Organized Rhyme was a Canadian hip hop group based in Ottawa, Ontario.
Wesley "Wes" Williams is a Canadian rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes or Maestro as a musician, and is credited by his birth name as an actor. One of the earliest Canadian rappers to achieve mainstream success, he is credited as the "Godfather of Canadian hip hop". His debut album, Symphony in Effect (1989), was the first certified platinum album by a Black Canadian artist, and his 2023 induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and 2024 Governor General's Performing Arts Award were each the first for any hip-hop artist.
Kevin Brereton, better known by his stage name k-os, is a Canadian alternative rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. His given name may also be cited as Kheaven, a spelling he later adopted.
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.
Jason Drew Harrow, better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall, is a Canadian rapper and record producer. Often credited as Canada's "hip hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent hip hop producers during the 2000s and is distinctive for his reggae and dancehall-influenced style of hip hop.
Nicholas Marcell Speed is an American rapper, record producer, and disc jockey from Detroit, Michigan, United States. He has produced tracks for 50 Cent, Mopreme Shakur, Lloyd Banks, M.O.P., Talib Kweli, Phat Kat, Musiq Soulchild, Bishop Lamont, Danny Brown and many more.
Shadrach Kabango, known professionally as Shad or Shad K, is a Canadian rapper and broadcaster. Beginning his career in 2005, has released seven studio albums and three extended plays. He won a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2011 and five of his albums have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, the most short-list nominations of any artist in the prize's history. In 2013, CBC Music named Shad the second-greatest Canadian rapper of all time. Shad hosted Q on CBC Radio One from 2015 to 2016, and hosts the International Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution on HBO Canada and Netflix.
Promise Jason Jamal Shepherd, professionally known as Promise, is a Canadian rapper from Toronto. He is also 1/2 of Hip-Hop supergroup Perfeck Strangers, based in Scarborough, Ontario. Promise has collaborated with Jhené Aiko, Montell Jordan, LeCrae, No Malice, MC Jin, J. Ivy, Marco Polo, eLZhi of Slum Village, Royce Da 5'9" of Slaughterhouse, Rhymefest, and Ton3x. He has also collaborated heavily with fellow Toronto native Drake, whom he met on the set of Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Cisco Sam Adler is an American musician and record producer.
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.
TSOL is the third studio album by Canadian rapper Shad. It was released in Canada on May 25, 2010 and in the United States on October 5, 2010. It is his second album released on Black Box Recordings, and his first album of new material since 2007's Polaris Music Prize-nominated The Old Prince.
Aaron Hoffman, better known by his stage name SonReal, is a Canadian singer, rapper, and songwriter signed to the Black Box Recordings record label.
Winnipeg's Most is a Canadian hip hop group, made up of the MC's Jon-C, Charlie Fettah, and formerly, Brooklyn. They were based in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jon-C and Brooklyn are both Aboriginal artists, and the group was featured in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary series 8th Fire. The group released two albums and a number of singles and videos, some of which were played on MuchMusic. The group won several Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards in 2010, including the award for Best New Artist, and they won six APCMA's in 2011.
1999 is the debut mixtape by American rapper Joey Bada$$. It was released independently as a free digital download on June 12, 2012. The mixtape is a tribute to 1990s East Coast hip hop, featuring boom bap production and lyrical themes reflecting Joey's experiences as a teenager in Brooklyn. The mixtape incorporates elements of jazz rap, conscious hip hop, and old school hip hop. The mixtape contains guest appearances from fellow Pro Era members Capital STEEZ, CJ Fly, and Chuck Strangers, as well as T'nah Apex. Production was handled primarily by various members of Pro Era, including Chuck Strangers and Kirk Knight, along with established producers like Lord Finesse, MF DOOM, and J Dilla. Videos were released for the tracks "Hardknock", "Survival Tactics", "FromdaTomb$", and "Waves". The mixtape's cover art features a childhood photo of Joey Bada$$, emphasizing the youthful perspective presented in the lyrics. 1999 was widely acclaimed by music critics and is considered Joey Bada$$'s breakthrough project.
I Am is the seventh studio album by American hip hop recording artist Yo Gotti. The album was released on November 19, 2013, by Epic and CMG. The album features guest appearances from T.I., Ne-Yo, Wale, Rich Homie Quan, J. Cole, Jeezy, Meek Mill, and YG, among others. The album was supported by the singles "Act Right" featuring YG and Jeezy, "King Shit" featuring T.I., "Cold Blood" featuring J. Cole and Canei Finch and "I Know" featuring Rich Homie Quan. The first and fourth singles were later certified gold by the RIAA.
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.
Tasha the Amazon, born Tasha Schumann, is a Canadian rapper, singer-songwriter, hip hop producer, author, and host to the Animalogic YouTube channel. She is best known for her debut EP Die Every Day, which was nominated at the 2017 Juno Awards for Rap Recording of the Year.
Haviah Mighty is a Canadian rapper from Brampton, Ontario. She rose to prominence in 2016 as a member of the hip hop group the Sorority, before releasing several EPs on her own, most notably Flower City, in 2017. Her first album, 13th Floor, was released in 2019 and won the Polaris Music Prize. After her debut, XXL named her one of the "15 Toronto rappers you should know" and CBC Music called her one of the "New Faces of Canadian Hip Hop".
Dimarjio Antonio Jenkins, better known by his stage name Houdini, was a Canadian rapper from Toronto, Ontario. He first gained recognition from his certified gold single "Late Nights" which contained vocal features from Burna Bandz and was released in 2017. This was followed by the singles "Myself" and "Backseat". He was also known for his frequent collaborations with fellow rappers Pressa, Robin Banks and NorthSideBenji, which includes the latter's certified gold single "Levels" which saw a feature from Houdini. He released his debut mixtape Hou I Am on February 13, 2019. His sophomore mixtape Hou Woulda Thought followed on August 2, 2019. His debut EP underGROUND was released on March 18, 2020. This would be his last release during his lifetime as he was shot and killed on May 26, 2020.
