Ashanti Mutinta, better known as Backxwash, is a Montreal-based rapper and producer. She began producing as a teenager in Lusaka, Zambia in the local underground hip hop scene before moving to Canada for school.

After a hiatus from making music, she started performing in Montreal at cyphers and making music as Backxwash. Her journey from then on progressed from a way to connect with her authentic self to using music as a form of therapy.

On June 7th, 2018, she released her debut EP, F​.​R​.​E​.​A​.​K​.​S

On November 30, 2018, she released a second EP, Black Sailor Moon.

On July 12, 2019, she released her debut album, Deviancy.

On May 28, 2020, she released her full-length album God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It and won that year’s Polaris Music Prize. The horrorcore / industrial hip-hop record detailed Ashanti’s personal accounts of her lived experiences, beginning a cathartic healing process in which she would grant herself permission to be angry.

On August 4, 2020, she self-released her her EP STIGMATA, a followup project that bridged themes explored on God Has Nothing while further displaying her inspiration from metal influences.

On June 20, 2021, she released her album I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES, and she announced that it would be the second album in a trilogy. Whereas God Has Nothing was a study in mercy & forgiveness and provided some semblance of hope, I LIE HERE presents Backxwash finding solace in being completely consumed by her malevolent behaviors. The album was longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize the same year.

On October 30, 2022, she released HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING, the final instalment in her harrowing trilogy. With the release she announced that she would be taking some time to rest after this intense series of albums during which she used harsh sounds to process her traumas for the first time in her life.

On March 28, 2025, Backxwash emerged from the shadows of her trilogy with Only Dust Remains, marking a new sonic direction for her. The hip-hop record details the experience of life and death all occurring at once, while embracing a more melodic and complex soundscape.

Backxwash’s work includes a culmination of themes around the intersection between faith, identity, and queerness. Her production utilizes creative samples including chants from her tribe, a clip of a dog trying to play the piano, church sermons, and howling Ozzy Osbourne vocals; often layered over dark, atmospheric instrumentals.