Quique Escamilla

Part of the 2026 Toronto Jazz Festival. More information from Toronto Jazz Festival JUNO Award winner, Quique Escamilla, is a Mayan-Mestizo singer songwriter born and raised in the tropical land of Chiapas, Mexico. Today he is an international touring artist and producer based in Toronto, Canada. Escamilla reemerges with his compelling and powerful new single, “No Kings Around,” set to release this spring, following a self-imposed and controversial U.S. tour cancellation in January 2026 and indefinitely - amid a heated political climate and an inhuman hunt against Latin Americans and U.S. citizens at the hands of ICE. His new chant-like and anthemic call to freedom confronts the U.S. administration’s tyrannic ways at home - toward millions of Latinos and its own citizens - while it attacks nations abroad, from Palestine to Iran, Cuba to Venezuela, and threatens the rest of the world. Quique’s message is urgent, defiant, and deeply human: a call for the resistance that pulses through every people. Alongside his signature powerful voice and passionate delivery, Quique introduces a song in English - bridging language and culture to share the untold histories of Indigenous peoples across the Americas. Backed by a unique fusion of traditional Mexican huapango and electrifying guitar-driven sounds, this marks a bold new step: a huapango song in English designed to linger in the mind and move the spine. No Kings Around is the first advance from his upcoming full-length album, which amplifies Indigenous voices across the Americas while confronting old and new colonialism, imperialism, racism, and xenophobia - on the contrary, the album embraces the diversity of Indigenous cultures, identities, and languages that define the ONE American continent, from north to south, and all nations of the world. Sounds Like Toronto - Sounds Like the World is generously supported by the City of Toronto through the Community Celebration Support Fund.