The Canadian hip hop scene was established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much slower than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained largely an underground phenomenon until the early 2000s.
BrassMunk was a Canadian hip hop group from Scarborough, Ontario. It was formed in 1997 by emcees S-Roc, Clip, May One 9 and DJ/producer Agile. May 19 was replaced by King Reign in 2006.
Karl Amani Wailoo, better known by his stage name Saukrates, is a Canadian rapper, singer, and record producer. He is the co-founder of Capitol Hill Music, and lead singer of the hip-hop/R&B group Big Black Lincoln. He is also a member of Redman's Gilla House collective.
Donald Cannon is an American DJ, record producer, and record executive who served as Vice President of A&R at Def Jam Recordings from 2012 to 2018. With DJ Drama, he is the co-founder of the record label Generation Now, an imprint of Atlantic Records that has signed artists including Lil Uzi Vert and Jack Harlow. Furthermore, Cannon and DJ Drama are members of the Atlanta-based mixtape collective, Aphilliates Music Group.
Sheldon Pitt, better known by his stage name Solitair, is a Canadian rapper and record producer from Toronto, Ontario. He is a founding member of the now defunct Black Jays record label and production team. Solitair has been producing hip hop and R&B for nearly 20 years, and has produced for Nina Sky, Glenn Lewis, Cham, Maestro, Rascalz, Kardinal Offishall, Ivana Santilli, Jully Black, Choclair, and Sugar Jones among others.
Matthew Jehu Samuels, known professionally as Boi-1da is a Canadian record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario.
Leslie Seaforth, better known by his stage name More Or Les, is a Canadian rapper, DJ and producer. He is a member of the Canadian hip hop crew Backburner. He currently resides in his hometown of Toronto, Ontario.
The R.E.D. Album is the fourth studio album by American rapper Game. It was released on August 23, 2011, by DGC Records and Interscope Records, which serves as Game's first release under DGC and his first album for Interscope since 2005's The Documentary. His previous two, Doctor's Advocate (2006) and LAX (2008), were released under Interscope's subsidiary imprint, Geffen Records.
Derek Christoff, better known by his stage name D-Sisive, is a Canadian rapper, best known for his Juno-nominated EP The Book, his hit single "Nobody with a Notepad" and his 2009 Polaris Music Prize-nominated album Let the Children Die.
Jeremy McArthur, known professionally as Arthur McArthur, is a Grammy-nominated Canadian record producer from Toronto, Ontario. A classically trained piano and guitar player, he has been involved in music producing since 2008. He has worked with artists such as Drake, Big Boi, Rick Ross, Tyga, Big Sean, Kelly Rowland, Dr. Dre, and Logic, among others.
Daniel Faraldo, known professionally as Dan-e-o, is a Canadian hip hop artist and actor of Jamaican and Spanish descent. In June 2015, Dan-e-o received the award for Best Hip Hop Artist at the Black Canadian Awards. He is a member of the groups Monolith and Perfeck Strangers, both based in Scarborough, Ontario.
Ralph Jordon Croucher, better known by his stage name JRDN, is a Canadian R&B recording artist.
Lexus Arnel Lewis, professionally known as Lex Luger, is an American record producer. His stage name is a homage to the former WCW/WWF professional wrestler Lex Luger. He co-founded the American hip hop production team 808 Mafia with Southside. He is a member of the hip hop production duo Low Pros with A-Trak, and the VABP, a hip hop group that he founded in high school.
Joshua Howard Luellen, known professionally as Southside, is an American record producer, rapper and songwriter. Based in Atlanta, he is recognized in the music industry for his aggressive, trap-infused production work for prominent hip hop artists. His association with hometown rapper Waka Flocka Flame led Luellen to sign to his label Brick Squad Monopoly, an imprint of Gucci Mane's 1017 Records, as in-house talent in 2010. Luellen and labelmate, fellow producer Lex Luger established the production team 808 Mafia that same year, who were credited on several commercially successful releases throughout the remaining decade.
DJ EFN is an American record label executive and DJ, based in Miami, who specializes in hip-hop. Since the early 1990s, operating most often under the banner of Crazy Hood Productions, EFN has worked in the hip-hop industry in a variety of capacities, including as a mixtape producer, album producer and A&R consultant, radio host, marketing and promotions specialist, clothing retailer, artist manager, and film producer. He is currently best known as the creator and co-host of "Drink Champs," a weekly podcast carried by Sean "Diddy" Combs's Revolt TV network.
Maurice "Verse" Simmonds is a Puerto Rican / Virgin Islander rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. Based in Los Angeles but raised in the Virgin Islands, he moved to the United States after high school and he formed the production duo the Jugganauts in the 1990s. The duo has since co-written and produced tracks such as "Man Down" by Rihanna and "Who Gon Stop Me" by Kanye West and Jay-Z, both of which charted prominently on Billboard.
Marqus Brown, known as DJ Fresh, is an American hip hop DJ and producer based in Oakland and Los Angeles, California. Acclaim for his work includes being named to XXL magazine's 30 Best Hip-Hop Producers of 2016. In 2005, DJ.Fresh began releasing his The Tonite Show series of mixtapes, which have featured artists such as Mistah F.A.B., Raekwon, The Jacka, Yukmouth, Freddie Gibbs and Curren$y. He has also released a number of mixtapes and has produced albums for other artists. His 2013 collaboration with J. Stalin, Miracle & Nightmare on 10th Street, peaked at #61 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and at #28 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.
JD Era is a Canadian rapper and lyricist. He has worked with artists such as Nas, Gza, Kardinal Offishall, The Clipse, and has also cut several tracks with longtime friend Drake. In 2008 he won Best Rap at the Toronto Independent Music Awards, and also won the TAG Records’ Survival of The Freshest competition. He has also released a number of mixtapes and singles, and in the Juno Awards of 2013 his album No Handouts was nominated for Rap Recording of the Year.
Nomadic Massive is an independent Canadian hip-hop supergroup based in Montreal that has been active since 2004. The group has performed in Canada, the United States, Brazil, and France, among other international venues. The ensemble rotates members depending on the song, but their membership includes rappers, singers, keyboardists, saxophonists, trumpeters, trombonists, guitarists, bass players, and drummers. Many of them are multi-instrumentalists and trade spots onstage.
Sean Seaton, known professionally as Neenyo, is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. He is known for his works with Drake, PARTYNEXTDOOR as well as various artists including Future, Mr. Probz, blackbear, Jadakiss and Lloyd Banks.
