Dalton Higgins

Over the last decade, Higgins has spearheaded PR strategies and publicity campaigns for anything from Fortune 500 companies (Universal Music) and multiple Grammy and Juno Award-winning & nominated music artists (A-Trak, Carvin Winans, Kardinal Offishall, Jazz Cartier) all the way to Emmy Award-winning acting ensembles (cast of The Young & The Restless) and professional athletes (WBC Light Heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson). As a virtual PR strategist to the stars of music and pop culture, over the last decade Higgins has landed his wide range of clients key placements in most major mainstream and cool niche media across the full spectrum; TV, radio, print, web, having cultivated a unique Generation Now way of creating buzz and hype for people, new products, and things. One part of his success involves tapping his powers of prognostication to help detect media trends before and while they happen.

What is it about hip hop culture that has captured the imagination and interest of multi-cultural youth like no other music form? And what parts of the culture can students learn important life altering messages from? As Canada’s foremost expert on the genre & culture, Higgins puts a hip-hop lens on campus life while highlighting his experience with Drake, K’nann, k-os, Kardinal Offishall, Jazz Cartier, and more popular artists and brands. Higgins presents lessons learned from hip hop culture as they apply to relevant campus issues such as diversity, sexuality, school & social life balance, leadership, self-esteem, career development, and more. Author of six books on the subject, including the only Drake bio Far From Over, Higgins delivers practical takeaways informed by pop culture events and icons that student audiences can connect with. Learn how hip hop can be used as a tool to navigating the campus experience.

Listed in the Who’s Who in Black Canada book, Higgins has programmed many multi-disciplinary black culture festivals that integrate African American/Canadian, African, Caribbean, and Latin American black communities. What does “black culture” mean, and why does black culture influence the rest of popular culture to the degree that it does?  From MLK and Maya Angelou to Barack Obama, Michael Jackson and Tiger Woods.

Canada’s foremost hip hop expert says “it’s a hip hop world, and you’re just living in it”. What is it about hip hop culture that has captured the imagination of multi-cultural youth in North America and around the rest of the globe, like no other music form? From Baby Boomers to Millennials, Higgins breaks down in precise detail why European, South Asian, Asian, African, Australasian, Latin American and Western youth incorporate hip hop culture, lifestyle, attitudes, dress codes, and language into their everyday lives, and use hip hop culture as their “voice”. Come hear why his Hip Hop books and accompanying teaching resource manuals are used at middle and high schools across Canada and the USA to address youth literacy.

As an arts programmer at Canada’s Centre of Contemporary Culture, a long time pop culture reporter for some of North America’s leading magazines, and co-author of a mini comprehensive history of the first 20+ years of MuchMusic, Higgins is one of Canada’s leading pop culture pundits, and is often asked by radio, TV, print and web media to project and dictate popular culture trends before they happen. Includes media literacy for both adults and youth.