Celebrating 50 years of hip-hop music

25:00Celebrating 50 years of hip-hop music

For more coverage of hip-hop at 50, check out the upcoming week-long tribute on Q with Tom Power, starting August 21. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Today marks 50 years since the inception of hip-hop music. 

DJ Kool Herc was the revolutionary artist who created the iconic sound of rap, born out of an apartment in The Bronx, New York. 

Herc was known for playing the popular funk and soul records of the time. Through performing he realized that audiences get hyped during the part of the song where the lyrics stop, and the instrumentals drive the beat. 

And so Herc's legacy began: he took two copies of the same record and repeated the breakdown over and over again. Pretty soon, the unique sound became synonymous with DJ Kool Herc's style, and the instrumental breakdown technique became the backbone of what we now call hip-hop and rap music. 

This paved the way for some of the world's biggest hip-hop artists, namely two Toronto rappers who have dominated the global charts and pop culture trends for over a decade: Drake and The Weeknd. 

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, we're looking back at the cultural impact of hip-hop music in Toronto, one of Canada's oldest hip-hop cities, with the help of veteran music journalist Dalton Higgins, DJ MelBoogie and Mastermind.

Dalton Higgins discusses how hip-hop began in Toronto

1 year ago

Duration 2:06

(Counterclockwise from top right) Music journalist Dalton Higgins, Vibe 105 FM program director Mastermind and DJ Mel Boogie join Commotion host Elamin Abdelmahmoud (bottom right) for a group chat discussion on the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

How did hip-hop make its way to Toronto?

Hip-hop came to Toronto in a similar way that it came to New York. "If Kool Herc's family did not immigrate to the South Bronx from Jamaica, would we all be sitting here having this conversation? Maybe not. In Toronto, it's much the same in hip hop leaders," says Higgins. 

Ron Nelson — a proud Jamaican — is known as the godfather of Toronto hip-hop. He created one of Canada's first hip-hop shows in 1983, Fantastic Voyage. 

It's no coincidence that most of the hip-hop innovators and originators were of Jamaican, Guyanese, Barbadian and other Caribbean descent, says Higgins.

DJ Kool Herc was known for throwing hip-hop parties in unconventional events spaces in New York, like rec rooms. That influence seeped into Toronto's hip-hop culture. 

"That's what we were doing here as well. So all of the first hip-hop jams were happening here in community centers, roller skating rinks, block shows or street parties," says Higgins. 

Canada's first hip-hop hits

Ladies Delight by Mr. Q was one of the first rap songs recorded in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Maestro Fresh Wes' Let Your Backbone Slide became a nationwide hit. MelBoogie actually has a special connection to Maestro — she's his younger sister.

"I just remember seeing him on Electric Circus, and we used to listen to Fantastic Voyage together religiously." MelBoogie credits Fresh with helping her develop a love for college radio and supporting independent artists. 

As Fresh's popularity grew, MelBoogie recalls the change in their social life.

"All of a sudden, there were girls in cars riding by our house.… There was just more attention; he would be getting interviews, and it all snowballed."

WATCH | Official music video for Maestro Fresh Wes' Let Your Backbone Slide: 

Dream Warriors were also significant in the conception of Canadian hip-hop. The Toronto duo were signed to a New York record label, 4th & Broadway, with global distribution rights.

WATCH | Official music video for Dream Warriors' My Definition: 

How well is Canada developing local artists? 

"I would say that the local scene is not handling it very well," says Higgins.

"The infrastructure in the entire Canadian industry sucked at the time. It felt systemically racist, and it kind of exists up to this day as well," Mastermind added.

Mastermind says the reason the record labels weren't being very supportive of the art form is because Toronto's pop radio stations were not giving hip-hop any airtime. From the perspective of the record label, there was nowhere for hip-hop to play.

"We've got this history in Toronto of this screwfaced capital where we don't necessarily support our own. It's almost like tough love. We want to support, but you have to be at a certain level."

By the mid 2000's and early 2010's, Toronto rap scene was gaining respect and breaking ground: critics raved about the k-os album Joyful Rebellion, K'naan's Wavin' Flag became a global hit, and Kardinal Offishall achieved massive success with the song Dangerous featuring Akon. 

Name your top three most important Toronto rap songs

Dalton Higgins:

#1 Michie Mee & L.A. Luv: Elements of Style 

#2 Ghetto Concept: E-Z On Tha Motion

#3 Kardinal Offishall: Ol' Time Killin'

DJ MelBoogie:

#1 Kardinal Offishall: Ol' Time Killin'

#2 Maestro Fresh Wes: Let Your Backbone Slide 

#3 Michie Mee: Jamaican Funk

Mastermind:

#1 Maestro Fresh Wes: Let Your Backbone Slide 

#2 Kardinal Offishall: Dangerous

#3 Drake: Best I Ever Had

The unanimous song choice for all three panelists? None other than the 6 God himself:

WATCH | Official music video for Drake's Best I Ever Had: 

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Tyrone Callender. 

For more stories about the 50th anniversary of hip-hop — including Tom Power's conversations with some of the artists who witnessed and shaped the genre — check out Hip-Hop at 50 here.