New National Music Centre exhibition celebrates 'Godfather of Canadian Hip-Hop', Maestro Fresh Wes
The career of the Godfather of Canadian Hip-Hop, aka Maestro Fresh Wes, is getting its close-up in a new exhibition that opens May 15 at the National Music Centre.
Toronto’s Wes Williams changed Canadian music in 1989 when he released “Let Your Backbone Slide” on his debut album Symphony in Effect.
There were hip hop scenes in cities like Toronto, Halifax and Montreal, but in 1989, hip hop was a musical genre that flew way under the radar of Canadian media, until Scarborough resident Williams named himself Maestro Fresh Wes and released Symphony in Effect, according to a 2019 National Music Centre feature by rock journalist Juliette Jagger.
“I came along in an era and time when there was little mainstream musical representation for the first generation of Black Canadians,” Williams told Jagger. “Up to that point, there really wasn’t a relationship with the industry, from our perspective.
“Back then (in 1989), we as a hip-hop community didn’t have our business hats on yet, and we were discouraged thinking nothing would come out of Canada anyway, so we weren’t really focused on all that.”
Maestro Fresh Wes went on to become the first Canadian rapper whose records achieved gold and platinum status, the first to break into the Billboard Top 40 – and the man who paved the way for a new generation of global Canadian music superstars.
Williams has been elected to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2024 officially joined the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, making him the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into both.
The new exhibition will celebrate Maestro Fresh Wes’s four-decade-long career with an immersive video experience as well as the stage outfits he wore at the 2024 Junos in Halifax a few months ago.
“Canadian hip-hop artists like Drake dominate the global charts today, but it all started with Maestro Fresh Wes and the impact he made in Canada,” said Andrew Mosker, president and CEO of NMC in a media release.
“Having just celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip-hop," Mosker added, "we’re proud to share the story of one of Canada’s most important figures in the genre with this latest exhibition.”
“It's an honour to see my journey celebrated at the National Music Centre,” said Maestro Fresh Wes. “I hope this exhibition inspires future generations to not just make records but make history.”
Entry into Milestone: Maestro Fresh Wes is included with admission to the National Music Centre. The exhibition runs from May 15, 2024 to February, 2025.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Man throws flaming liquid on New York City subway, burns fellow rider
A man set a cup of liquid on fire and tossed it at fellow subway rider in New York City, setting the victim's shirt ablaze and injuring him.
At least 9 dead in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after severe weather roars across region
Powerful storms killed at least nine people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where drivers took shelter during the latest deadly weather to strike the central U.S.
As Canada warms, infectious disease risks spread north
Cases of Lyme disease have now increased more than 1,000 per cent in a decade as the warming climate pushes the boundaries of a range of pathogens and risk factors northward.
12 people injured after Qatar Airways plane hits turbulence on way to Dublin
Twelve people were injured when a Qatar Airways plane flying from Doha to Dublin on Sunday hit turbulence, airport authorities said.