Toronto, ON – Ever wondered who Canada’s best rapper was? The answer is really a matter of opinion, but the debate will continue until that last MC hangs up their mic… and long after that. Now CBC(Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has taken a stab at finding an answer by polling industry heads and artists around the country. We present you with CBC’s 25 Greatest Rappers Ever. Here’s how they break it down (you can find the list of 25 MCs after the jump):
Who is Canada’s best rapper? The answer is completely subjective, obviously, but it’s a good one to ask, especially in a genre that is known for its lists. From the best MCs to the best albums to the best producers, hip-hop fans love to rank.
But what about the best in Canada? It’s not something that’s asked enough, so we thought we’d give it a try. Promising anonymity, we asked a number of industry people from across the country, including journalists (whether or not they’ve written for CBC Music), as well as the rappers themselves. For the record, none of them named themselves.
CBC’s 25 Greatest Canadian Rappers Ever
25. Joey Stylez 24. Ghettosocks 23. Eternia 22. JD Era 21. Ian Kamau 20. Reema Major 19. Red1 (Rascalz) 18. King Lou (Dream Warriors) 17. Infinite 16. Rich Kidd 15. Adam Bomb 14. Choclair 13. Buck 65 12. Moka Only 11. K’naan 10. Michie Mee 09. Cadence Weapon 08. D-Sisive 07. Saukrates 06. Classified 05. k-os 04. Drake 03. Kardinal Offishall 02. Shad 01. Maestro Fresh Wes
The Greatest Ever: Maestro Fresh Wes
“Hands down, the undisputed godfather of Canadian hip-hop. Forget that Maestro was the first Canadian rapper to break out with a Top 40 hit in “Let Your Backbone Slide” way back in ’89; he continues to put out great work today. And when most rappers are sampling old soul and funk, Maestro keeps it fresh by taking Cancon standards like the Guess Who’s “These Eyes” and Blue Rodeo’s “Try” and breathes new life into them. His 2012 EP, Black Tuxedo, is nominated for a Juno, and we can’t wait to hear his upcoming full-length, Orchestrated Noise.”
Source: CBC
CBC’s presentation of the list provides a bit of biographical info on each of the artists selected. You can find it here.
Montreal, QC– Earlier this weekOsheagaannounced its monstrous line up for the 2017 festival, which takes place from Aug. 4 to Aug. 6 at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal.
This year’s line up is headlined by XO golden boy The Weeknd, and features additional performances courtesy of 6lack, BadBadNotGood, Daniel Caesar, Danny Brown, De La Soul, Denzel Curry, Flatbush ZOMBiES, Harrison, Jacob Banks, Lil Uzi Vert, Majid Jordan, Major Lazer, Mick Jenkins, NoName, River Tiber, Run The Jewels, Russ, Sampha, Solange, and more.
Passes are on sale online now via the Osheaga website and start at $320 for general admission for the entire weekend. Check out the official festival poster below, and head over to the official Osheaga site for more details and to scope the entire festival line up.
Toronto, ON – Huge congrats are in order for MC and King of the Dot founder Organik and LA-based MC Dumbfoundead for making their acting debuts in the new movie Detention. Based on the reviews already published, the Joseph Kahn-directed comedy/horror could possibly reach cult classic status. It was also a SXSW 2011 Accepted Film Here’s the basics of the plot: a killer named Cinderhella stalks the students at a high school in Grizzly lake and the kids serving detention decide to band together to survive. Organik’s character is named Gord and Dumbfoundead goes by Toshiba. The cast also includes Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, Dane Cook and many more.
The movie is currently showing in 10 American locations and 2 Canadian spots. You can catch Detention in Toronto at Empire Empress Walk 10 Cinemas located at 5095 Yonge Street in North York (M2N 6Z4). If you’re in Halifax, you can find the movie at Empire Theatres Bayers Lake which is located at 190 Chain Lake Drive (B3S 1C5). Click the jump to see the movie poster and trailer.
