Music

7 Canadian rappers you need to hear

by Daniel Gerichter

Us Canadians are a lucky sort. Our hip-hop scene dates almost as far back as the genre itself. We’ve got our legends (Michee Mee, Maestro) and our legends-in-the-making (Drake, Shad), but they’ve all sprouted from a community that nurtures its own like family—from DJs to emcees to producers. Call it an embarrassment of riches if you must, but the density of talent in this country is something to boast about. Some have been at it for years while others are just getting their feet in the door. But what do they all have in common? You should be listening to them right now. Here then are some of this country’s best and brightest. Check them out, nod your head and if you’re feeling it, buy their tracks or better still—go out and see them live.

 

Abdominal

Real name: Andy Bernstein.

Most Canadian lyric:  From the tune “T.Ode (feat. Notes to Self),” from the album Escape From the Pigeon Hole (Do Right! Music, 2007): “Spent my childhood in Greektown, but now a West-end denizen / Buying cocoa bread and patties in Kensington, then pedalling Westbound to Lansdowne / Shut off the discman to allow familiar sounds to enter my eardrums, hearing the hum and ding of the 506 [College st. streetcar], old men grumbling in Italian and Portuguese, over coffees at corner cafes.”

Most Canadian tour/performance story: “The song on my latest album Sitting Music (Pinwheel Music/2012) called “Courage” features none other than my mother rapping alongside me,” says Abdominal. “Being the good sport that she is, she and my step dad actually came on tour with me and my band, The Obliques, to Canada’s East coast this past summer.

“After a gig we played in beautiful Alma, NB, on the North shore of the Bay of Fundy. We ended up crashing at the venue owners’ farm. My mom is allergic to cats and it turns out their cat had just given birth, so she ended up staying in this little unfinished cabin in the middle of the pig pen! There was only one pig, Buddy, who was a biter. So my poor mom, armed with only a flashlight, had to navigate through mounds of pig shit just to get to her bed, an old mattress lying on the wooden floor. It doesn’t get more Canadian than that.”

Best Canadian hip-hop scene: “At the risk of sounding too Toronto-centric, I’d have to say Toronto,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s certainly stuff happening elsewhere all across the country. But the sheer volume and variety of music being created here is really unparalleled—not to mention the industry side of things, which is also definitely most concentrated in TO.”

Most surprising hip-hop scene in Canada: “I’d have to say Bayfield, ON, a teeny little town on the Eastern shore of Lake Huron. There’s a venue on the main strip, The Black Dog Village Pub and Bistro, managed by my good pal Peter Meades, that has been host to a whole slew of shows by an impressive cast of Canadian hip-hop royalty. Basically, Pete’s a long time hip-hop fan, so he’ll book hip-hop acts just so he and his rap-loving friends can have something to listen to on weekend evenings. It pays well, and the food there is always great, so it’s a win-win for everybody really!” Check out MC Abdominal’s website, or find him on Twitter and Facebook.

 

D-Sisive

Real Name: Derek Atanas Christoff.

Most Canadian lyric: From “Mr. Knoblich,” from The D.ark Tape: “Born on Northcliffe, south of Eglinton / Singing in the rain / Watch my umbrella spin.”

Most Canadian tour/performance story: “Timmins, Ontario,” says D-Sisive. “Just checked into my hotel room, promoter came by to say hello. Told me there’s bad news: I was double booked. I was super annoyed because I want to be on stage before midnight. I’m not the ‘wait till 2 a.m. until the place gets busy’ artist. It never gets busy. Ever. I asked who the artist is, expecting to be told some local band name I’ve never heard of. Never in a million years would I have guessed what I was told.

“The promoter looked at the hotel carpet and quietly said, ‘a mechanical bull and wet t-shirt contest.’

“I looked back at my DJ, Techtwelve, and Kyle Lundie and we all started laughing. Of course I’m double billed with a fucking mechanical bull. We showed up at the venue and it was a depressing scene. The wet t-shirt contest was sad. It was soaking wet everywhere. Surprisingly, the show went pretty well.”

Best Canadian hip-hop scene: “I love Vancouver. The city and the hip-hop scene. It’s beautiful, relaxed, and not arrogant as fuck. The Toronto circle jerk is irritating and super played out. Handjobs everywhere, for people who aren’t making any moves past Richmond Street. I wish Toronto was like Vancouver. My last show in Van, every rapper from there showed up. That city shows me more love than my own, which is sad, but not really. I’m too old to care. I love Vancouver.”

