2026 Ottawa Jazz Festival — Thursday, June 18

Thursday, June 18, 2026 Lineup

Daily lineup at Confederation Park. Headliner: Wyclef Jean on OLG Main Stage.

OLG Main Stage (Confederation Park)

6:30 pm — BLAKDENIM

• Precise Kenny Creole - MC
• Crystalena Paquette - Vocals
• Karl Acelin - Bass
• Sacha Nagy - Drums
• Robbie Rigg - Guitar
• Andrew Knox - Trumpet/Keyboard
• Raphael Desilets - Trumpet
• Liam Bird - Saxophone

Formed in Ottawa in 2012, BLAKDENIM blends hip-hop, funk, rock, and soul into a bold, genre-defying sound. With a full-band lineup and powerful live energy, they’ve built a reputation as a must-see act, performing at major festivals including Ottawa Bluesfest, Montreal Jazz Festival, and Festival d’été de Québec.

Their music explores themes of identity, resilience, and unity, combining thoughtful lyricism with groove-driven instrumentation. From early recognition in Live 88.5’s Big Money Shot competition to collaborating with hip-hop legend Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, BLAKDENIM continues to evolve.

With their album Usual Suspects: Season III, the band pushes their sound further blending modern production with classic funk influences. BLAKDENIM is a dynamic force on stage and a band steadily making its mark.

8:30 pm — Wyclef Jean 🎤 headliner

Wyclef Jean | Performing Artist, Producer and Composer

Wyclef Jean is a Grammy Award-winning artist, producer, and composer with over two decades of pioneering influence in the music industry and culture. As a founding member of the Fugees, their 1996 album "The Score" achieved monumental global and chart topping success, in addition to two Grammy Awards and a nomination for Album of the Year. He has released eight solo albums, including "The Carnival," which sold nearly nine million copies worldwide. As a producer and writer, he is responsible for hits like “Hips Don’t Lie” (Shakira), “Maria Maria” (Santana) and more. In 2020, Wyclef launched the podcast "RunThatBack".

As a leader in music tech he co-founded SodoMoodLab, composing music for Showtime’s "The Chi,” is Chief Creative Officer of OpenWav, and a consultant for Google DeepMind, where he focuses on AI technology. As a philanthropist, he is deeply committed to honoring his home country of Haiti, recently sponsoring and mentoring Haitian students in a robotics program that achieved global accolades. He is on the National Advisory Board for Music Will and was honored with their 2025 Innovator Award. He remains a dynamic cultural force, seamlessly integrating music, education, and technology to drive meaningful social change.

Elgin St. Stage (Confederation Park)

7:30 pm — 646yf4t

646yf4t (Babyfat) obliterates genre boundaries, blending sounds so unpredictably that even he struggles to define them. "I just keep it real. Life's messy — my production, my storytelling, all of it. But I do it anyway, 'cause that's what's true. That's between me and God."

Hailing from Oshawa, Ontario, 646yf4t (Babyfat) — born Zachary Simmonds — came up as a producer before deciding the only way to fully realize his vision was to step into it himself. In 2025, he did exactly that. His debut EP, Growing Pains (Sincerely Yours) announced him as a singular voice: stream-of-consciousness storytelling over genre-bending soundscapes, moving between alt-R&B, punk-rock, and something entirely his own. The project is a coming-of-age story told without flinching — heartbreak, faith, isolation, and the will to prevail through all of it. He closed out the year with a feature on his brother Daniel Caesar's Son of Spergy (Republic), appearing alongside Bon Iver, Sampha, and Blood Orange on the Billboard 200 Top 10 album.

2026 marks his first steps on stage. He made his live debut supporting Chris LaRocca at Longboat Hall in Toronto before taking the Danforth Music Hall stage alongside Strings From Paris — proving his world translates just as powerfully in a room full of people as it does on record.

10:30 pm — TOBi

TOBi is a 5 time JUNO winning rapper and singer, born in Nigeria, moving to Canada as a child. He quickly found an outlet in writing and performing music. Voted by Complex Magazine as “a top artist to watch,” TOBi has received critical acclaim from the likes of Billboard, Rolling Stone, i-D, COLORS, PAPER, and Sway In The Morning. His latest album, PANIC, was released in 2023 to high praise—including a sweep of the rap categories (Best Rap Album, Best Rap Single for “Someone I Knew”) at the 2024 JUNO awards. TOBi’s previous project, ELEMENTS Vol. 1 was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, and won the JUNO for Rap Recording of the Year in 2021. He was also Nominated for Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year and he performed at the Opening Night Award Ceremony. TOBi released his debut STILL in May 2019, exploring themes of vulnerability, post traumatic growth, self-reflection and masculinity in his time emigrating from Nigeria to Canada. TOBi has amassed over 100 million streams globally to date. On top of recording and performing, TOBi is a co-founder of UNPACK Community, a series of discussions on mental wellness in creative fields.