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Modesty is not the most obvious hallmark of hip hop artists. But apparently, Maestro Fresh Wes didn’t get the memo.
On the line with Postmedia from his home in Saint John, the rapper born Wesley Williams is asked whether his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame this year is somewhat, or maybe even long, overdue. It could easily be argued that the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences took its sweet time in making Maestro Fresh Wes the first hip hop inductee. Sixty-four artists have been inducted ahead of him.
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It was 35 years ago, after all, that Williams became Canada’s first hip hop chart-topper with Let Your Backbone Slide. Hip hop, as a genre, has now passed its 50th birthday.
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“Everything in divine timing, man,” he says. “I’ve never been one of those guys who is like ‘How come I haven’t been inducted yet?’ or ‘Why am I not on the Walk of Fame for Canada yet?’ I’ve never done that in my life. Everything in the right time. Even if people get on before I do, it is what it is. What’s meant for someone else is not meant for you and what’s meant for me is not meant for anybody else but me.”
Whatever the timing, it’s hard to argue with the Toronto-born rapper being the first representative of the genre in the hall of fame. A tribute to the rapper that ran on the Juno Awards website ahead of his March 24 induction ran under the headline “Maestro Fresh Wes’s Legacy of ‘Firsts.’ That includes being the first Canadian rapper to land on the Billboard Top 40 with Let Your Backbone Slide, which was the first single off his debut album A Symphony Effect. That 1989 album was also the first Canadian hip hop album to be certified platinum. Williams was the first winner of the Juno Award for Best Rap Recording in 1991. Let Your Backbone Slide was the first hip hop song to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. In late February, Williams received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award after being named a 2024 recipient of the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award. Again, this is the first time this honour has gone to a hip hop artist.
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On May 15, the National Music Centre – which is the physical home of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame – will launch a temporary exhibit to honour Maestro Fresh Wes’s career. As with exhibits dedicated to past hall of fame inductees, it will feature artifacts from his career and an immersive video production. Williams’ wardrobe during the induction was a leather black tuxedo. During his electrifying performance at the Juno ceremony, he wore a red leather bomber jacket. Both will be on display at the National Music Centre.
“It’s striking the nerves of nostalgia, but at the same time there are newer futuristic pieces,” he says.
Given his illustrious past as the “godfather of Canadian hip hop,” it’s easy to focus on Williams’ former achievements. During Kardinall Offishall’s colourful induction of his friend and mentor, he offered effusive testimony about Maestro Fresh Wes’ influence on future generations: “To the godfather goes the admiration, the thanks, the love and the irrevocable gratitude of a nation. Generations of B-boys, from Malvern to Finch, North Preston to Vancouver, have witnessed the crown prince.” Offishall was only 13 when he first met Williams.
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But Williams has been expanding his artistic pursuits for years to include acting, hosting reality TV, producing film and television, writing memoirs and children’s books and becoming a motivational speaker. In 2024, 2023 and 2022 he earned Juno nominations for Best Children’s Album. His cooking show, Maestro Chef Wes, is entering its second season. Race Against the Tide, the CBC sand-sculpting competition series he hosts, is entering its fourth season.
While he continues to move forward, Williams admits the Junos and upcoming Governor General Awards have put him in a reflective mood. “I’m not still on Cloud 9, I’m on Cloud 99 because that was a beautiful experience for me and my family,” he says.
“You’ve got to take that all in and reflect on what you’ve done,” Williams says. “They did a great job of producing that and putting it together. I definitely reflected and I knew it wasn’t just about me, it was about hip hop in Canada being documented and being celebrated. While I was performing, that’s what was going through my mind.”
Williams doesn’t follow modern Canadian hip hop too closely today, but he does support current and future generations. He recently established the Maestro Fresh Wes Scholarship. On the surface, it’s not a music scholarship. It will be given annually to provide financial support to African Nova Scotian and Black students enrolled in a trades and transportation program at the Akerley Campus of Nova Scotia Community College.
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“It’s so kids have options besides just music and sports,” he says. “And it’s one of those things you can do while you are working on your music and while you’re working on your sports. You’re learning a trade. To put direct money into their pockets, that can be intergenerational.”
As for his own music, Williams will be opening for TLC in Moncton on May 14. He also plans to go back into the studio.
“I was just on the phone with an engineer,” he says. “I might go trap some rough vocals on some projects and see how I sound.”
Milestones: Maestro Fresh Wes will be at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, from May 15 to February 2025.
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