Backxwash

About

The artist

Backxwash is the recording project of Zambian-Canadian rapper and producer Ashanti Mutinta, who is based in Montréal. Mutinta began releasing music as Backxwash in 2018, bringing together hip-hop production, distorted guitar, industrial noise, metal, and horror imagery. The early releases F.R.E.A.K.S. and Deviancy introduced a confrontational sound that became more focused on God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It in 2020. That album won the Polaris Music Prize and opened a three-album sequence about identity, spirituality, pain, and personal struggle. I Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses followed in 2021, with His Happiness Shall Come First Even Though We Are Suffering completing the sequence in 2022. After the 2024 single Wake Up, Backxwash released Only Dust Remains in March 2025. The album broadened the project through ballad structures, heavy electronic production, and writing about death, return, and endurance. An instrumental edition followed in May 2026. Backxwash continues to perform internationally while maintaining an active Montréal base, with Canadian festival dates announced for 2026.