Most surprising hip-hop scene in Canada:  “I’ll take a left turn and say Toronto, but not in the context of your question. Toronto is treated like the nucleus of Canadian hip-hop, when in reality it isn’t. It’s mostly try-too-hards that haven’t achieved shit. Obviously, I don’t mean everyone. There’s always exceptions. But we think way too highly of ourselves for no reason. Besides Drake, nobody here has sold Swollen Members records. Or Classified records. What makes us so great? Don’t believe the hype.

“And the artists from here that are actually doing things don’t get the respect they deserve. Always the usual suspects. They have slices of bread, but aren’t allowed to participate in the Toronto circle jerk.”

Check D-Sisive’s website and Bandcamp, and find him on Twitter.

 

Large Live n Direct

Real Names: Andrew Lahey (AndrewLIVE), James Piercey (Joseph Stylin’), Matt Murphy (Myselph the Large Animal) and Adrian Gagnon (no Whun, who we’ve shown love to in the past).

Most Canadian lyric: “We wrote ‘Oh Canada’ for Classified, now we’re billionaires,” says the group.

Most Canadian tour/performance story: “Once, we got a ride across Newfoundland in a heavy snowstorm from a guy who was chain-smoking high quality blueberry kush blunts for the entire ride. Meanwhile, we could feel his 1995 Toyota Corolla actually shaking from the volume of his subwoofers. We questioned our mortality.”

Best Canadian hip-hop scene: “Probably Toronto,” they say. “It may be a matter of the sheer amount of people that rap or are interested in hip-hop. In that sense, it might be more embedded in the culture here.”

Most surprising hip-hop scene in Canada: “We’ll have to go with St. John’s on this one. It’s where we started out, so we know that there’s a lot of talent in the city that doesn’t get recognized.”

Check out Large Live n Direct’s website, or find them on Twitter and Facebook.

 

More or Les

Real Name: “Choclair,” Les jokes.

Most Canadian lyric: From the song “Ain’t Goin’ Out”: “I wish I had my place set up like Hal Johnson’s / So I could have gear in the walls and start rockin’ / Shows in my kitchen / A tax write-off I send off to Neil Smith and / You watch online, it’s me rippin’.”

“There’s a rumour that at some point in recent history, Hal of ParticipAction and Body Break fame had TV studio-level lighting and sound equipment installed in his house so he could record video and write-off his home activities on his taxes as work-related,” he adds. 

Most Canadian tour/performance story:

“One summer at the Canadian National Exhibition, I was invited to perform in the Canada Pavilion over several days. I did a few songs, was interviewed by a Government Canada employee, and then taught any kids in the crowd how to freestyle.”

Best Canadian hip-hop scene: “Toronto.”

Most surprising Canadian hip-hop scene: “Bayfield, ON. Shout-outs to the Black Dog Pub!”

Check out More Or Les’s website, or find him on Twitter.

 

SJ the Wordburglar

Real Name: Sean Jordan.

Most Canadian lyric: “I know a hobby store where they say Crosby’s good but he’s no Bobby Orr.”

Most Canadian tour story: “I’ve never hit a moose on the highway or won a poutine eating contest, but one tour story I’ll never forget is the first time I played in Newfoundland,” says Jordan. “I got off the plane in St. John’s and was met by the promoter, who went on at length about how there were posters up for the show all over downtown and an ad in the local paper. He was pretty pleased about the promotion, and I was happy to hear my first show in Newfoundland was getting some attention.

“Then, I saw the poster in question. They had misspelled my name. On hundreds of flyers and posters across St. John’s I was being billed as ‘The Word Bugler.’ I had a good laugh about it though, and nobody seemed to mind that I didn’t play a bugle at the show. But it was still a bit frustrating.

“I guess what makes it so Canadian is that once people realized the mistake they all kept apologizing to me—people who had nothing to do with the mistake were coming up to me after the show and just saying ‘sorry your name was spelled wrong!’ They were so friendly and polite.”

Best Canadian hip-hop scene: “Based on size, diversity of the talent and amount of live shows it’s pretty hard to argue with Toronto’s scene. With so many different pockets and communities of great artists there’s always something new to discover.”

