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1989–present

Maestro Fresh Wes

Canada's first rap star. 'Let Your Backbone Slide' went gold in 1989 and proved a Canadian record could exist on its own terms — the ground everything here is built on.

Influences

Golden-era hip-hopScarboroughCaribbean Toronto

Slang they use

ehThe quintessentially Canadian verbal tag used to seek agreement or turn a statement into a question.+901
beautySomething great or excellent. Classic Canadian, especially at the rink.+1817

Most annotated lines

Let Your Backbone Slide · 1989
“Nothin' but a party, my brudda, and I'm the host”
The first Canadian hip-hop record to go platinum, out of Scarborough in 1989. 'Brudda' — Caribbean 'brother' — was already the default address term in the city's east end decades before it showed up in drill. Toronto slang didn't start in 2015; it just got a bigger microphone.

Notable releases

Let Your Backbone Slide · Symphony in Effect