Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Michie Mee: Toronto Mike'd #434

Episode Date: February 21, 2019

Mike chats with Michie Mee about the roots of Toronto hip-hop, her rap battles, breaking out with Jamaican Funk, Raggadeath, Flow 93.5 and more.

Welcome to episode 434 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Propertyinthe6.com, ATM Canada, Palma Pasta, Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair, and our newest sponsor, B-U-K-L dot C-O. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com, and joining me this week is Canadian hip-hop pioneer, Mishy Mee. Welcome. What's up, Toronto Mike? Pleasure to be here. Pleasure's all mine, and I'm not just saying that like it's some cliche thing. You say, this is the truth.

I have a 14-year-old daughter. And since birth, I've been calling her Mishimi. That is so cool. I've seen that too. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for doing this. Shout out to little Mishimi.

Mishimi is not so little anymore. She sounds that age. Yeah, what is she now? 14 going on, you know, 21 is what I always say. And her daddy's right there. You got her.

Mission Mike. That's how it goes. You know, she's a good girl. I'm actually proud of her, but yeah, forever. I've been calling her Mishimi and then she always wants to know why I call her Mishimi.

And I'm like, this is why. And here you are. Nice. Amazing. That's fine. Thank you so much, Mike. Big up, Mishimi.

Let me just acknowledge the presence. He doesn't have to go on the mic, but you have a personal bodyguard here today. Yeah, definitely. Big man's in the building. What up, E? So E. I can call him E? Yes, you can.

Okay. So E's in the house. I hooked him up with some headphones because I realized I'm going to play a lot of music and he's not going to hear any of it if he doesn't slap those on so and i get that now yep uh right off the bat miss you nice my buddy joel goldberg is still your biggest fan jay gold jay what's up jay jay is like the man he um was the first one to give me content in the way that I could see me perform and compete internationally. Joel is the video man that did Jamaica Funk Canadian Style. Yeah.

He's done a lot of the great stuff. He was the first. He did myself, Maestro. He was the first. And that all comes out of him like he was working at Electric Circus, right? Yes, he was in the building. But did Dwight Drummond make any cameos in your videos? I need to know. Did Dwight? I believe he was in the building and uh but did dwight drummond make any cameos in your videos i need to know um did dwight i believe he was on set i know um what's his name but everybody in staff did everybody on we casted everybody i think maestro had tracy i had what's his name

mr alton i'm gonna stick e on a mic he's He's got, sounds like he's got the pipes over there. Alton. Big up Alton. Alton was a cameraman at City TV, also in the ad in those City TV Everywhere ads. So he was a main character. Donovan's the number one stylist,

now men's stylist, Donovan White. He was in there cameoing. So there's a lot of, Apple is now the t-shirt man that has been doing so many things

and an entrepreneur out in LA. Which is, yeah. So a lot of people were there with the cat we have the entire industry on that set just um represent hip-hop so we made it like a black party i think michidin's pizza not pizza here i'm looking at your um patty patty michidin's patty patty's was one of the main uh patty distributors at the end and came to the set because it was this big Caribbean event. And Joel had it and started the artwork in the back. And it was a big collab of, you know, like a little caravan on set.

And I got to meet Atlantic Records, came down and introduced themselves on set in Canada. So it was a big it was a big experience. And Joel handled us all well. But yeah, the entire staff was in our video. We're going to play we're going to play that song later for sure. I want to talk about that even more in depth. But Joel, when I told him you were coming on, Joel also wanted me to tell you, you were great at the Roots of the Six.

So he was at Roots of the Six at Nathan Phillips Square. Wow. Yeah, that was a happy 150. Right. Yes. So I was there too. You were? Yeah, I was there, of course, with the other M. Yes. So I was there too. You were? Yeah, I was there, of course,

with the other Mishimi. Oh, the big girl. The big girl. That was a great show. That was, okay, so for people who don't, so DJ Ron Nelson, who I'm going to play a clip

from him in a minute in which he talks about you. He's been on the show. He's amazing. Maestro Fresh West and Dream Warriors. And Drake. Drake waske was oh wait would he yeah right but he was like after the roots of the six started with us and then it ended that

whole night with drake and i think they didn't tell any of the roots of the six and it really was the roots to the uh the next level of the six it was like whoa do you think uh like drake for example does he give enough respect to to you guys who kind of paved the way like uh and dj ron nelson spoke to this but when maestro and yourself were kind of in dream warriors were all kind of coming up you guys kind of set the mold like there was no example of like successful toronto rappers to look at until you guys. Do you think Drake appreciates that? I wonder. That's why I brought it up. I wonder because it's a sensitive topic.

I get asked that a lot. And I think Drake possibly gets asked that a lot. We have a lot of mutual friends that pass our pass. And I would like to think so. I think he can find his own. He's probably tired of everyone directing him on how to do it but I've always wondered myself how can we don't get that that you know that love that everyone wouldn't be asking we'd be all out there celebrating that Drake has invited or you know you do have the OVO concert and there's a whole bunch of pioneering

artists that are here that we you know follow through and they put the roots of the six together for a reason so it'd be nice if he would cherish you know a little bit of the roots a little bit more on a bigger platform well you know drake had a big hit with uh a song in which he drops the lyric he gives a shout out to williams william wesley and but so maestro and i talked about this and initially uh west thought that was uh like him or whatever, but it's not him. Like it's actually someone's got that name. And it was for somebody. He said he got his game from Wes. It wasn't from him?

