living underwater

maestro fresh-wes - maestro zone ep

(attic records, 1992)

download.

1. another funky break (from my pap’s crate)

2. conductin’ thangs

3. hittin’ the girlschools

4. the maestro zone

5. ebony mozart

6. bring it on

props to bust the facts (where i got it from).

kish - a nation of hoods

(isba, 1994)

[download]

1. Straight To Your Grill
2. Crates To Concrete
3. Sunrise
4. A Nation Of Hoods
5. You Can’t Sleep On A Shorty
6. Props Due
7. 3:26 AM
8. It’s Tha Bomb
9. We On Some Next Shit
10. Undercover
11. Get Off Your Knees
12. 4kd

(thanks dave for the link.)

okay, it’s been two months since the last post.

got a pile of new stuff i’ve just sorted through, sitting beside my desk, cds and records, so, i’ll be getting it up here as best i can. got lots of other shit on the go as well, so be patient, but i’ll do my best. thanks for all the emails and comments, happy y’all are digging the blog.

also, a reminder, once i p ost something once, i’m not posting it again, so i ask that all of you who check for this and download stuff, keep the links alive yourselves. if someone asks for a re-up, i’m hoping you will all come through for each other. i simply don’t have the time to keep posting new stuff AND re-post older stuff.

also, if you have something you want to see here, leave a comment, we’ll see what we can do.

and also, if you have some canadian stuff you want to share, email me about it, and i’ll post it for you, and of course give you credit for it.

thanks,

fritz tha cat

ps. bird, moves, rhek, where you at?

vandal - the nomadic addict

(urban camper entertainment, 2003)

1. greetings

2. nomadic addict

3. boat

4. spaced invaders

5. represent

6. movement

7. sweatshoppers

8. k.l.

9. sarcasm

10. drama remix

11. moat

12. lul-a-bye

www.myspace.com/vandigital 

Vandalography

Jason Schadt, also known to the world as Vandal, is an emcee/producer & world traveler from Toronto, Canada.  He began making beats on a Boss drum machine in ‘86 and then in ‘92 he got his first sampler/workstation.  He’s been writing songs and short stories for over 16 years and in ‘91 he started emceeing.  Over the past 16 years Hip Hop has played an important role in his creative expression.  From breakdancing on the street for money with his friends in ‘87, to emceeing for 1000+ people in Mauritius in ‘99, Vandal has made the most of his time and opportunities.

In the summer of ‘94 Vandal participated in the Fresh Arts music program.  Along side other young aspiring Toronto Hip Hop artists (Kardinal Offishall, Marvel, Double Soul…), he gained valuable experience performing and recording and had a song featured on the Fresh Arts compilation tape.

In ‘95 he formed a crew with his friends called Cryptik Souls, which in ‘99 had members from across Canada and a song and video, “Cryptik Souls Crew” (featured on Len’s “You cant stop the bumrush” album, Sony Work).  As a part of Cryptik Souls Vandal gained more and more performing and production experience and began putting together a studio in order to begin recording his own material.

In ‘98 he was accepted into a program that enabled him to travel and do music.  Something he’s always wanted to do.  Through the help of Environmental Vision Exchange, Jason voyaged to Mauritius and Madagascar to hook up with local Hip Hop artists and perform. Without knowing anyone there Jason relied on his traveling experience and the support of Stach, another participant of the program and fellow singer/songwriter. The trip had such an impact that Jason continued on to Malaysia and Singapore before coming back to Toronto, 7 months later.  Traveling in general has had a great impact on Jason.  He’s been to 27 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.  In ‘93 he participated in a Canada World Youth cultural exchange with Indonesia, where he lived with a family in a small village in Central Java for 3 ½ months helping with rural development projects and experiencing Indonesian culture.

After returning from a trip to Malaysia and Singapore at the end of 2000 Jason began working with a crew called Symbolik Music.  Made up of former members of Cryptik Souls, Symbolik Music Crew has been performing a unique brand of stage show, which incorporates Theatre and Hip Hop.  The response has been really good and Symbolik Music has done shows at NXNE, CMW and in Kingston and Guelph, along with a long list of shows around Toronto.

In May 2002 Jason participated in the first Innoversity Creative Summit at the Sheraton Hotel, Toronto, and walked away a two-time winner.  He pitched a radio show idea, “Frequency Jam”, to the CBC and was awarded a pilot episode.  The pilot is now complete and will be airing in the very near future.  He also pitched a short radio piece entitled “The Urban Soundscape”, that aired on CBC’s Metro Morning show November ‘02.

