Fredy V & The Foundation - No Tribe, No I
Self-Released
Released on October 16th, 2025
If you know me, you know I love a good collaboration! Fredy V & The Foundation has me screaming: Yesssss Turtle Island let’s goooooooo. Don’t you just love discovering a new favorite album? This collective of voices has come together to gift us this beautiful piece of art: No Tribe, No I. A collective of different voices at the forefront based on the vibe and what the song needs. And not just collaborating in the sense of artists getting together, but these songs were inspired and created from travelling experiences and features 2 international artists: Oddisee, originally from Sudan, but living in Washington DC, (find him on PHO THE VIBE). The first single, “Find Me”, features Aiace from Bahia, Brazil. This dynamic provides an elite audio trip around the world while without having to take a flight kind of vibe indeed. Bathing in instrumentation, I find that Quebec right now has a whole string of artists that are creating their own sounds and pushing boundaries, and this work definitely proves that point. With their first single released earlier this year, which was birthed from a jam session on a trip to Salvador, Bahia btw, it really sets the tone for the rest of the album. You can find the lyric video here.
Imagine this: you are at their live show, the opening song would have you wanting to clap along immediately, then when the beat comes in and the vocals start, you have the urge to get out of your chair and hit the dance floor, then the whole show, you just cannot sit back down. Yes, that was me in my bedroom listening to this. I felt honoured I even got to hear this before the world. Oof, this is an ALBUM. Not me dancing and typing at the same time, this review was written with vibes, I wonder if that transfers to you dancing while reading this. Anyway, can we talk about this cover art for a second?! Creative illustration artist Nik Brovkin created a very unique piece! The colours are beautifully vivid, giving magic school bus vibes, but it is actually pulled from the fact that these frozen audio pieces of art were inspired by their global travel and experiences! It gives me, trips around the sun type vibes, summer never ends type vibes, you can do ANYTHING and go anywhere type vibes, which is perfectly paired with the feelings of the project! Even the small details on the van, a band travelling with their equipment strapped to the roof is so relatable to peer roadies and also, a tell-tale sign of hard work to their audience working 9-5’s.
To put this into a genre box would be an injustice. There's everything from notes of afro-funk, brazilian fusions, hip hop elements, sounds of the 80’s, this art is forging a genre all on its own. It makes me want to dance away my trauma alone in my room then dance the night away with my friends while a dj is playing their first single, “Find Me” in the club.
It’s the way this album weaves through nodes of culture and future sounds. It’s the way you can feel the fun they had in the studio creating these songs. It’s the way you feel all the euphoric vibes that collaboration brings. Then the title track keeps you dancing while the lyrics of the song focus on the importance of family and foundation. I think I lost about 300 calories dancing to this project, of course I got it right back with the mention of fufu in the lyrics. I had to source some out right away while enjoying my listening experience. Fufu as a food should be paying this band. Not sure the logistics of that but figure it out and get back to me, thanks.
You can catch Fredy V & The Foundation live at their album launch party November 13th, 8:00pm at the Turbo Haus in Montreal.
