When Toronto takes the global stage as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the energy will be felt in more than just the cheers from the stands. It’ll be heard in the form of a custom Sonic ID created by JUNO Award-winning producer and multi-instrumentalist Hill Kourkoutis. Commissioned by FIFA, the track is designed to represent the spirit of Toronto through sound, playing across stadiums and international broadcasts throughout the tournament.
For Hill, the project was both an artistic challenge and a personal full-circle moment.
“My initial vision was to create an anthem that celebrated our city’s multicultural identity and our love of soccer,” Hill says. “And it was also, in a way, a love letter to the sounds that shape our cultural identity and our diversity.”
Having started her music career in Toronto clubs at just 13, she’s long drawn creative inspiration from the city’s cultural patchwork. “Toronto and its diversity has been a muse of mine,” she explains. “Artists and [the] cultural scene here has really inspired me and informed my experiences as a musician and a songwriter and producer.”
That diversity, she says, can’t be captured in a single genre. “Toronto isn’t really defined by one genre. It’s an amalgamation of many. I think that’s also a reflection of our cultural identity… Toronto is a mosaic, and in a way, that’s what the Sonic ID is.”
To shape the track, Hill pulled from what she calls the “Toronto Sound,” a moody, minimalist aesthetic made globally recognizable by artists like Drake, The Weeknd, and PartyNextDoor. “I actually had the privilege of playing in The Weeknd’s band during the mixtape era,” she says. “And I remember at the time, I’d never heard anything like it. It was so refreshing… it was intimate and it was gritty and it was super emotional.”
But the goal wasn’t just to make something atmospheric. “I ultimately knew that it was going to be played in a stadium environment at the end of the day, so I knew it had to be huge,” she explains.
Hill imagined the track as a walk through Toronto’s many neighbourhoods. Each one adds to the musical texture before culminating in the energy of a stadium. “It starts off in that raw, moody and gritty way, which is essentially the Toronto sound. And then it starts to build in its vibrancy into that anthemic release.”
“To translate that feeling into sound, it was about using a palette that’s massive,” she adds. “Big drums and synths and orchestral elements… reflective of the spirit of pride and passion and community. And that’s what creates that anthemic quality.”
For Hill, this wasn’t just another project. It was deeply personal. “I’m a child of Greek immigrants, and the Greeks are crazy about soccer,” she says. “My grandfather actually owned an NSL, National Soccer League team, called the Toronto Halas, back in the ’50s and ’60s. And… my siblings and I grew up playing FIFA World Cup on N64. My dad coached Little League Soccer.”
The Sonic ID had its first real-world debut at Toronto FC’s home opener earlier this year. “I got a little sense of the feeling of what it’ll feel like to have that music blasting in the stadium,” she says. “It’s exciting… any time you create something that so many people can connect to, it’s a source of pride and also gratitude.”
And next year, when the World Cup arrives, her music will be heard by millions. “It’s obviously something that, beyond bringing our city together, is also something that’s inviting the world into our home as well.”