Saint John, NB – Coming in support of their new collaborative album, 2 Bad Dudes, Fortunato and DJ IV have released their new “Built For This” video. The video was directed by Patrick Younger and the song is available for download via Bandcamp (along with a dope looking cassette copy to give you that nostalgic feel).
Along with the new video, we’ve also just published a new story about the 2 Bad Dudes which has some insight from DJ IV on how things came together, and a Q&A with Fortunato detailing other new developments including a European tour in the works.
Check out the video after the jump or click here to take in the album and interview now.
Canadian hip-hop artists like Tory Lanez need support, not tokenism
Why our country can't afford to wait for the industry to catch up
Amanda Parris · CBC Arts ·
Canadian rapper Tory Lanez surfs the crowd at the East Village Block Party during Calgary's Sled Island festival. The east Village neighbourhood will soon be home to Canada's National Music Centre. (Michael Tan)
On Tuesday, I, like much of the world, spent hours combing the net, immersed in music, photos and videos of the late David Bowie. I stumbled upon a 1983 interview with MTV where during a typical press junket Bowie brilliantly subjected Mark Goodman to an interrogation of his own, asking the VJ why the new channel featured so few black artists. The response?
Popularity is encouraged and invested in; it doesn't simply happen.- Toronto artist Ian Kamau
"We have to try and do what we think not only New York or Los Angeles would appreciate but also what Poughkeepsie or some town in the Midwest that would be scared to death by Prince, which we're playing, or a string of other black faces and black music. You know, we have to play the music we think an entire country is gonna like."
I've heard that reasoning before, I thought — not in the '80s or even the '90s, but in the past year, each time I questioned someone in a relative position of power on why so little room is given to hip-hop music in the Canadian music industry. The specific excuses change somewhat over time but nearly a quarter-century later the rationale remains just as weak and flimsy as Goodman's.
Complaining about the lack of Canadian industry support for hip-hop is a tradition almost as old as the art form itself. However with the history of Canadian hip-hop now divided into the BD and AD eras — Before and After Drake — the protest is getting louder.
Disclaimer: I am not a hip-hop artist and I don't work in the music business. I'm simply a frustrated fan of the art form witnessing an industry make sporadic, tokenistic overtures while keeping the real doors closed. In the worlds of commercial radio and awards shows — two key measurements of the music industry's priorities — hip-hop is treated like a second-class citizen.
Commercial radio
One day in December I was driving home from work and turned the radio to CBC Radio One. My mouth dropped open when I heard what was playing. It was Toronto born and Brampton raised singer/rapper/producer Tory Lanez belting out his hit single "Say It." I had recently been introduced to his catalogue and he was my musical obsession of the moment. When I heard the song, I began yelling in my car, singing along (slightly off-key) and dancing without caring about the stares from other drivers at the red light. When I came down from my high, I started to wonder, how is it possible that although I live in the same city as this upcoming artist, I'm learning about him at the same time as (or even later than) hip-hop fans south of the border?
Tory Lanez is not an overnight success. He's been recording music for the past six years but it was in 2015, after years of selling mixtapes on street corners and in malls across the GTA, that the wider world learned about Lanez when he signed with Interscope and provided the hook for the hit Meek Mill single "Lord Knows" (which was also featured on the soundtrack for the movie Creed).
I argue that one reason Tory Lanez needed the U.S. to get attention in his home city is that for almost five years, Toronto has not had a commercial urban music radio station that would provide the platform for listeners to be introduced to a new artist like him. Back in 2001, hip-hop was granted a platform after years of being played only on volunteer-led community stations. Flow 93.5FM was Toronto's first black-owned and operated commercial radio station, and boasted well-rated shows including O.T.A. (On the Air) Live!, a key showcase for emerging local talent. When the station was sold in 2011 to CTVglobemedia (now Bell Media), O.T.A. and other similarly popular shows were soon cancelled. The void they left has yet to be filled.