Yeah, it wasn't. So, yeah. So we had that initial like, OK, that's pretty cool. But it was like a false. Anyway, I don't want to stir up any trouble in the community. No, but it is what it is. And it should get stirred up. Not in really trouble. Just acknowledgement of that's not even him like

ouch right yeah you know as a lyricist i think we're all aware of of when we're name dropping and stuff like that yeah so it it's time now to be talked about i think we're at that stage where you know hip-hop has grown there's so many generations of hip-hop here in canada that you can acknowledge what what people are asking and what they're seeing is missing and what's not available and what's just absent. So yeah, we wouldn't ask these questions if we had all the answers.

And he's pretty big worldwide to be not acknowledged. Because other people that don't just know the scene and all the grassroots here actually acknowledge it a little bit more so i think now that we're not dependent on one generation of perspective you're gonna see it everywhere than here have you heard of so because it's pretty insulting if you're the man and they're asking if you've heard of your own roots right yeah so now there's another shout out for you so joel goldberg piped up but then uh my friend biff naked yeah says you're the queen and so is she well i said tell me something i don't know i said yeah uh so i agree with her you're both fantastic but uh where is where is the and we'll

talk about ragged death later because that's that's that's a cool selling where is the collaboration uh mishy me and biff naked she's amazing i think it's time i just seen her in ottawa when we went and did a festival and it was such a you know we were it was all over and she's the one that actually brought you know one of the biggest catalysts in bringing ragged f out on the road and giving us one of our first platforms to tour with her and snfu and for me seeing a female artist headline so we came off stage and me being a hip-hop artist going on a rock punk rock tour um seeing everybody mosh pit live you know what I mean that whole environment and seeing her handle it I came off tour being the hip-hop

biff naked jumping up and down and you know all the body language I mean I don't know if she left break dancing but you know what I mean like it was just experiencing canada and it was nice seeing it from a woman's perspective and she handled it so yeah and the whole crew that was amongst her it was a really good experience with biff she's just down the street like i could go grab her we could do something right now she's like park lana i don't know she's a mimico oh my gosh big up biff naked it's it's it's gonna be i think it's a long time in coming everyone i'm back in the studio i know she's doing she consistently does things so it's just long time in coming. I'm back in the studio. I know she's doing, she consistently does things. So it's just a matter of time.

Yeah. I'll help make it happen. I'll do what I can. That would be amazing. Please do. Even if just for myself, my own personal collection will make it. I'm going to stalk her next tours anyways. I know she's always around.

I'm going to stalk her tours. Yeah, I'll watch. She's a sweetheart. She is. Now, when she was coming in, I said, hey, do you want meat lasagna or vegetarian lasagna and i didn't get a reply but then i remember her telling me she was vegan okay so i'm like oh she's gotta have vegetarian but i didn't realize i know i didn't know you're not vegan yeah biff naked's vegan okay which means you don't eat cheese yes i i'm an idiot like I get my vegetarian and my vegan confused. I know.

But you do eat cheese, right? Yeah. And I do dabble. I'm not all the way out the meat factory. The chicken has me sometimes. And, you know, a backside. But I've lightened it up. It's moderation.

And I do eat light and clean and all that stuff. I haven't transitioned to vegan. He's trying with me. I'm getting there. And I'm going to eat clean. Before you transition to vegan, please enjoy. I have a from Palma Pasta. This is a large, it's frozen so you can't

have it tonight but you can thaw that for 24 hours and have it tomorrow. It is a frozen vegetarian lasagna for you, Mishimi. And he can have a slice or two as well. Yes, he can. It's worth a try. Thank you very much.

So I want to thank Palma Pasta for helping to fuel the real talk here. They have four locations in Mississauga and Oakville. They just opened Palma's Kitchen. It's near Mavis and Burnhamthorpe. Go to palmapasta.com to find out exactly where it is. It kicks ass. It's not just a hot table and you can get your cappuccino and Burnham Thorpe, go to palmapasta.com to find out exactly where it is. It kicks ass. It's not just a hot table and you can get your cappuccino and your pizza or whatever,

but it's a retail store with fresh Italian food. And you can get your meat lasagna and your vegetarian lasagna there. So go to palmapasta.com. And Mishy, there's a six pack of fresh craft beer. Right up my alley. As you said when you came in your breakfast was here are we sharing that with E or is that all yours

yes no it's probably mostly all mine but you were going to share definitely sharing that is courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery they are a local fresh uh craft brewery here in etobicoke 99 of all great lakes beer remains here in ontario it's always ridiculously fresh that's their claim to fame and uh they're gonna host just to let the listeners know if they circle

this on their calendar june 27 we're gonna have tmlMLX3. That's the Toronto Mic Listener Experience, the third one on June 27th at the patio. And if the weather messes this up, we have a big back room for us, but hopefully weather cooperates and it's at the patio at Great Lakes Brewery. So yeah, everybody put that in your calendars. The Michigan Union, of course you're invited. Yes. And I'm going to tweet and tell you about this beer. Yeah, do that. Absolutely do it at Great Lakes Beer. Let us know. Thank you're invited. Yes, and I'm going to tweet and tell you about this beer. Yeah, do that. Absolutely do it. At Great Lakes Beer.

Let us know. Thank you very much. Enjoy that. Now, let's go on a time machine. Before we kick out some Mishy jams, let's go on a time machine and play this jam. This was the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 exactly 30 years ago today.

