The hottest hip hop artist of 2012 is a Canadian. How many of Drake’s fans know that? And how many of them care? When his sophomore album Take Care was recently short-listed for the Polaris Prize, one of the most respected Canadian music industry awards, his success was incongruous among fellow MC Cadence Weapon and nearest crossover equivalent Feist. The nomination served more as a reminder of his birthplace than an acknowledgment.

Whether Drake has done enough to acknowledge his origins is somewhat irrelevant. What matters is the truth, as we’ve seen for countless Canadian actors and pop stars, that Canada is a lot like high school: it’s a place success might help you leave behind.

Joe Klymkiw’s new documentary Hip Hop Eh is about the industry of Canadian hip hop (less so the artistry) and the handful of artists – Swollen Members, Classified, Buck 65 – who’ve found a degree of success within our borders. Through dozens of intercut interviews Klymkiw questions what Canadian success really means, how it is achieved, and whether it should be judged relative to America, the biggest pop culture market in the world.

You come from Winnipeg originally?

Yeah. I went to high school with the guys from Mood Ruff, who are now in Grand Analog. Back in the day, [founder] Odario Williams used to put on events that felt important at the time. Showcases for local and national talent. First time I saw Moka Only, and other guys I’d never heard about.

One of my favourite hip hop records of the past few year’s is Factor’s Lawson Graham, from Saskatoon. Moka was on it.

Yeah, I heard that one. It’s great. Saskatoon and Winnipeg are doing great things without the attention they deserve. There’s a stereotype behind the prairies, how can you be hip hop out there? But as long as it’s real, and artists are talking about what it means to be Canadian, people will relate to it.

Have you done work in the industry outside of this documentary?

I used to do a college radio show in Vancouver, “Beats From the Basement,” for about six years. Shot some videos for local artists. While I was at the station I met Nardwuar, and I’ve done videography work for him since he got laid off from MuchMusic.

Nardwuar gets real respect from hip hop artists.

I would say he’s one of the greatest music journalists of all time. Hip hop guys like him because he’s really DIY like them — it’s just them and a microphone.

When did filming for this doc begin and end? I ask because hip hop culture can change directions so quickly.

We started in 2006. Drake wasn’t around then [laughs] but he’s since exploded, kind of out of nowhere. I got to sit in on his interview with Nardwuar — usually in that situation I’m quiet. But I would’ve loved to get him in the film.

How do other Canadian MCs seem to view his success? As not only a Canadian rapper but a pop star, there’s no other career arc to really compare it with.

I think a lot of Canadian MCs view him more as that pop star. But I can see the musicality, how he started with mixtapes — the pop success is just a bonus.

There is one big difference between American and Canadian hip hop: there’s no pop influence or ambition here, there aren’t really any guys like Lil Wayne, who can rap and talk about baser shit. Everyone you talk to in Hip Hop Eh is very eloquent and thoughtful, some are a bit self-serious.

Yeah, I agree with that. Hip hop in Canada resembles more of the ‘80s punk scene. Lots of popular guys, like Cadence Weapon, but they don’t get play on commercial radio, while at the same time they always have something to say.



How do guys like Classified and Cadence view their own success, which is high but still relative?

Well, they’ve done well commercially. But I’d say the underlying message of the film is that you’ll never make tons of money selling records, you’ll get it from going on tour. A lot of guys see that as the model to make a living. You’ve got to be out on the road.

One of the biggest obstacles in Canadian music, not only in hip hop, is the expansive geography of our country.

Totally. In the movie, Shad talks about having to travel eight hours for one show. Canada is praised for its vastness but it’s not so effective for any artist trying to tour. I see that connection between hip hop and indie rock; fraternities develop in cities maybe even more so than the U.S.

Walk down the street in any major Canadian city and you’ll hear hip hop blasting from the cars, so why is there still so little exposure for homegrown stuff?

I’d say that when guys our age, who grew up listening to hip hop, get more power [in broadcasting and media] we’ll replace a lot of the classic rock stations. There will be a market for classic hip hop radio, and a way to more properly market the genre. I hope somebody watches the film and decides to create some more hip hop stations, that’s always been a mini-goal of mine.

Since we started filming Winnipeg now has its own, non top-40 hip hop radio station. And it does well. They understand how to sell it to people. 


Hip Hop Eh opens at Toronto’s Projection Booth July 29.

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