Windsor, Ont., musician raps about hydro bills using clips from Queen's Park

A Windsor, Ont., rapper got inspired to create a song and video about the province's spiking hydro prices — and he used sounds from Queen's Park to do it.

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Jeremy Renaud released a rap he wrote and produced called Hydro Bills on Facebook, where it gained more than 24,000 views in less than a day.

"I'm paying more for power than I'm paying for the actual place I'm powering," said Renaud, who goes by the stage name J Reno. 

Lyrics in the rap include allegations that Premier Kathleen Wynne "doesn't care about the people" and that high hydro rates are causing businesses to close. 

"I end up with a $400, $500, $600 bill," Renaud said. "There's only so much you can do before you look back and say, 'I've done everything I can do, but it's still too high.'" 

The rap contains audio clips of Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown challenging the Liberals over hydro prices during question period in Queen's Park.

While Renaud told CBC News that he often covers difficult topics in his music, he said that it's rare for him to take a political stance.

"This is the first time that I've geared [a song] towards one situation that affects me the most."

He said wouldn't consider himself either a Liberal or a Conservative when asked about his political leanings this week. 

"I want to reach people who otherwise wouldn't be paying enough attention to the issues," Renaud said. "I still can't process how massively this has snowballed."