Winnipeg State of Mind: NIGEL WEBBER
Top 100 Winnipeg Hip-Hop Songs
“Success is a gift, I hope you enjoy your present” B-Flat Earlier this year a group of writers from Manitoba’s most prominent newspaper compiled a list of the best songs to ever come out of this city and province. Of the 150 songs those writers chose, only five were rap songs. Winnipeg hip-hop deserves more than just 3% of a list. We deserve our own fucking list: The Top 100 Winnipeg Hip-Hop Songs, according to myself alone. As I actively dig into the history of Winnipeg hip-hop music for my forthcoming book, Gritty City: An Oral History of Winnipeg Hip-Hop Music, I know the hard work and dedication that generations of rappers, producers, DJs have put into this city. Let this list prove that there is an extensive and proud history of hip-hop music from right here in Winnipeg. Let it also serve as a tool for the younger generation: follow the roadmap I have provided here, learn your history, listen to those who have come before you. There’s no longer an excuse for not knowing. The Top 100 is very much informed by the research and interviews I’ve done for Gritty City, including with many of the artists featured below. I’ve presented the list in chronological order to illustrate that each song, each album is standing on the shoulders of the music that came before it. No top ten’s here. But there are bangers, bars, singing, boom-bap, trap, love songs, posse cuts, deep digs, classics and story tracks; a flavour for every rap fan. In order to qualify at least one of the major contributors to the song had to have been living in Winnipeg at the time of the recording or release. For example, while I love the album Nothing Is Cool by mcenroe and Birdapres, it was not eligible because even though both rappers lived in Winnipeg at different times, they were living in Vancouver at the time of that record. While this list attempts to be comprehensive, early Winnipeg rap was often not recorded or released. As influential and important as they are to the evolution of Winnipeg hip-hop, I can’t include early groups like the Vicious Three and Hard Edge Posse on the Top 100 because they never released any music officially. I am also aware of albums that exist, but I have not been able to track them down. So, if you’ve got that Last Crew album or the Black Alien Brother tape, holla at me. “Main Street” - J-Style, DJ Bunny, Avon T Released in 1988 as a video single. Winnipeg’s hip-hop scene slowly built itself up over the course of the 1980s, with DJ Bunny playing a big part in that development. It took until 1988 to get the first official recording of Winnipeg rap with the video for “Main Street” by J-Style featuring DJ Bunny on back-up vocals and scratches and Avon T on the guitar. While the video was submitted to Much Music, it only ever received airplay on VPW’s “Spotlight” hosted by DJ Bunny, Avon T and Mr. Cee. J-Style, better known as rock ‘n roller Jay Willman, raps about the street-level devastation of
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Main St. circa the late 1980s. The video helps paint a picture of Winnipeg’s Main St. that has largely disappeared under the thumb of gentrification. “Jus’ Talkin’” - State of Mind Released in 1992 on the Jus’ Talkin’ cassingle. Winnipeg’s first physical release of rap music came in the form of State of Mind’s 1992 cassingle for “Jus’ Talkin’” with the remix “Street Talking” on the B-side. The songs were produced and released by LRN Records, who ended up scamming the young group out of grant money awarded to make the project. The resulting beat sounds somewhat dated to modern ears and was even out of step with contemporaneous sounds. Despite not having a very hip-hop beat, rapper Chris Knight (MC Escalade) really demonstrates why he is still acknowledged as one of the top rappers of that era. The songs subject matter addresses the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict and the ensuing uprising in LA almost in real time, the cassette came out less than six months later. “Space Pt. III” - Farm Fresh Released in 1994 on The Space EP Winnipeg had a strong hip-hop scene already, but it took three dudes from Brandon to come in and blow it all up in the mid-’90s. Farm Fresh’s 