Monday, July 02, 2007

Rather than extend the previous post and, more importantly, because it deserves a post of its own...

Dare I say that--with the exception of turntablists like DJ Spooky, and artists/groups like Mos Def, Talib Kweli and (usually) OutKast and The Roots--Canadian hip-hop is generally more interesting than anything currently being produced south of our border? There. I said it.

And now I'll back that up:

"Trust Us" by Pocket Dwellers


"Superstarr Part Zero" by k-os


"Soobax" by K'naan


"Wicked and Weird" by Buck 65


"Sharks" by Cadence Weapon


Now, if only these artists had a bigger audience! The article is a little more than two years old, and I'm far enough removed from the hip-hop scene that I can't comment on whether or not much has changed...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think to a certain extent we have almost become conditioned to immediately like US music. I am not American: an African girl in Britain but even here, US hip hop is King even though grime is becoming popular. In Canada, do people automatically assume that US hip hop is better because it is American?

Anonymous said...

PS -- I do think that some segments of US music are good in the same vein that some segments of French/British hip hop are good. I think it is about quality, not nationality! And I also do not like the arrogance that certain US artists have about being big and coming over to Europe and trying to act smart.

Natalie said...

Oh, I definitely believe that nationality is irrelevant when it comes to good music!! I was merely taking the opportunity to plug Canadian hip-hop because it's so often ignored (I don't know if people automatically assume American hip-hop is better, but I DO know that American hip-hop artists are MUCH better promoted than their Canadian counterparts--even in Canada!) on Canada Day, the anniversary of the day Canada became a country (while the date stamp is July 2nd, 2007, I started prepping/writing it on the 1st.)

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond!