ages.

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Aquakultre is a deep collaborator and lover of many genres. He has performed and co-written with a long list of Canadian and international hip hop artists (Junia-T, Phoenix Pagliacci, Tafari Anthony…) as well as pop, roots, and jazz artists like Jenn Grant, Jah’Mila, and James Shaw’s Vesuvius Big Band. Known for delivering an uplifting get-down live show, Aquakultre, backed by a killer 10-piece band, played the CBC Road to the Junos series, broadcast to national audiences in March 2024. Most recently, he co-composed and performed (alongside Jeff Reilly, Jon Hargreaves, DJ Uncle Fester, and a 16-piece chamber orchestra), what is almost certainly the world’s first Afro-futurist Hip Hop Cosmic-Concrète Chamber Piece/song cycle, titled My Bad, Europa.

Through his creative works, via poetic lyrics and straight-up jams, Aquakultre is on a mission to share his love for his unique and beautiful corner of the diaspora. Through his community work (LOVE, iMove Arts and others), his recordings, performances, and collaborations, Aquakultre delivers a poignant reflection of his personal evolution and his place in community as a Black Nova Scotian.