To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop Righteous, Pro-Logic, DJ Ron Nelson and Mr. Q collaborated to come up with a catchy groove titled “And When we Party”
It can be said that this track is dedicated to the celebration of Hip Hop but also Hip Hop coming out of Canada!
Looking back at the 90’s there were several different compilation albums that came out of Canada that featured local artists. The most notable ones were the Cold Front Rap Compilation released through Attic records, Rap Essentials by Ivan Berry/Beat Factory, Rudimental 2K by 2Rudeand Passage through Time by Da Grassroots.
There are many prominent names that stood out from that time such as Saukrates, Kardinal Official, Choclair, Dream Warriors, The Rascalz, Dan-e-o, Ghetto Concept, Citizen Kane, Jelieestone Poet, K-os, Thrust, Arcee, K4CE and believe me there are many more!
Other compilations that are worth checking out from Canada released in the 90’s are Mass Destruction, Natural Disasters, Beat Down Invasion and Invading the Mega City. Keep in mind you may have to do some digging to locate some of those releases.
Before the 90’s there were several releases from Hip Hop / Rap artists from Canada
So let’s begin in 1979 “Ladies Delight” by Mr. Q – a response track to The Sugarhill Gang‘s “Rapper’s Delight” is regarded as the first rap record released by a Canadian.
Mr. Q went on to record a number of Rap songs during 1979, including “DJ Style”, “Rapping Time”, “Party, Party” and “Party Rapp”; “Party Rapp” included lyrics about the 1979 Mississauga train derailment.
Mr Q. was also featured on Rap the Night Away, a 1981 album by Bobby Boyer and Demo Cates which has been credited as the first full-length Canadian Hip Hop album.
In either 84’ or 85’ there was a pretty good single by Toronto emcees Sugar C & Dex Da Mac titled “What is this world coming to” Not sure what happened to them. This release is extremely rare. I’ve been looking for a copy of this record for years.
It wouldn’t be until the latter part of the 80’s where there would be a handful of releases from Toronto emcees.
In 1987 Michee Mee & L.A. Luv as well as Rumble & Strong were featured on a compilation titled “Break’ n Out” produced by KRS-One and the late Scott La Rock of Boogie Down Productions. I’m sure you can listen to “Elements of Style”, “Run for Cover”, “Other Emcees” and “The Strong will Survive” on several different streaming platforms.
In 1988 Michee Mee & L.A. Luv were also featured on the compilation The First Priority Music Family: Basement Flavor. Appearing on the album were the following tracks “Victory Is Calling” and “On This Mic”,
DJ Ron Nelson released a white label record in 1980 under the moniker Ronnie “O” titled the “Breakdown”. The thought of him making a record never crossed his mind again until there was a cause. The record was inspired by the murder of a young man by the name of Clinton Marshal and Scott La Rock of Boogie Down Productions. This record was the pre curser to the Self Destruction Stop the Violence movement.
in 1988 Get Loose Crew released their self titled album. The Get Loose Crew ranked 5th position in May 1988 on the CHEER Backfield in Motion music chart with the song “Wannabe” B Kool who was a member of the group would later go on to win a Juno award.
!988 saw another release from a Toronto emcee named Slinky Dee. The album was called “King Creo” I never heard too much about him but the album does feature Kool K on a track titled “Pass Me My Mic” For those old enough to remember her. She was a force to be reckoned with at the time.
In 1989 Canada saw Maestro Fresh Wes change the climate with “Backbone Slide” and his debut album “Symphony in Effect”. “Backbone Slide” became the first Canadian rap single to be certified Gold.
There are several Toronto emcees from that time period that went on to make records in the 90’s and beyond. To kick off the 90’s a group called Self Defense would release the single called “The New Mania” Not sure whatever happened to them as a group but I can say that they had an amazing stage show. Probably the most slept on Toronto emcee from the 80’s era that doesn’t seem to get the credit deserved goes by the name of Butch Lee. Butch Lee recently had a few releases with Gee Wunder from Motive Music Canada as well as his own releases most notably “Tomb Butch Bounce2”
It should be noted Mr. Q continued to rap throughout his career as a musician/soul singer. In 1986 he released “Crack Attack” under his given name Jay W. McGee as well as O.V.O. which is a song about the origin of the use of O.V.O. where he calls out Drake for taking the name. Unfortunately Mr. Q passed away in January of 2021
DJ Ron Nelson recently dropped a series of releases titled “40 Years Too Late”
Righteous and Pro-Logic are two emcees that have several releases under their belts since the 90’s and continue to carry on the tradition of Hip Hop.
“And When We Party” is a great track. It deserves attention. Thank you for letting us know that Toronto has a Hip Hop history that dates back to the 70’s
Article by Sonny Daze
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