Wali Shah

Wali Shah (born September 9, 1994) is a Canadian speaker,^[1] musician and philanthropist. He has spoken most prominently on topics including bullying, mental health and social change while utilizing both spoken word poetry and rap music.^[2]

In 2014, he was named by Plan Canada as one of Canada's "Top 20 Under 20".^[3] He has raised over one million dollars for The United Way as its ambassador for Mississauga's Peel region.^[4]

Early years

Shah's parents immigrated to Canada in 1997 when Shah was three, first settling in Toronto before moving to Mississauga, Ontario. As a result, Shah spent a number of years of his youth in Toronto before settling in Mississauga. Shah attended Cawthra Park Secondary School, his early years being turbulent and culminating in his arrest at the age of 15.^[5] This served as a turning point in Shah's life at which point through mentorship and resilience he reformed his lifestyle towards facilitating change in the community.^[5]

Career

Shah began his career by releasing a hip-hop rap album in 2013 entitled Rhythm & Poetry under the alias "Flo". The album spawned the single "King of the Castle" which tackled bullying amongst youth.^[6] Its music video became a standard in the Peel Region District School Board's educational resources, garnered over 100,000 views on YouTube and would go on to be featured on MTV for WeDay 2014. This foray led to schools having him as a youth speaker, and led to a collaboration between Shah and the Peel Board to create a bullying prevention video titled "Change The World". ^{[7] [6]}

In June 2014, Shah was selected by Plan Canada as one of Canada's "Top 20 Under 20".^[8]

On October 2, 2014, Shah was featured alongside actress-musician Selena Gomez at the 2014 We Day conference where he also freestyle rapped with musical artist Kendrick Lamar.^[9] His music video "King of the Castle" was featured at the event and would go on to air on MTV Canada.^[10] Shah is currently enrolled at University of Toronto Mississauga where he studies Sociology.

In 2015 Shah was awarded the 3M National Student Fellowship which is presented annually to only 10 student leaders across the country.^[11] He was also selected as one of the faces for CAMIMH's national campaign for mental health awareness.^[12]

Shah has spoken against bullying and violence using the turbulent experiences of his youth to serve as an example to try to help youth excel. He encourages youth and adults alike to contribute to social change by being active in their communities.^[13] In January 2016 Shah was interviewed on CTV National News for the Bell Let's Talk campaign in order to share his story and help end the stigma against mental health. ^[14]

In following years, Wali has taken his artistic talents professionally. He speaks and performs both locally and nationally at charity and corporate events, schools, and other talent showcases. Shah was a featured TEDx speaker, where he discussed his story of being from a Muslim family and Islamophobia,^[15] and in July 2016, he created and performed a poem at Microsoft's World Partner Conference for a live audience of over 15,000. ^[16]

References