Can you name that tune yet? She doesn't sound like Mishimi, but she sounds like Paula Abdul. Paula Abdul with Straight Up. I guess that was her first big hit. That was 30 years ago today. So that's the kind of music you would hear top 40 radio 30 years ago today. As we're trying to find our way.

Would you ever have any guilty pleasures like Paul Abdul? Would you ever listen to anything this poppy? You know what? We did. At that time, we had no choice. It was everywhere. It's all the radio would play, right? Yes.

Yes. And it was a good thing because we got to see, you know, and that slang, that was hip-hop slang being sung pop, straight up was a conversation in hip-hop. We heard it on radio in a pop style. So it was like a little bit of a Trojan horse for guys like me

to learn a little hip hop slang. Is that what I'm hearing? Definitely. They snuck it in there. That was the platform. Straight up was not dialogue from Paul Abdul. Maybe it was off here but not to sing. And that was our hit. So yeah, straight up.

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That's my slang. I drop some of those. Mike, you know your stuff. I know my... Yeah, you do. You know your music. I know my top 40 from 30 years ago. Because I was listening to because i was listening to

what i was listening to only you know everything though no i please i'm gonna learn so much from you today i uh was a big 680 cftr guy okay so that's like some history that's my history uh what was it they sandwiched some paul abdul between like uh i don't know new kids on the block or um mc hammer you know what I mean? Or Vanilla Ice. This is what we're talking about here. Although I'm going to play, actually, very shortly, I want to introduce

where you were born here. But I'm going to let Brian Gerstein from Property and the Six do it. And then this is eventually going to lead to a white guy who would like, you might know him,

you've been on a track with him, but he would draw patois in his raps. And I got questions about that too. I won't spoil who that is. But first let's let Brian ask you about Jamaica. Hi, Mishy. Brian Gerstein here. Sales representative with PSR Brokerage

and proud sponsor of Toronto Might. Breaking news! Details of the Phase 1 Galleria Mall redevelopment plan, including 420 condos in two buildings being sold exclusively by PSR, was just announced. Contact me now by phone or text at 416-873-0292 and I can send you high-res pictures and put you on my VIP first access list. We are targeting the end of May or early June to sell them with a 2023 completion date. The best part, the park and community centre will be completed before then. Mishi, I read this fantastic line about you by Niall Scobie,

a PhD student at Western, who wrote, What makes Mishi Mi especially unique is her articulation of a recognizable hybrid identity that projects both Canadian and Jamaican sensibilities. My question is, have you always had that in you? Since while born in Kingston, Jamaica, you relocated to Toronto at a young age, or do you need to go back to Jamaica periodically to stay in touch with your roots? Well, it's a bit of both. There's a lot of West Indian influence right here in Canada, and specifically Toronto. So it makes it that much easier. And that's our little down south is when we get to go home to Jamaica. For me, it is another home.

And when you're there, you appreciate Canada so much too. It's so neat to tap in to Jamaica for me it is another home and when you're there you appreciate Canada so much too it's so neat to tap in to home and I really do enjoy sitting with the elders and I was really attached to both my grandparents so they left a lot of information and and ideas that I just want to be that grandchild that follows through so I kind of hang in and hung out until um I lost both of them so the memories are still there and I'm just kind of hang in and hung out until I lost both of them. So the memories are still there and I'm just kind of following through. And it's always been my Jamaica funk ideal. I've always had my Mama Lou and the Cover Girl video where we had won the best video fact video for Much Music Awards.

And she was very prevalent in just my career and my choices. So, yeah, I do go back all the time and definitely dig into my roots. And when I'm there, I celebrate Canada. I celebrate Toronto. When I'm down there, I'm the Canadian girl. And when I'm here, I'm the Jamaican girl. Right. So it's very interesting.

So I feel joy living right in between both lines. It's a very cool border. When we got those cold spells, we've had some recently in these ridiculous icy, you know, it's like you wear skates when you walk the streets right now in Toronto. You must be like, you must have that internal like, what am I doing here? Like I'm in the wrong country right now. No, not at all. I adapted.

I love it. The first thing I played, I was floor hockey queen number one. I played a lot of floor hockey. I skated a lot at Amesbury. I came here first to, you know, to enjoy the ice. Winter Olympics, it's still interesting to me. You know what I mean? Like Jamaica got in there with a bobsled team.

But, you know, however it transitioned, we're very close to the Caribbean, specifically because of the Carabana Grassroots Foundation and everyone coming from even America and the UK to come here and celebrate their Jamaican roots here in Toronto. So it's very easy to emulate. It's very, very easy. It's not hard. And I find when you're speaking, even the accent comes out when I'm recording, when I'm writing. It is what makes me different in an international market. In the US, there's this Canadian girl that speaks Jamaican,

and it was what, you know, was the biggest asset to me being signed to an American labels that I could say I'm from Canada I can go to Europe and say you know what I'm not from New York I'm from Canada it is North America but I'm not from New York so there's this unique place in Canada but I speak a little funny a little different so it's because the Jamaican comes out and here comes the accent and so forth so you know it was something that really helped me even identify internationally as a Canadian because I mastered the accent a little, you know, because it was me than the easier than the American artists. This is a good segue to something DJ Ron Nelson said to me about you. And I want to talk about the rap battles. So let me now this is a couple of

minutes long, but it's worth it. Let's just listen to, wait, did I load it in? Was I smart enough to load it in? Give me a moment here. There it is. Of course I got it. Here's Ron. It was an awesome experience.

Like one of the most thrilling moments in the history of everything I've done is watching those battle moments where Canada goes up against America and we're kicking their asses, or they're kicking our asses. But anyone who was at that battle will tell you that out of all of their life memories, those probably rank amongst the top five in everything they saw, including modern performance of artists that are dominant today.

There's nothing else like it. My oldest daughter is named Michelle, and since the moment she was born, I've been calling her Mishy Mee. Tell me a little bit about Mishy Mee. Mishy Mee's... Let me see. In a time when there weren't a lot of

good MCs, there weren't a lot of trying MCs, Mishy a lot of trying MCs, Mishy Mee was there. And the fact that she was female made it even sweeter. The fact that she was beautiful, and she still is, made it even sweeter. And there was a lot of people at that time who stood behind her because she could rap a little bit. She wasn't even a great rapper in the beginning, but it was guys who are around her now who kind of say, look, you're more talented than you know.

Keep this stuff up. So Sunshine Sound Crew, I believe, was already kind of promoting her on the streets and stuff. The only reason that I got to meet a lot of these people, the only reason why I became significant in this whole game was because I got the radio show. got to meet a lot of these people the only reason why i became significant in this whole game was because i got the radio show if not i'd just be you know one of those guys out there right so all these artists came to me i didn't know mishi before that i'd heard about her but when she came to me

it was like right away i took a liking to her i took a liking to her rapping i took a liking to the fact that she had this competitive edge to her, which she still has today. You know, she looks just one look at her. She's like, yo, that girl wants a battle kind of thing. And she had that Jamaicanism to her as well. And I'm from Jamaica, so I can relate to artists who want to put in a little patwa in their patter, but most people could not do it properly. People who are trying, and Americans don't have the same control over patwa

that we do up here in Canada. Mishimi had it. She was able to, with ease and comfort, combine a patois kind of performance with her regular English patter. And it sounded unique. And that's what made her unique. And that's why America took to her. Because no one else in America was doing it like Mishy.

And when they saw Mishy, they were like, yo, you know, we like that. We don't understand what she's saying, but we like it. Wow. So there you go. but we like it. Wow. So there you go. That's high praise. Yeah.

We got Rondon, so we got Fizzelf. Wow. I guess, so Fantastic Voyage on CKLN. Our playground where we grew up. Right. So this was it, right, for Toronto hip-hop back in whatever, late 80s. Yes, yes. You're trying to get on the scene.

You're trying to be heard. You're trying to meet American artists coming to Toronto. You're trying to compete. You're trying to be relevant. You're trying to not get caught by your parents. You're trying to be in front of the Eaton Center. You're trying to just, Eaton Center's not too far from CKLN. Find out where it is and get there.

You're trying to give your flyers out. You're trying to be known. You're trying to give your flyers out you're trying to be known you're trying to you know pump your high school you're just it was just everything that was so cool about music um yeah and everyone believed in me and that really let me believe in myself even more yeah it was just it was a different time you mentioned high school so i just got to say hello to my good friend uh bally boudram who just got to say hello to my good friend, the Bally Boodram, who wanted me to say hi to you. Do you remember this name?

Basketball. Yes. Bally. Knows Mary and Gru. Yes. Bally is claimed to fame as he went to school of Michigan and he tells everybody who will listen. Yeah.

And the gym, we all lived in the gym. If you weren't in the gym or in the cafeteria, you can play sports on this. You had the grade. So we kind of worked together in the senior boys team would always help the girls basketball team so yeah we were just always together i was an athlete so a lot of the brothers that i knew when we were little there were athletes too around the gym

or the cafeteria cool valley was one now okay now tell me about these battles so like uh so joel goldberg's tell me about the battles and DJ Ron Nelson spoke about these battles. So tell me a little bit about you kicking some US ass at these battles. I need to know what's going on here. MC Sugar Love came with Cutmaster DC and we were one of the only categories that won that night. There was Battle of the Female MC, Battle of the DJ, Battle of the... There was so much competition. I can't even go through all the categories because I'd have to go back to the the flyer but uh yeah she came from new york and we didn't know anything

about each other we had to kind of research each other blindly and it was still weird because not everyone in toronto knew who i was i was popular at my high school but not necessarily in the other regions uh york region knew me east jerk didn't know me there was still downtown toronto who may have heard of me. As I'd meet a lot of the concert hall friends at a church, we'd all go to church together, and that was how we'd meet downtown. So this really interesting spot that we'd meet to celebrate music was at this battle.

And people came from Buffalo. People came from everywhere. It was a mixed crowd. It wasn't just all hip-hop, black kids in there. It was like, yo, a mixed crowd, Canadians. You would see Toronto, little white kids in there, white kids just everyone i say that right um just everyone it was a melting pot and it's what we see now we celebrate now but it was there at the beginning also so it was where everyone felt safe to come and hear hip-hop and here was this battle and

these two chicks um going at it that didn't know each other and we were just it was WWF and Lori Brown was on Much Music and City TV and cameras were there shows were being built it was just we were at the concert hall and this was hip-hop so it was very scary we had three raps the audience was very paid so much attention and the thing that won was when I said hey gal you might be a Yankee hey gal I'm a Jamaican and because it was such a Jamaican rapport here, it was easiest. It was if the audience came with me and yeah, the corner, we won, we won. And we kept going. We pushed, we shoved the Jamaican and the West Indian down her throat. And it was just like, you can't compete. And she had, you could tell we were trying to dress up and dressing up at that time was material so she came out in a fur coat I had on leather and a Rastafarian belt and I was showing my culture

we were printed out and who we were right then and there you could see what we were going to represent and you could see I was coming out with some Jamaican and she was that pimp New York for soul music we had our identities out there but yet we were rapping and we were going to tear each other apart. And I won. And that was mainly because of the crowd in Toronto that was supporting me. Prior to the Ron Nelson shows, they would have call-ins and say, have you heard of Mishimi? You know, compared the two categories. And, you know, Big Up Rumble and Strong Rumble was there also.

Where's Rumble at these days? He's working. So he's around town. I haven't crossed paths with him in years. I've been trying to find Rumble. We're going to find him. We have access. So since you said that to me, I'm going to find him

because a lot of people ask for him, and he has to know that. I'm just Googling and looking in social media stuff, and I'm asking around. I'm asking DJ Ron Nelson. Maestro is here for episode 416. If you could find this guy,'d appreciate it i will it's part of my mission too because a lot of people ask me about him and he was one of the main people that was working at that time that actually had vinyl out had a record you know his family was out with him he was he had

brothers in the business he had you know his father was out there he was he was a main asset to the entire scene at that time so um yeah it should be noted and had, you know, his father was out there. He was a main asset to the entire scene at that time. So, yeah, it should be noted and he should, you know, sometimes he doesn't know how missing he is too, maybe.

So we're going to get him out here. I'm on a hunt too. So Rumble, come out wherever you are. Okay, good. Fine, Rumble. Because, you know, my generation,

we were kind of raised on much music. Like this was a big deal, much music. And that, Safe, for example, okay? Me too. When Safe would come on much music, like it was like, what is this? This doesn't sound like anything music. And that, Safe, for example, okay? Me too. When Safe would come on much music,

it was like, what? This doesn't sound like anything else. And it's this, I think it's, there was no template before, so.

It's because American rap has a great, it's great, and it has this certain sound, but then the Toronto rap has that injection of like, well, patois,

like there's a, A roots dialogue in our accents. Right. Because everyone spoke differently. Jungle didn't speak like Regent Park. Regent Park didn't speak like Finch. Everyone even had a different accent in terms of areas.

And if you listen closely to old school hip hop, you will hear certain twongs that they would say that was different. And the thing that brought all those accents together that were all diverse from Canada was the Jamaican. It was a West Indian. So you'd even hear different areas with, you know, Scarborough would have their Tuong and you hear it now. And, you know, it was the same thing that was in old school hip. And what brought us all together was the Jamaican and the Caribbean accent because that was international. Right. And did you first started using that in your raps i guess during these battles right is this where you're going to introduce it correct it was me i just spoke bad

when i got angry i got jamaican real quick and for some reason when i was writing it because i grew up in a reggae background uh jamaica funk canadian style first album was half reggae and half hip-hop uh my father was very immersed in the reggae scene but i couldn't write reggae so reggae was just a whole different beast. And going traveling to New York and family in New York, hip hop was very new. So where we would go, it would be hip hop. But here I am from a reggae background. Right.

And being like dancehall stuff like Carla Marshall. And I grew up in more reggae and dancehall was breaking out from reggae. So that was the rebellious part of the reggae. So it was where Carla Marshall was very dominant in the dancehall female scene and it was just she was that live performer that anywhere you went you just wanted to you know I mean just bigger up and just be a part of that energy and at that time we were consuming it and I was hanging out in the dance hall scene but yet known in the hip-hop scene so it was very easy to live in both when you're in Toronto and it was you know the dance hall scene would big up the women.

And at that time, after hip hop started, you know, downplaying the women and calling them names. So I found it easier to live in a dance hall, reggae environment, but yet write hip hop, defending women and trying to stand my ground in what that was. So yeah, it's, you know, Canada keeps you very grounded. What was it like to be a part of the beat factory?

Can you maybe speak to like Ivan Barry and maybe how this influences your career? The beginning. It was like after Sunday. It was the beginning of business. It was like, that's when it would turn to from music business to business music. Well, that sucks,

but I guess there's no way around that, right? No, no, no. Especially not back then. It was growing pains. We all didn't know anything. And here we are just all coming together. As I said, the grassroots was downtown Toronto. He's from Ajax.

And here we are coming from the West End. And how are we going to all put it together? We all wanted more. It was bigger than us. It wasn't even about us. It was about hip-hop. And we had to put a team together and Ivan Barry was that man that was confident enough to take on all this talent and fight this fight within the record companies and let them know that we were all here and we wanted to you know so in that way he was definitely

protecting us and letting us you know enter into the business world of it because hip-hop was growing, and it was going to grow with or without us. So he was the first one to stand on the front lines in terms of business to kind of get us out there and fight that war so we can see what it was worth. Now, I mean, you've mentioned Jamaican funk a few times, but this is the 90s.

I'm still in the 80s here. Yeah, we're in the 90s. Let'm still in the 80s here. Yeah, we're in the 80s. Let's work our way in here. So hold on. So let's play a jam from you in the 80s here. Let's go with this one. Let's go with this one. to introduce Canada's greatest, musically inclined, intellectual representative for the rap industry on a whole. A major breakthrough for female MCs everywhere. Her name, Mishi Mee. This is BBP reporting live from Canada.

