I started listening to hip hop in the late 80s, and Canadian artists have been in my personal rotation for almost four decades, but I recently wondered how many of our artists (beyond Drake) have reached heads outside of Canada.
Michie Mee, Maestro Fresh-Wes and Dream Warriors were the biggest early names (all from Toronto), followed by Kardinall Offishall and Rascalz (first big west coast artists) who kicked off a surge of Canadian acts k-os, Swollen Members, Shad, K’Naan, Cadence Weapon and Classified (first big east coast artist) in the 00s. There have been far fewer artists on my radar in the last decade besides a bit of Tory Lanez and The Weeknd, but the one group from the last decade that stands out is my favourite Canadian hiphop act, Snotty Nose Rez Kids; an Indigenous duo that I can’t stop listening to.
Non-Canadians, who has made it to your ears?
Canadians, shout out our best artists or tracks.