Currently Vandal is ready to release his latest album, “The Rebirth of a Classic Obsession” in summer 2005.

i can’t find a photo of these cats.

collapsyllables ep

(indie/unreleased 2005)

1. Bounce Back
2. What You Need
3. Night Moves
4. I Ain’t Feelin It
5. Lock ‘N Load
6. Again

Collapsyllables is:

Bolts
B Side (Mastodon)
John Diss
Transit
A-Flex
Tonic (made the beats)
DJ Everfresh 

My boy Kaleb Simmonds is the truth. Beatboxing singer from Nova Scotia and
Top 6 on the initial run of Canadian Idol (last Black man left standing). I
think he’s in Toronto working on a new album all produced by 2Rude right
now. But this is his true debut - recorded on a 2 track karaoke machine a
real long time ago when shit was simpler. Back when I could smoke mad weed
and still get shit done. Back before there were even hipsters. Tachichi says
he wrote the lyrics to this here. All I know is that this shit is murder. If
you youtube Kaleb you can find him killing the “Jungle Book Theme” too (just
don’t ask me about “Welcome To Paradise”). One day we’ll up his “The Race”
ep too - that shit slays everything dead.

-Rhek

http://www.divshare.com/download/2282718-093

Nestor Wynrush is my main drinking partner. Winn City to Bar I to The Red Cactus to Tavern to Times Changed, we put nuff dollars back into the economy. He also raps, better than you do. After some legal trouble involving his former alias, he emerged a new and incredibly confusing force to be reckoned with. Beatles covers and odes to flying above the clouds, lady. It’s a new day. The man known as Black N Roll and I sat down at different computers recently, and conversed via a social networking website about Winnipeg and food. We even managed to touch on racism, and worked his old album and handle into the conversation too. Satchel Paige’s “Guy, I’m From Here” will one day be more coveted than your favorite nerd rappers basement tape. Here’s how the conversation went…

Where exactly is the here that you are from guy? I’m confused.

From “Here”- Means many things. It means I’m from Canada. It means i am from Winnipeg. It means i am from Mississauga & The GTA. I got tired of growing up and being asked where I am from. I appreciate the question when it comes with no knowledge and people are just plain curious but some people mean to ask it in a mean and condescending manner. I am the child of immigrants. I am proud of my heritage. Being Canadian means that I can be proud of being Canadian and be proud of the culture of my family and still practice their customs. Too many people hate the hyphenated Canadian. I’m Trinidadian-Canadian, I am African-Canadian. They are both part of me. I will not renounce one for the other because that would be a lie. I live both or all three identities everyday. I am not pretending. This is who I am.

Why do you live in Winnipeg? Are you funny in the head or something? It’s cold here.

Winnipeg is cheap. Its a pretty multicultural city north of Portage Avenue ( Excluding The Harambee Development and some areas by the U of M). The city and the people have character. Its not city that tries to fool itself. My family first emmigrated to Winnipeg and then went to other places in the country so it feels like home. Plus its in the middle of the continent and that makes travel easy.

Its cold. I am crazy. Its so cold my mother moved and swore she’d never return. its been almost 20 years since she left and she has been back once for a weekend.

What’s up with the name change? What exactly is your name now? Terry Loxx? Black N Roll?

I had to change the rap name because the estate of the legendary baseball player, Leroy “Satchel” Paige was threatening to sue me. The lawyers chased me through email and mail for almost a year. They were asking for more money then I’ll ever see off the sale of any of my records. It seemed irrational to keep the name. I also got a letter from the family of Mr. Paige and it helped to change my mind and made a potential name change easier for me to digest. It became apparent that money was not the big deal to them they just wanted Mr. Paige’s legacy to be intact and under their control. After awhile I decided it was a wise decision to change my rap name because their would never be better timing. The official name is Nestor Wynrush. Black N Roll and Terry Loxx are just alternate but not official names.

You have a lot of stories about racism. What’s the story there?

