City Fidelia

Ottawa artist blog

City Fidelia is an incredible Ottawa-based artist with a well-crafted discography full of bangers and classics. Fidelia has an incredible voice that he uses brilliantly, and his melodic approach is beautiful. I covered his song "Needed Time," which was released back in March of this year. That track is still one of my favorites from his discography; it could be because it's his most recent and highest-quality work, but something about how he sounds now draws me in. For years, his style has been consistent; he has been improving the production and quality of his work, but the actual style has remained relatively consistent. His work dates back to 2015 with an album titled “A Pisces World.” This project delivered a total of 9 tracks and sounds nothing like the Fidelia we know today. This is really an amazing time capsule, the classic early 2010s rap sound Fidelia had is a nostalgia piece now but also showcases his amazing skill and versatility. He transitioned from rapping to singing and mixing the two. His next project, "FreeDumb," would not be released until the summer of 2016. This 7-track project saw him push his rap sound even further on the experimental and vocal fronts. I feel like the production took a huge step forward and became more than just the backbone of the track. In 2017, he released one single and two short projects titled "Deep," "City of Lost Angels," and "Cuffing Season Alone."  These tracks progressed into a more melodic and experimental sound. The rap songs began to use crazier, more complex instrumentals, and he began to push unusual sounds. This is just the beginning of incredible talent and a glimpse of someone pushing the boundaries. In 2018, Fidelia would begin working on a regular basis with an incredible producer, Eva Shaw. This is where his sound and style would lean more toward the upbeat, melodic side. Fidelia began to truly evolve and find himself at this point. He released a few bangers with Eva in 2018 and 2019 titled "Snakes," “What U Need,” and “Letter to the Side.” He would also release other bangers like "About You," and "Mama Knows." in 2019. 2020 and 2021 would stay relatively quiet with a few hard hitters like “Good Vibes Only,” “Drugs and Loaded Weapons,” and “College Dropout.” "Drugs and Loaded Weapons" is a nice evolution of his rap style; despite becoming a more melodic singer and rapper, this track brought out his gritty side. I really like his cadence in this one; he has a very distinct delivery and mixing style. With "Needed Time" and "Soulmate," 2022 would bring his best work yet. I adore Fidelia's work, and the music has only gotten better with time. His talents are not even fully displayed in his discography and I feel like the world is about to wake up to his music. I'm curious to see where he goes next, and I'm hoping for another project soon, maybe a few more big collabs.

Written by Maxim Bayarsky