Well you can see in here, I'm not new to this gamer rap. But I will kick it on the beat the same perhaps. I possess what all the MCs lack, the elements of style. As a matter of fact, that's right, I possess, you battle me, I get stronger Even exorcism, mission me, can be conquered If I make a record, it is already sold Any record mission me makes will surely go gold That's when you start at the top, got a lot to learn You should start at the bottom and gradually earn

So I go up slow so I know I'm a little lasso Cause what goes up fast comes down even faster So listen to the rhythm, the rhythm will soothe them Elements of style. I meant to too. Now, so let's step back here because KRS-One is there. So tell us about KRS1 and scott larock of boogie down productions and like how do they enter your world here going to new york and um just heading you know to latin quarters to find out what hip-hop was about um i met them there i

knew it didn't trail back to the bronx i knew Scott was working at the center. I knew they were BDP, and I had introduced them to coming to Canada and letting them be a part of that battle. And that kind of, you know, before that they had, they just wanted to know what hip-hop was like in Canada. And this was one of the last records that Scott LaRock produced before he was killed. And we went to Hamilton. We just wanted to do, there was no engineers here

that could understand the drum play and all, you know, how we were breaking it down and letting them lead on how to lay the drum tracks for hip hop. So we had to go to Hamilton. We had an engineer that would just let us have the boards because we had our own engineer, but they had no idea that someone could hip hop engineer. So he got lit lit so he was there

but he wasn't there so we took over the studio and kind of just recorded and it was it was it was nice and then he just let us have our way and helped us eq the sounds and just build the sound but we were using old records and yeah and Kara West was and I was in the studio and we just wrote that together he helped he made sure that I didn't um when I say together he let me write he let me lead and it was my first time that I see that I could work with an international artist because if you listen I wasn't speaking about being a Canadian artist we were representing happened to be in Canada representing the world but we were recording in Hamilton so when we were writing it we weren't trying to battle anyone from America.

It was America and Canada together in Hamilton. Just having a place, making a place for me as a female artist in the hip hop scene. Because they wouldn't let the women lead. It was hard for Shantae to lead. It was Salt-N-Pepa was leading, but it was hard for them to lead. We're all on Atlantic Records. It was myself and Vogue, MC Lyte. There was, you know, how do the women lead in this thing?

So I found my own little pocket in Hamilton with American producers that were letting me lead from here and taking me out of the clutter in the U.S. And that's how this was my first vinyl. And it was on Tim Westwood's label in the U.K. Were you the first Canadian MC to sign a record deal with uh like a major american label is that a claim you'd make correct well because i think i don't think people know that like i think you got to get a t-shirt that says that all right um yeah and and before that we were signed to the uk so tim westwood went on to do you know everything and it was on the ground radio

and pirate radio and so we were pirating up there and there was a big West Indian community because um yeah I had a lot of family in England because from Jamaica but I didn't know them so it was part of going out there was not only about the music it's just tracking people that you knew in your family so and man music brought everyone together no matter how you how you put it so yeah being first we didn't know because we were so close to it back then but there was no one before me. I was really just searching and had a lot of big brothers. And how did you team up with L.A. Love?

This is because you teamed up with DJ L.A. Love. Later on. Later on. Yeah, we had B.A. Squad, and B.A. Squad used to perform for Ron Nelson. It was myself, K-Force, and Alex. So it was me and Jamaican and two Nova Scotians was my first crew. And L.A. Love was K-Force's DJ and then uh LA Love is also Rupert Gale's brother so when K-Force went on to do other things I ended up with LA Love and Ivan put us together in terms of a record deal and a crew

and a lot of emcees no one really wanted to hear a female artist unless she had either another female artist rapping with her because that was the initial template of like ladies first right mc light had me and my dj with k rock um shantae had uh cold chilling records and brothers behind her so it was easier instead of me just saying here i'm this or something this jamaican girl with an accent coming from canada they give me a DJ, and it's Mishimi and L.A. Love. So it was better to present on paper and as a crew because that's what America was, you know, that's what was being set up. Right.

You mentioned MC Light, so let me just play another Mishimi jam here. One stop, Mr. Driver. Where do you want to get off, eh? Beat block trip. Okay. Are you that King Lou? I know you're rich. You never hear something trucker from a long time. Hold it, hold it. You get off, eh? Beat, fuck, trip. Okay. Are you that King Lou? I know your reach. You never hear something like that come from long time.

Hold it, hold it. You're not dizzy. Yeah, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to see you out the front and kick my dog. Sure. With all my six-foot-tights. All crew.

You know submission means I don't love winning or not. So I mud up y'all. Don't feel no way. I call while I'm so rich. Maximum 60. All we need. That's where this rhythm All women, hear us roar

Coming out fresh and fly Than we did before This is MC Lyte on the mic With an appetite to see a fellow female Do it right like this Down to the marrow of the bone Missy me, take the microphone And do a mic check and earn your respect

With a rhyme, Missy me Tell them what it's gonna be Victory, I said one letter word Thank you. There's the shout out I'm waiting for right there. Finally. I'm right on mic. Oh man, so many questions. Okay, firstly, so let's just for a moment, let's acknowledge that this is King Lou from Dream Warriors. Yeah, shout out.

So he was like your hype man? What was he? Yes, he was a hype man. He was an original break dancer from Jade and Finch, so I would always watch them break masters at the York Gate Community Center, and I just wanted them to come on the road because they had so much energy. And Jaden Finch was just doing their own thing and forming their own groups and, you know, just to go on the road.

And then he just, like, formed his group and brought me on the road. So, yeah, it was King Lou, the hype man, one of the best hype mans, too. And also a co-writer. He would write. And you did this one with MC Lyte, as we hear there. That's right. How does that collab come to be? Oh, that's after First Priority

and going to New York and doing the Basement Flavor album and having our two singles put on that compilation and Atlantic Records just celebrating all the hip-hop artists that were coming out at that time. And First Priority had

all of the female MCs. We had female DJ Coco Chanel. We had MC Peaches, myself, and MC Light. So we were one of the labels that were heavy-handed and female artists. So first priority. And then we had two brothers. So it was like a big family affair. And it was easy to go out on the road.

So MC Light, we wanted everyone to come to Canada. Canada was so cool, as you hear. We're talking about Toronto. We wanted everyone to know about the city. Atlantic had a budget. So we used it. And we wanted everyone to know about the city um Atlantic had a budget so we used it and we had to pay it right back we used it and made them come to Canada and we recorded at Wellesley studio shouts out to Walter uh yeah we we did everything that we had to do on Ontario street it was so Toronto it was so Canada and we wanted to celebrate that and we did

and the female emcee and and she had heard about me through BDP and through KRS so we just wanted to record together and when the business was right we did and we wanted to do I wanted to do it in Toronto and we wanted to invite much music to the studio and we filmed the content the same time we um we had the break dancers come we had Mo come to the studio and we made a one-day shoot celebrating everything that we recorded. We filmed. We showed our crew. We had like one day on set because we didn't have time to set up.

We didn't have days on set. We just had to, this is what's happening on that day. Hopefully we can shoot everything and much captured it all. And here, victory is calling ever since. Victory is calling. This is back.

So I'm guessing they probably aired that during Rhapsody. Is this where they... Launching shows. We just guessing they probably aired that during Rhapsody. Is this where they... Launching shows. We just made shows off the shows. Rhapsody was there. And yeah, because Rhapsody was in the US too. And we just wanted to emulate here.

But we wanted to emulate there. But we wanted to speak on what was here. We were selling female artists. We were selling internationally. But yet Toronto on a whole. Man. Amazing. Because there was a scene happening here, right?

I mean, maybe there was no blueprint, but that's what you're there for, right? There was a heavy scene. I was just one of them. And one of them that had the biggest mouth. And I say that in many ways, very boisterous. I would be out there. And I had more confidence when I say that

because the men were there, but we were so intimidated by the American marketplace especially in finances that it was it was easier for a woman to come out from Canada and be just as dominant and in the Jamaican dance hall flex some of the American artists emulated the Jamaican dance hall scene and the badness and how we looked in the big chains as you'd see in Slick Rick and the Wu-Tang so the dancehall scene was already dominant in the look. So here I come with that confidence and lyrics. I just happened to live in Canada,

but I was already in New York and Jamaica. So I came back to Canada and living in New York to kind of just follow through with the scene as my mom and my whole family was here. Now you get Jamaican funk, I i guess is the big uh at least in canada here that's the big like breakthrough right this is this is a this is a big threshold that you kind of a moment for bishy me now and this is uh 92 or 91 by the time everything came out late on this mic you know came out 87 it was 85 as i was signed everything was two years late

because there was no infrastructure so by by the time Jamaica Funk Canadian Style came out in 91, it was already recorded and ready to go, 87. So everything was like two years behind in terms of releases. So you hear people, oh, my album released first. And so the reason we did it

because the infrastructure was set up that way. They wouldn't release En Vogue, MC Lyte, Audio 2, and it's Canadian Jamaican artist free. So we took it back home. The original Jamaica Funk was done by Kinga Chill on the first priority. And then we did Jamaica Funk Canadian style

because we, once again, we're celebrating it Canadian style. All right, let's hear a little of that Canadian style. Down in Jamaica they got Down in Jamaica they got Down in Jamaica they got, down in Jamaica they got, down in Jamaica they got, down in Jamaica they got, down in Jamaica they got, lots of pretty women, spend all your money and they break your heart. I'm the Jamaican, taking charge and living large A big time woman for much, I just barge in your area Breaking the barrier, making it merrier You cheer me when you hear me and boost your stereo

Up when I erupt, I start smoking the mic It's hype and live cause I'm awoken It's a shame there's not a day rough like this When Miss She's on this mic, it's enough niceness Those who dismiss and pretend Told me how I'm a back back and then approach me as a friend. In the end, you're off the moan. It only has to be either you're jealous or your man's running after me.

You see me walk and talk, you make faces, simply because I'm going places. Females are stale cause they look ain't appealing. When I rap, brothers collapse, commit to stealing. I gave him a wink because he was a hump more than sex appeal in jamaican farm oh yeah takes me back i love it uh tell me just tell me everything you can about uh about this moment in your career wow it was a time that i got to say i'm jamaican it was an in the live

shows i would say i'm canadian so it would be you know it was a moment of expression where i could be myself on an international platform yet um i had this heavy canadian accent uh going over there in america speaking to them about this jamaican girl in canada so it was it was a way of showing that how exotic we were in can Canada and how diverse we were. They didn't just speak about me being Jamaican. It opened up doors to speak about other cultures that were in Toronto that were coming out of music. Yeah, so it was a good time because I could say it up front

and I had permission to announce that I was Jamaican. And it was a great moment. Still is. Yeah, I should have turned it up. But this song has that break in it, that patois that the Jamaican funk oozes out of it. And then it's like, man, that sounds good. That sounds good on the track.

