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Concerts

NXNE 2026: mgk Brings Rockstar Energy to Billboard Canada THE STAGE

Celebrating his new cover of Billboard Canada, the "multi-genre king" signed magazines, hung from the rafters and ended the festival on a major high note late into Sunday night (June 14).

mgk performs at Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE 2026 in Toronto.

mgk performs at Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE 2026 in Toronto.

Gabriel Di Sante

mgk didn't just close out NXNE at Billboard Canada THE STAGE on Sunday night (June 14). He blew the roof right off it.

The global superstar delivered an unforgettable, high-octane late-night performance at Hotel X’s rooftop bar in downtown Toronto following his sold-out show at RBC Amphitheatre on his Lost Americana tour.


It was a celebratory night for the "multi-genre king," who appeared on the cover of Billboard Canada in a vulnerable and wide-ranging interview about his last few years and return to blog era hip-hop. Fans were treated to limited-run print issues of the magazine, and mgk signed many of them for the audience. "Thank you Billboard for putting a real rockstar on the cover," he said.

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\u200bmgk performs at Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE 2026 in Toronto. mgk performs at Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE 2026 in Toronto.Gabriel Di Sante

mgk tore into his rap-rock firestarter "FIX UR FACE." Not content with just rocking the stage, he latched his legs around the venue's rafters, hanging mid-air while performing. The crowd went into such a frenzy that he immediately brought it back, playing the track twice in a row. He hung off the front of the stage to get as close to the audience as possible as fans scaled pillars to shout the lyrics back at him. mgk called them the MVPs of the night, especially one guy who did the whole thing barefoot. It felt like Woodstock 99.

From hip-hop to pop-punk, country and emo, the artist born Colson Baker has shown he can do it all, but he kept things high-energy on this night. It was all about adrenaline, aura and getting as close to his diehard Canadian fans as possible. They matched his energy beat by beat.

As he told Billboard Canada, mgk is all about having fun right now. On Blog Era Boyz with Wiz Khalifa, he's regained a feeling with "no stakes" and "nothing to lose." You could tell he was in that mindset at NXNE as he brought a chaotic rock and roll energy that made the show feel like a fever dream.

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\u200bmgk performs at Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE 2026 in Toronto. mgk performs at Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE 2026 in Toronto.Gabriel Di Sante

It was an instantly legendary show that those in attendance will remember for a long, long time.

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Canadian Government Introduces Canada Creative Credit to Support 'Artistic Production'
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash
Business News

Canadian Government Introduces Canada Creative Credit to Support 'Artistic Production'

The Mark Carney government's new federal budget also confirms a $600 million investment to provide relief to the audiovisual sector for 2026-27, which was first announced in June.

Canada has built a new support for the creative sector into the new federal budget.

The Carney government's 2026 federal budget was tabled Thursday afternoon (Nov. 5), and it includes a new and forthcoming Canada Creative Credit, described as a tax relief "for Canadian artists to foster creativity, artistic production and cultural entrepreneurship." In a subsequent message posted to X, prime minister Mark Carney revealed that Canadian artists can benefit from an exception of up to $45,000.

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