Which Canadian town has the most surprising hip hop scene? “I think traditionally—going as far back as the late ’80s—it’s gotta be Halifax. I may be biased cause I grew up there, but Halifax’s hip-hop scene has produced a lot of fresh acts over the years and really encourages the DIY mentality. There’s something in the ocean air. Also, gotta give honourable shout-outs to London, ON and Saskatoon, both surprising hot beds of Canadian hip-hop.”

Find SJ the Wordburglar on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Swamp Thing

Real Names: Tim Wallace (Timbuktu), Justin Lepine (Chokeules), Paul De Francesco (Savillion).

Most Canadian lyric: On “Reunion,” from Swamp Thing’s Firedogs, they include a sound familiar to all Canadians: The “winner, gagnant” clip played by lotto machines nationwide. “They might not catch that when we rock in Kentucky,” they say.

Most Canadian tour story: “We did a winter show in a venue with no heat, and everyone’s walking around with their jackets on, you could see your own breath,” says Savillion. “Eventually the place started filling up with people drinking and dancing, so it got a little warmer and a lot drunker, and nobody seemed to mind the cold.”

“An older woman poured a shot of CC in my hand on stage,” adds Chokeules. “She smelled like maple bacon and old hockey bags.”

Which Canadian town has the best hip hop scene? “There’s dope things happening all over the country, so it’s more about the Canadian scene as a whole, but I also have a bias towards Toronto. Not only cuz it’s Swamp Thing’s home, and a scene that’s supported us. But there’s also a ton of talented artists here, so as a fan there’s a lot to take in.”

Which Canadian town has the most surprising hip hop scene? “Saskatoon.”

Check out Swamp Things’ website and Facebook page. Also, follow them on Twitter: @Chokeules, @Savilion, and @timbukturaps. 

 

Mindbender Supreme

Real Name: Adhimu “Addi” Stewart

Most Canadian lyric: “I would quote all of ‘Blame Canada,’ featuring Collizhun from Tough Dumpling Records, but there isn’t enough space. If you know who Collizhun is, Canadian hip hop history is something your are well-informed on. Dun know!” Instead, Minbender Supreme chooses the Fitz Ambrose-produced “Thank God for Toronto.” From that track: “Greetings I bring from Toronto, the Screwface Capital / multicultural zoo filled with two-faced animals.”

Most Canadian tour/performance story: “I was on the road about a decade ago, and just pulled into Regina with Tru-Paz and Offisides,” he says. “The MC for the show was a chiseled native brother who was a passionate hip-hop head, like myself and he was like, ‘I got a cool story, bro: there was a time when G-Unit came to town at the height of their hype and popularity, and started to act a fool to the people of Regina.

“‘After a good few hours of this VIP slob life being conducted, a few Aboriginal brothers in the venue got utterly fed the fuck up with 50 and co., rushed the stage and proceeded to mob brawl with them. G-Unit lost and DJ Whoo Kid allegedly got his arm broken in the ruckus.’ I don’t condone violence, but there is some lesson about karmic retribution and universal equality floating around the flying beer bottles and broken club equipment.”

The best Canadian hip-hop scene: “Toronto—best and worst. Best venues, best media resources, best financial foundation for artistry, best diversity of world-class MCs, DJs, singers, b-boys and b-girls, graf artists, videographers, graphic designers, clothing designers, visual artists, and so forth out of almost anywhere in the world, for fucking real.

“But Toronto has the very worst economic community self-support system. As Maestro stated: ‘Toronto always had a scene, it never had an industry.’ It’s barely starting to exist now, but how many MCs do you know are living off the money they make in Toronto or Canada? Few.”

Most surprising hip-hop scene: “London, ON, is by far the most underrated, under appreciated, under explored, misunderstood, and amazing hip-hop scene in Canada, in my personal experience. Opening for Del the Funky Homosapien, Blackalicious and Aceyalone were three of the most legendary concert memories in my young life.

“London’s MCs are next level mofos—peace to Ryan Hanes, formerly Fritz tha Cat, and the Collapsyllables. Their breakdancers are world class wreckers—peace to Albino Zebrah. Their graf scene is unbelievable, and [there are] some super insane producers and DJs. I fucks with London’s hip-hop scene so very hard, and not just because Mindbender signed his first autograph ever there! Good times.”

Find Mindbender Supreme on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook.