The Infinite Oasis
Hip Hop Evolutions On My Birthday
Yo…
I’ve been (re)watching Family Ties.
And there’s an episode where Alex P. Keaton had to explain what a B & B is…that it’s a Bed & Breakfast. It was a 1987 episode…did late ‘80s audiences not know what a B & B was?!
It had nothing to do with the primary plot but it helped to set up the next couple of jokes…about travelling.
(In the show’s defense…culturally literacy is weird. I dunno when or where I learned the concept of what a bed and breakfast is or the type of crispy air New England Fall vibes they conjure up. Bed and breakfasts are typically associated with married couples seeking a romantic gateway or for people who use turn antiques into a verb like antiquing. I dunno where any of that came from. Is that your impression of B & Bs?)
10 years after Alex P. Keaton described what a B & B is; I found myself with an opportunity to explain what hip hop was…at least at for that time.
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Today is my birthday. I know…I buried the lede.
I don’t have any (sarcastic) words of inspiration. It’s life you know?
Figure out what you enjoy and who you enjoy being with and work to increase that in your day to day. It doesn’t need to be more complicated then that.
But I will share an odd moment of reflection.
On Friday, September 22nd I attended Roy Thomson Hall where a screening was held for 299 Queen Street West The MuchMusic Experience which recently screened at SXSW.
There’s a lot to unpack with this MuchMusic doc but I mean ideally you wanna see a music documentary in a concert hall like Roy Thomson Hall.
Obviously musicians came out for the event notably two in particular; sending me full circle to how it all started.
These two I’ve met 26 years ago in 1997. (Good gravy the time just goes. There’s an on-the-nose birthday takeaway.)
Michelle McCullock who you know as Michie Mee. She’ll never get a Heritage Minute but Michie is Canada’s first notable female MC. She hails from the Jane and Finch neighbourhood.
Impressively at 15, she made her debut stage performance in Toronto as an opener for Boogie Down Productions. (Less impressively, she played herself in an episode of My Secret Identity, lol! Remember that TV show?)
The second individual at Much doc premiere was Infinite also a rapper. Desmond Francis is a member of hip hop group Ghetto Concept. Raised in the Rexdale you might recall his hit A Criminal Mind with Scarborough rapper Maestro Fresh Wes.
(The two Canadian rappers sampled Gowan’s hit song also called A Criminal Mind. 2 Canadians rappers sampling a classic Canadian hit…totally Bob and Doug McKenzie, eh? (Gowan is also from Scarborough but we really don’t claim him…even with his Criminal Mind…))
I interviewed Michie Mee and Infinite in 1997…this is how I got started.
I informed the University school paper editor I wanted to cover pop culture and entertainment.
He was cool with that; he handed me some CDs to review…including Be Here Now the third studio album by Oasis (released on August 21, 1997). (I dug it…I still do, solid Oasis album.)
(How do you review a CD I wondered? I didn’t say that out loud; just figured I’d reverse engineer Rolling Stone reviews.)
What else he asked? What about a long-form article? I gripped the CDs in my hands tight…I had nothing to pitch. “What about hip hop…like hip hop.” That rap? I nodded. Okay go write it up. Write…what??!
(The guitarist on that Oasis album was Bonehead. Not sure how he earned his nickname but right now with such a weak pitch I felt I earned that nickname way more than he did…)
I left his office…the CDs in my hands covered in sweat. Looks like I better talk to rappers. But…who?
Eventually my article—published on November 18, 1997—became Canadian hip hop tourism with Michie Mee and Infinite as my tour guides.
Seeing these two rappers after almost 30 years was startling. I talked to Infinite on Friday night (as you can see from the photo up there).
I didn’t expect them to remember me. But their yes I’ll give you my time and yes I’ll (patiently) answer your terrible questions sparked my work.
Thank you Michie Mee and Infinite. It’s been a wild ride, hasn’t it?
Everybody starts somewhere and this is where I started.
The article is raw with moments of bold writing. I worked hard on it…I pulled an all-nighter…handing it in at 5 or 6 am.
I present it as birthday fun.
~~
Hip-Hop Evolutions
Various elements of Canada’s cultural mixtures earn recognition in diverse fields. Until recently, this recognition failed to include hip-hop. Now, in part to efforts from artists like Michie Mee and Infinite, Canada’s reputation is not only changing, but also growing.
Originating from Toronto, "Canadian hip-hop" is being developed; it’s challenging rival American counterparts, while adding to a country’s rich musical history. Despite rap’s lack of Canadian origins, times and trends have changed. Not only have rap and its sister, hip-hop, become incorporated into Canada, but they both enjoy a steady growth.
The phrase hip-hop represents more than the rap music that precedes it. Loosely defined, it is a culture, less characterized by people than by ideas. Music, fashion, graffiti and dance are some of the elements hip-hop incorporates. Beyond that, the phrase takes on exclusive meaning as each individual personalizes it, making it a part of themselves.
Michie Mee describes hip-hop as a vibe, “a way of expressing yourself with a street element.” It is a vibe that can easily be transmitted and communicated to other individuals.
While maintaining the street element, Infinite stresses the reality of hip-hop. “It is a way of living, a culture,” he instructs, making it sound like a religious faith. Since he was a child, hip-hop included ideas about speech and dress but slanted to the reality of the street.
Both artists leave the impression that their definitions are open ended; they have only shared a piece of a movement too large to define.
The rappers stress the street level since this is where they want their messages heard. They feel that they can communicate positive ideas through music.
Michie Mee’s proverbs include "don’t limit yourself," "keep learning, you’re never to old," a reminder that "in bad times, someone is worse off than you" and "have faith, an inner strength, and…stay focused." Michie delivers and focuses on these positive ideas because of her personal experiences. She speaks with an infectious passion because as she puts it, “I’ve lived through it all.”
Being a female rapper from Toronto challenges Michie Mee’s status in hip-hop. Despite her long-term experiences in the music industry, she has to prove herself twice as much compared to her American counterparts because she’s from Toronto. “Therefore, a lot of us have to get creative with the hip-hop culture.”
She feels Canadians achieve this by drawing musically and culturally from cultures within Canada, such as Native Canadian roots. As for being a woman, she feels that “in the male dominated field of hip-hop” things are evolving. Women are becoming equal.
But she feels the focus should not be on the individual as much as the product. Now, with the addition of a child, she faces different issues. What she calls "Mom issues" force her to be more mature, but she promises to continue to be “hot and sassy.”
Like Michie Mee, Infinite faces similar single parent issues.
Infinite grew up surrounded by disadvantages in Rexdale. His life mirrors the messages he puts in his music. His struggles early in life are transformed by the success he is enjoying now. With his status, he wants to communicate this idea of dark to light. Being a rapper puts him in “a position, you know, an opportunity” to let people know “how to turn the negative into the positive,” he says.
Communicating this message to its intended audience is complicated. What he calls “a difficult balance” is making music with lyrics that relate to the street level, “so the street can understand,” but while earning a living through radio play.
Infinite is concerned with "keeping it real." He’s interested in the realities of life, in passion and has a dislike for "fake rappers." He wants to remember where he came from, never forgetting his struggles. He "keeps it real" by putting his brother in his latest video.
With his brother, they created a record company called Lock Down. Together, they are helping to develop young and upcoming rapping talent. These are ideas the street can relate too, but it is the communication of them that offends radio’s sensibilities.
What confuses these issues further is the birth of his son. As a parent, he recognizes how other parents feel about their children listening to certain types of music. “Having a son changes my music” to say “certain things to please parents.”
No matter what adversity he has faced, as his Beat Factory single indicates, “I’m gonna get mine.”
Both artists agree that "Canadian hip-hop" is growing. Infinite states that Canadian rappers are on the same level as American ones. Though he uses the word "trend," he seems to believe that this growth will have a lasting impact.
Michie Mee sums it up as “a positive vibe.” She adds that Canadian rap, “has something new to offer to the whole hip-hop scene internationally. We’re ready to evolve and show the world what Canada is all about.”
All this growth in industry and talent is exciting. What remains is to understand how the rap consumer will react to artists like Michie Mee and Infinite, who are perhaps latching on to an evolution in the ever-growing movement known as hip-hop.
~~
Whew. So…notice I didn’t bring up or really name any of their music? Little Sammy is so fired!!
And Canadian hip-hop and worse keeping it real in quotes…so embarrassing. I guess I struggled to "keep it real" back then.
Hip-hop with a hyphen is actually correct. AP Style prefers hip-hop so my editor was right. It just looks…weird. How do you spell hip hop. Is it Hip Hop? I dunno.
But you can see it…can’t you?
There’s something there…it’s undercooked in parts (badly burned in other parts) but there’s a hint of something tasty in my 1997 article.
And I remain.
I’ve done my best to be a refreshing Oasis in the vast desert of pop culture.
Track 4 of the Oasis album I reviewed in 1997 is Stand by Me. From the first verse:
“I’ve got a lot of things to learn
Said I would and I’ll be leaving one day
Before my heart starts to burn
So what’s the matter with you?
Sing me something new…”
Sing me something new! That’s exactly what I’ve been doing since that those clumsy conversations with Michie Mee and Infinite in 1997.
The Oasis song concludes: “Stand by me, nobody knows the way it’s gonna be. Yeah, God only knows, the way it’s gonna be.” Indeed.
Thank you Dear Reader…for Standing By Me.
As we all get older it’s more like Sit By Me…
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.