PROGRESS,
EMPOWERMENT & PRIDE
Celebrating 25 Years of Honey Jam
PARTICIPANTS FROM THE 2019 EDITION OF
HONEY JAM ONSTAGE AT THE MOD CLUB IN TORONTO
E
BY ANDREW KING
bonnie Rowe was well ahead of the curve in calling
out the Canadian music industry for being behind
the times.
In the first quarter of 2020 alone, FACTOR
announced its $350,000 investment in a women’s
mentorship program. The SOCAN Foundation held
its inaugural Her Music Awards to celebrate and
support female-identified artists, which came just
a couple of months after it unveiled its own mentorship program
to create equity and access for women+ music producers. And
continuing a trend that’s emerged over the past couple of years,
companies and associations are announcing commitments to and
achievements of gender parity on their boards of directors on an
increasingly regular basis.
Of course, such progress is welcome, necessary, and encour-
aging in addressing longstanding and deeply-rooted imbalances
in our industry’s infrastructure. But Rowe and a revolving cast of
supporters and collaborators have been steadfast in pointing out
and proactively counteracting those imbalances for 25 years.
Back in 1995, Rowe – who’d developed a reputation as an
outspoken critic of how women were portrayed in certain segments
of hip-hop culture – was invited to edit an all-female edition of
Toronto’s now-defunct entertainment publication Mic Check. The
launch party for that issue was dubbed “Honey Jam” and intended
to be a one-time event, but the audience obviously wanted more –
42 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
and the industry obviously needed it.
Rowe founded PhemPhat Entertainment Group that year
to “foster the growth, education, and promotion of women in all
aspects of the music business,” and the annual Honey Jam showcase
and development program has become its marquee initiative.
Today, a quarter-century after its inaugural edition, Honey Jam is
as relevant and – as far as its participants are concerned – rewarding
as ever.
“When it comes to your goals and aspirations, it’s important to see
yourself and people like you reflected out there the way you want to
be; otherwise, you see or imagine a barrier to entry for these kinds
of opportunities,” begins Rowe about her ongoing commitment to
the cause. “I just have that type of personality where no obstacle or
barrier is going to prevent me from getting what I want, and I’ll nev-
er feel a need to dishonour or disrespect myself in order to climb up
the ladder. But not everyone is like that, so we want to promote and
build that self-confidence, that refusal to be denied what you’re due.”
The goal isn’t and never has been just to loudly cry foul, or to
concede “that’s just the way it is” and come up with workarounds;
it’s about proactively generating ideas and plans to give women the
visibility they deserve and the tools they need to step up and over
existing biases and attitudes, regardless of whether they’re individu-
al or systemic.
Again, the central component of those efforts is Honey Jam.