Welcome to the foreign edition of Beneath the Beats. I began my writing this week sitting on a Greyhound bus bound for Montreal. I’m visiting a friend in McGill University, and while I am up here I’ll take the opportunity to explore the Montreal hip-hop scene.
On my way up I was literally the luckiest son of a gun ever. Sitting next to me was the Music Library and Promotions coordinator at CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal, Karen Robin. She helps run one of McGill University’s stations under the Canadian Broadcasting Company. This allows them to play music without set playlists as long as they have at least 35% indigenous Canadian music. With someone so well-versed in Montreal music literally trapped next to me for the next 9 hours, I took the opportunity to ask her about the Montreal hip-hop scene. This conversation was the beginning of my extended one-night stand with Canadian hip-hop. Please don’t tell Biggie.
Montreal is a city of converging Anglo and Franco influences, and its Hip-hop scene parallels this heritage. The area spawns artists who take the rapid fire in-your-face-style of French hip-hop and combine it with the traditions of sampling found in the United States. The music coming out of Montreal has an originality and quirkiness that escapes labeling.
Rap duo TeenBurger personifies this on their new album Burgertime. The album is a throwback to the ’80s and ’90s, and an awareness of culture from years back is important to enjoying every last bite. The nostalgia is an ever-present backdrop, elicited through the sampling from older movies and commercials and strung over electronic beats. My captive Canadian interviewee said of them, “They’re reviving old-school hip-hop tradition. They have a thematic thread that runs through the tracks and personally I appreciate the throwback.” Relative to other music trends in Montreal, she said, TeenBurger characterize a “retro-revival going on across the board in hip-hop. They do it well almost to the point where you could confuse it with a hip-hop album produced in the ’90s.”
If you’re looking for a more unique sound, another local artist Karen turned me onto was a man named SoCalled. He is an alternative hip-hop artist who combines Jewish klezmer music with rapping elements. During performances he is known to break out an accordion. The man makes music probably like nothing you’ve heard before. Do not judge him by his looks, if you are looking for original sound he certainly provides.
By Sam Bermas-Dawes