It is so unfamiliar to have anything other than Top 40 hip-hop represented on radio in Toronto anymore, so when I hear the music of a young dude on the come-up from my hometown, like Tory Lanez, I have to double-check my radio dial.
The culture cannot grow if it is not given platforms for artists to have their music heard and for audiences to be introduced to them.In a recent op-ed Noisey titled "An insider's look in: Examining the real value of Toronto's rap scene," Toronto MC Ian Kamau writes, "Investment is no accident: I would argue that rock and pop have been consistently invested in and became more popular because they are genres that are more economically or culturally valued by the industry decision-makers, programmers, and tastemakers with the most power. But popularity is encouraged and invested in; it doesn't simply happen."
Members of Rascalz show off their Juno award for Best Rap Recording at the Juno Awards in Hamilton, Ontario Sunday March 7,1999. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
In this June 27, 2015 photo, Drake performs on the main stage at Wireless festival in Finsbury Park, London. (Jonathan Short/Invision/Associated Press)
Beyond the Junos, there's also the Polaris Music Prize, a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales or record label The jury list for the Polaris Music Prize is comprised of more than 200 Canadian music journalists, bloggers and broadcasters. Hip-hop artists ranging from megastars like Drake and The Weeknd to independent acts such as Cadence Weapon, Zaki Ibrahim and Shad have made it onto the shortlist. But in its 10-year history, it has never been won by a rap or R&B artist.
Over the Christmas holidays I spent hours watching the annual countdown of best music videos of the year on Much. I was stunned by how many of the videos I had never seen. I realized how much I missed the days of curated programming, where the onus was on a trusted presenter to introduce me to the music. Kudos goes to the music writers and critics who through print, blogs and podcasts have attempted to fill the void.
The open access of platforms such as SoundCloud and YouTube has democratized the process artists go through to have their music heard, but it has also led to an overwhelming array of content that never reaches most peoples' ears. Most emerging and mid-tier artists do not have a clear next level to work towards, at least not in this country.
Meanwhile, awards and commercial radio painfully illustrate that the traditional bastions of the Canadian music industry have remained stagnant since the Rascalz protest of 1998 and the massive Drake diss of 2011. Tokenistic overtures lead to a performance here, an added nomination there, but no substantial attempt has been made to create space within the infrastructure.
This frustrated fan is joining the growing swell of protest demanding that the Canadian music industry let go of weak excuses and begin making fundamental changes. Here's hoping that this moment is similar to MTV's 1983. Open the doors and culture will inevitably grow.
Corrections
A previously published version of this article stated that the award for the Rap Recording of the Year category at the Juno Awards was only presented once on the telecast. In fact it appeared on the telecast in 2002, 2005 and 2010. The CBC regrets the error.
Vancouver, BC – Brainfeeder’s own Thundercat made a stop in Vancouver last week as part of his World Tour. The sold-out crowd at the Rickshaw Theatre saw a whole-hearted performance from the virtuoso singer / bassist. Jamies Sands caught a gallery of the performance put on by Timbre Concerts.
Toronto, ON – As the “So Gone” challenge continues to spread across social media, Canadian artists are starting to get in on the fun. Scarborough actor-MC Bishop Brigante has never been one to turn down a challenge and it appears the #SoGoneChallenge caught his attention.
Word from the Section 6 camp is the KOTD co-host has been working diligently in the studio recently and some new tunes from Bish could be on the way. For now, check out his entry in the #SoGoneChallenge and let us know what you think.
The “So Gone” challenge involves MCs rapping over the instrumental to R&B singer Monica’s 2003 hit “So Gone.” Artists like Chance the Rapper, Missy Elliott and even Monica herself have gotten in on it, and the challenge has also extended past hip-hop. Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers shared his submission to Instagram and actor Kevin Hart (aka Droppa) posted a hilarious verse on his IG while on his honeymoon.
The Original
And while you really should be familiar with this single already, here’s the original song and inspiration for the challenge:
The Challenge
Some notable submissions from the #SoGoneChallenge:
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