1994 The Space EP is Winnipeg’s first independent tape release, with everything from production to manufacturing happening within the group of Roddy Rod the Microphone God (mcenroe), Boba Phat tha Bootie Hunta (DJ Hunnicutt) and the Perpetual Rhyme Machine (Pip Skid). The Space EP also marks the beginning of a long Winnipeg tradition of rapping about off-the-wall, non-typical topics for rap songs, in this case being abducted by aliens. “Ruff Draft” - Mood Ruff ft. Roddy Rod Released in 1995 on Maxim With Farm Fresh leading the way, the newly formed label of Peanuts & Corn put out their next group, Mood Ruff. The duo of Dazol the Daydream Fiend (Odario Williams) and Spitz the Microphone Hitta (DJ Dow Jones) released Maxim in early ‘95, produced entirely by mcenroe. Generally a fairly light and fun record, “Ruff Draft” keeps that theme but centres it around the concept of needing to come up with a song for a show that’s in two days. The song also marks the first instance of mcenroe giving away a hot beat to a group he’s producing, with the one condition that he gets to rap on it. “Ill Compositions” - Different Shades of Black Released in 1995 on Next School Pioneers Different Shades of Black (Shadez) became another early-era P&C group after being connected through Odario, putting out their first release in 1995. On Next School Pioneers Shadez is the original lineup of Scuskotch (Len Bowen), Mista Christy (Bigg Casino), and Marvellous, who is Len Bowen’s cousin. Mista Christy’s voice is immediately reminiscent of Boot Camp Clik style New York rap, something that didn’t really exist in Winnipeg at the time. Len Bowen, who wanted to be a rapper in elementary
school, is a natural over mcenroe’s boom-bap beats. “Wet Dreams” - Twisted Spirits Released in 1995 on Wet Dreams Twisted Spirits is for the true heads. Originally, Frek Sho and Twisted Spirits were two separate groups within the same clique, before merging under the name Frek Sho. But the original Twisted lineup of Gruf, The Gallivanting Spoof and Mocean (Ismaila Alfa) were a tremendous trio. Over Frek Sho producer Sunil’s beats, Gruf is rapping in the same flow he still uses (now perfected), and Ismaila shows off why he should always be in the conversation for Winnipeg’s best all-time rapper. “Roll Model” - Frek Sho Released in 1995 on Uncivilized Even in 1995 Frek Sho had the most inventive concepts for their songs. Based around some clever wordplay, “Roll Model” is a very creative back and forth duet between Sun Lo (Sunil) and Shazzam (Micill Shazzam Write). The two rapper’s voices complement each other so well that the call and response style only helps to weave together the stories of robbing people (or rolling them). “Oh” - Farm Fresh Released in 1995 on Crazy Friction Farm Fresh’s second effort, 1995’s Crazy Friction, came only 10 months after The Space EP yet there’s a huge leap in all aspects, from the beats and the concepts to the quality of production. The standout track on the album is “Oh” which features some of DJ Hunnicutt’s best early scratching and ended up being something of a live hit over the years. “Braggin’ & Boastin’” - Mood Ruff ft. Mista Christy Released in 1996 on Fluid Mood Ruff ’s second album Fluid marked the end of the group’s time with P&C as they moved on and established their own label, Slo Coach. mcenroe delivers a sick beat and Mista Christy lends his impeccable voice and flow to this solid track. “Patience” - Frek Sho Released in 1996 on Sho & Tell The song that changed it all. The black and white video for “Patience,” with the group out on Winnipeg’s streets in the dead of winter fighting each other for camera time, was the first video from Winnipeg to be played on Much Music. The ensuing 12” of the song was also the city’s first rap vinyl and marks the merger of Twisted Spirits and Frek Sho into simply Frek Sho. The song itself has many memorable moments, from Ismaila’s Mood Ruff diss, to Gumball’s memorable lines of “Jesus only knew I wore Adidas as a fetus,” to Sunil and Sheldon rapping simultaneous verses. In terms of historical importance for local rap songs, this song is top two and it’s not two. “Comatose” - Frek Sho Released in 1996 on Sho & Tell Although often forgotten in the conversation of
