Watch Maestro Fresh Wes's Canadian Music Hall of Fame speech
The game-changing rapper made history, becoming the first hip-hop artist to receive the honour
Maestro Fresh Wes (a.k.a.) Wesley Williams is widely regarded as the godfather of Canadian hip-hop. He broke through glass ceilings and achieved many firsts throughout his storied career: winning the first-ever Juno for rap recording of the year, becoming the first Canadian rapper to have a certified gold single and to have a Billboard Top 40 hit and now he becomes the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Williams was presented the honour by his friend and former mentee, rapper Kardinal Offishall, who shared that Williams has had an impact on "generations of B-boys, from Malvern to Finch, North Preston to Vancouver," in a pre-recorded video homage.
The video featured other musicians, rappers and DJs, including Haviah Mighty, Classified, Rich Kidd, Ghetto Concept, Tobi, Jim Cuddy and Williams' sister, Melissa Langley (a.k.a. DJ Mel Boogie).
With gratitude for the outpouring of love from his peers, Williams gave an impassioned speech, which you can watch above.
Host Nelly Furtado is bringing the party to the 2024 Juno Awards on Sunday, March 24, at 8 p.m ET. Tune in on CBC-TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music and CBC Listen, and stream globally on cbcmusic.ca/junos.
