This foundation is helping 2SLGBTQ+ artists kick-start their careers

CBC

a day ago

For many 2SLGBTQ+ artists, a successful music career can seem like a distant goal.
With increasingly discriminatory laws and policies around identity, general harassment and lack of safety, the hurdles often feel insurmountable. It's why producer and DJ Velvet Code founded the You Do You Foundation: to give 2SLGBTQ+ musicians a chance to thrive.
Velvet Code is a music producer and DJ from Burketon, Ont., who now calls Toronto home. He's known for his work with Lady Gaga and drag artists including Icesis Couture, and he founded music label and entertainment company So Fierce Music in 2020. When the pandemic hit, Velvet Code realized that he wanted to give back to his community, and saw the need for an organization that would help kick-start the music careers of 2SLGBTQ+ artists.
"I started receiving a number of emails when I started So Fierce Music," he said. "Those emails were deeply troubling at times when people were telling me about the lack of funding, the lack of opportunities and how artists were being discriminated against and marginalized."
Velvet Code started the You Do You Foundation in 2021 to support 2SLGBTQ+ artists facing hurdles including mental health challenges and barriers to inclusivity. It has offered mentorship on social media and finances, and given artists access to producers and recording opportunities.
"As a queer, gender-fluid music artist and producer, I live the unique struggles and triumphs of 2SLGBTQIA+ and QBIPOC creators firsthand," he added, "and You Do You Foundation exists to help ease those struggles and provide the necessary tools to future proof artists for a better life."
The foundation's first cohort of six mentees has just completed the program, and you can meet them all below. Velvet Code has just started mentoring a second cohort of queer artists, with hopes for funding to continue his work. He's also hoping to build the Fierce and Fabulous Expo, with a launch slated for Toronto's 2026 Pride.
Seyoncé Knows
Seyoncé Knows has been working as a drag performer in Toronto for eight years. They have been featured on the drag competition show Call Me Mother but, despite this success, have felt the pressure of being an alternative, " extra-large medium" drag artist up against mainstream performers.
"Everyone has their specific niche idea of what drag is," Seyoncé Knows shared. "I've realized that drag can be literally anything. I've run with that and the people who like it, really like it, and some people don't understand that — and that's OK."
Seyoncé Knows worked through these barriers with You Do You while expanding their music career. You Do You guided Seyoncé through social media marketing, taught them business acumen, and allowed them to step into a recording booth for the first time. The organization also helped Seyoncé Knows research programs for additional support to make more music.
Océane Aqua-Black
Océane Aqua-Black grew up outside of Quebec City, and only experienced a gay bar for the first time after moving to the city. In 2014, while dancing in a club, she was asked if she would be willing to try drag. When Océane Aqua-Black finally said yes, the response was so intense that she was hired on as a paid performer. She has now been doing drag for 21 years, and her talent even landed her a spot on Canada's Drag Race — though she was sent home after a singing competition.
"That gave me the kick to look for people who could make me improve if I wanted to sing again," Océane Aqua-Black said.
You Do You helped Océane Aqua-Black produce, write and record, leading to her first two singles. She has gone on to record a full-length album, Shameless, which will come out this fall. It includes almost 30 tracks, laying bare Océane Aqua-Black's personality, identity and experience as a Black drag queen and queer person. She also wants to dismantle the idea that she's unable to perform to the calibre of a thinner drag queen: " I dance my ass off. It's not because I am a bigger size that I'm unable to do this and that. I want to destroy those ideas."
Having felt tokenized in her work, Océane Aqua-Black created the show Black Excellence Superstars, featuring and celebrating only Black drag queens, which sold out to more than 600 attendees in 2024. With the help of Velvet Code, Océane hopes to tour the show globally.
Lady Nova
After 12 years of singing, Lady Nova started doing drag in 2022, which allowed her to pursue sewing, makeup and more creative outlets. Unfortunately, a few months into performing in Toronto's gay village, Lady Nova tore her ACL. She performed while sitting to work around her injury, which led to experimenting with her voice.
"I would take my crutches, go to the gig, sit down on the stool and I would sing my songs and just try to make it work," she said.
Velvet Code saw Lady Nova perform and encouraged her to apply for the You Do You Foundation. With its help, Nova has built a new skillset and said she's felt different while performing — and thoroughly enjoys it. She plans to work on an EP, and could see herself crafting a one-woman show as Lady Nova.
Brayo Bryans
Brayo Bryans is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, singer-songwriter and activist originally from Uganda, now based in Toronto. His work spans music, film, photography and live-event hosting, often within the themes of identity, resilience and liberation, which are inspired by his lived experience as a queer refugee. He helped organize Uganda's first Pride event, and used music and visual arts as tools for visibility and resistance.
Bryans is signed to So Fierce Music, and has been rebuilding his artistic career since moving to Canada, while continuing his advocacy.
"The You Do You Foundation has been an incredible support system," he shared. "They've helped amplify my story through their platform, creating visibility at a time when I was still finding my footing in Canada. Beyond that, they've offered genuine encouragement — reminding me that my voice matters, and that there's a place for my art".
Jaymze Harvey
Jaymze Harvey has been recording music since the late '90s, and feels it is a fundamental part of his being: as a survivor of domestic abuse, music has helped him heal. He was in the middle of a 10-year hiatus when he discovered the You Do You Foundation.
"It wasn't a healthy environment for me to do music or to concentrate on it," Harvey said. "I was also my nana's primary caregiver for 16 years, and as her health declined, I stopped performing."
While dealing with so much, Harvey found it hard to believe in himself. Through various workshops, You Do You and Velvet Code supported Harvey out of his hiatus, and made him feel like he could get back into music and market himself.
"I'm so grateful because it covered not just social media," said Harvey. "There was songwriting, production as well and marketing." Harvey wrote two songs, which Velvet Code produced, and is currently working on an EP.
Samantha Campbell
P.E.I.-based musician Samantha Campbell wanted to take her time building her music career. She has dealt with multiple traumas and addiction for years, and eventually received multiple mental health diagnoses, including anxiety, depression, and bipolar II disorder. Music is where she turned to heal, and going slowly was important.
" Let's move at a slow pace, and make sure everything's done right," she explained.
The You Do You Foundation helped Campbell afford to record her songs. She worked on them remotely with Velvet Code, and is hoping to finish her album and possibly play some East Coast music festivals, including Cavendish Beach Music Festival.