I don’t mean to have so many stories about racism but racism has been littered through out my life. I remember sitting around in high school one day and thinking about how I’d like to plan and write an album. What would its content be about. I wanted to talk about my family’s experiences in a foreign country that may not have all the time been very receptive to them. I wanted to talk about my friends and their experiences, and most of all celebrate an aspect of the Fabulous Black Canadian Experience with all the fifty people that were to ever hear my record. It just so happens that racism has played a part in all of our lives. Therefore my songs reflect that. My songs also reflect: cultural identity, young love, barber shops, entrepreneurship, friendship, dream chasing, partying and other universal themes.

If your house has leaking pipes do you just choose to move or do you decide to be proactive and try to fix the problem? I view it as my family moved to a beautiful almost perfect new house (Canada) but it has pipe problems. Now we’ll all try and fix that shit.

On another topic, why are me, you and Bad Mannaz from Shadez never in the same place at the same time?

All those great drinking minds can not be in the same place at the same time. We’ll insult every rapper and discover new ways to hate Winnipeg. Winnipeg would implode on itself.

Bar Italia or Winn City?

Bar Italia for hot gals on a summer day and decent DJs and Winn City for a quiet time with the boys on any other day. Plus, Winn City is good for me and some others to get drunk and just stumble home. Both are clean but Winn City is clean and dirty. Did you know a waitress popped out a titty to us and…(edited for content, damn Black N Roll!!!)

Chicken or goat?

Don’t make me choose. For writing this question I choose to give you the Winnipeg handshake and watch you bleed to death.

And there you have it. But the answer to the age old question? It’s actually chicken AND goat.

For educational and entertainment purposes, here’s some tunes off of “Guy, I’m From Here”.

Desmond Ambrose *endspace.com/file/vxakse

Theo’s Gartrelle *endspace.com/file/4vipbd

Joe Carter *endspace.com/file/36q4yx

Anne Marie Green (Life Before) *endspace.com/file/rsp5ib

Enida Watts *endspace.com/file/1dwxh0

Replace * with s, at least until someone teaches me an easier way.

- Birdapres

i’m taking some time off from everything else in life to work on my new album, so, i won’t be posting any new stuff on here for the next few weeks or a month. bird, moves, it’s up to you guys to hold it down for a bit. and oh yeah, if anyone is reading this from new york, or has friends in nyc, come check out my show. word.

peace.

-fritz tha cat

A 12″ Single. An all blacked out MAPL, signifying 100% Canadian Content. Justin Entertainment. 1991, Blast Records. Manufactured and Distributed in Canada by MCA. A single songwriting credit, (Chris Fielder). Published by Fumo Publishing. An artist with a touch of a Mid-Western drawl, who makes a reference to “Northwest D-Town”. Very confusing.

Ontario and Michigan share some musical history. CKLW in Windsor broke many Motown hits, back before the airwaves became the cluttered mess they are now. More recently, Obie Trice’s pre-Shady Records production was put down by Da Grassroots. Slum Village’s ‘Fantastic Vol 1″ made noise in Toronto before most of the U.S. caught on. It’s not a very long drive.

So after a few conversations and a quick google check, I seem to have put it together. Chris Fielder was a Canadian house producer. RazorBlayd was indeed from The D, and he’s now known as Axman. From his myspace bio…

“Axman was born on the mean streets of Detroit, Michigan and was the last of ten kids. So you already know that there were survival issues. Being around his two older brothers is what really sparked his musical interest because they had a record collection that was large and versatile. His older brother also had a little basement band which was always a treat to watch from the basement steps. This led to Ax being involved with the music programs at school from the 4th grade all the way through high school. In 1985 he and his family moved to Windor, Ontario which is right across the river from Detroit. He immediately joined forces with three other rappers from Detroit and a D.J. from Windsor. Even though some would disagree, it is a fact that this is what started the hip-hop movement in Windsor. Axman, along with the other members rocked numerous shows and soon gained respect in Windsor and Detroit. Axman soon started producing different local talent and even was a member of several bands. He moved to Toronto in 1990 to produce for an independent lable which led to his debut album, “Razorblayd (Razor’s Gruv)” , a distribution deal with MCA Canada and an appearance on the then popular dance show, Electric Circus. The album did fairly well. After two years in Toronto Axman went back to Detroit to spend time with his family and to set up shop in his hometown.”

A shout out to DJ Sipreano for supplying the photo, and for hipping me to this record.

- Birdapres

“Razor’s Gruv”
*endspace.com/file/dvp4zw

“Razor’s Gruv (Remix)”
*endspace.com/file/2dma51

Replace * with s