So this is kind of in 92 or whatever. You get nominated for a Juno Award. Yes. That was nice. That was nice. Who won that won that you know i believe maestro blue dot the water hey you know what who's this maestro guy right backbone slide and jamaica funk's the same breakbeat uh so let's just speed it up so this is just backbone slide slow down and it was first and then backbone slides sped it up and bpms and radio took it and he was safe and i was this roughneck and he won and i was like damn this is the stubble field uh what they call this this

is a amen what's it called amen break or whatever they call it i know right that but it's in the james brown the james brown well it's that moment right we're gonna call it the moment but no i'm telling you every song should be forced to be laid upon that sample. I'm sorry. A lot of people use it again, even on this mic one. Timbaland and Missy ended up using that. Yeah, samples, you know, that was a time for it too. And the easiest way to coming out of the funk era and the disco era

to actually let radio and everybody know that, you know, there's another format of rhyme and poetic justice coming out in different BPMs. So that was it. Okay, but you're from Jamaica. Like, this is the real deal, you know? I got to ask you about, I'm not going to play Informer, which was a massive hit

for a Toronto-born rapper, right? Darren O'Brien. What's his other name? Snow. Snow, just talk to him. Tell me, okay, because I'm going to, let me play you and Snow here real bit and then we're going to talk to him. Tell me, okay, because I'm going to, let me play you and Snow here real bit,

and then we're going to talk about Snow. I'm feeling what I'm feeling when I'm feeling. Baby, I'm lonely. What's this feeling that I'm feeling when I'm feeling? Baby, I'm lonely. What's this feeling that I'm feeling when I'm feeling? Baby, I'm lonely. What's this feeling that I'm feeling when I'm feeling? Baby, I'm lonely. I'm feeling what I'm feeling when I'm feeling. I'm feeling what I'm feeling when I'm feeling. I'll be like your girl Of a love so true

Maybe I'll bring it back when you show up again. Wow, I haven't heard that in forever. Forever. Maybe I'm lonely. This is Snow featuring Mishy Mee. Yeah, that was a long time. I used to song write a lot. I like song writing.

So anytime someone tells me to show up or pitch something, I write. You said you just talked to Darren O'Brien? Yeah. We keep in touch. Where's he living right now? You know what? I didn't ask that. Part of the world. We just hail up each other whenever we get a chance. So it's not even literally talk. It's a text world. So big up Snow. Big up Darren.

Yeah, we just keep in touch. He's a good brother. When he's in Jamaica, he totally sends a crew to find me and we just hang out touch. He's a good brother. When he's in Jamaica, he totally sends a crew to find me and we just hang out and do music and do radio interviews. He carries me around and he's doing his DKL. So shout out to the entire DKL massive. Yeah, he doesn't forget. So I appreciate that.

Is it fair to say that Informer was the first Toronto rap song to become an international smash? With this reggae. That's good. So that's what I need to know. Is it cool that he did that? I need to know. Absolutely.

Can I do that? Absolutely. I think anything that puts reggae out there is, and he very much knows the culture, and he's actually living proof that there was so much immersed in the Toronto scene. That's the whole point. That was the whole point.

We were very diverse from the hip-hop era right into the reggae scene, and he was right there, front lines, and can, you know, do it with the best of them. So he's not appropriating another culture there. He was part of the culture. So it's hard to say. If we're going to go on where you're born and where you're thing and where your grandparent, I mean, we could break it on down, but he was very much a part of the scene and the culture so I don't know

I guess I'm biased well I'm glad to hear this though because I would like I don't know sometimes I get worried nowadays we're in a very peaceful world now

I get a little nervous am I allowed to rap along with this song and mimic the rappers I like like obviously I'm not going to drop the n-word or anything

I'm not going to do that it's so sensitive now but if I just skip that one word is it okay because I'm as white as they get like I'm not going to drop the N-word or anything. Yeah, it's so sensitive now. But if I just skip that one word, is it okay? Yeah, can you sing it? Because I'm as white as they get. Like, I'm saying, okay. You know what?

It should be. It wasn't an issue before. I mean, I'm the first to tell the kids, you know, you can put down the N-word, but I have raps where I've said it as a child. I'm a total different person, but I'm still that same person too. So people mature. Well, yeah, you're allowed to evolve. I was going to say, you can't be held.

We wish Tupac and Biggie was here right now so they could see somebody grow up you know what i mean we didn't get to see those young men grow up so it's it's a whole different yeah oh my i haven't heard this in a while but yeah if you come back do you come on you can send it to me right because this one i don't have any time yeah so no real real talk it was i don't know we could keep going i'm listening to the song now you can't say real talk and say I don't have. Anytime. Yeah. No, Real Talk, it was, I don't know. We could keep going. I'm listening to the song now. You can't say Real Talk and say, I don't know. That doesn't work that way.

Okay, right. Once you say Real Talk, you're going to deliver some Real Talk. Everybody likes music. Music, it should be transparent, but it's not. It's just a matter of, you know, it is what it is. It is what you hear. It is what you feel. It is what you make it.

So it just depends on it. I mean, because everyone, we've got so many platforms and topics and opinions of it. Some are in music business. Some are of music business. So it's hard. Some are in the music industry, I should say. And some are in music business. So there's just so much things and so much waste to make money off the music now.

So an opinion counts. An opinion doesn't count. It's hard to say. But I think artists should stay artists. There's a place for all of us, whether it's on radio, not on radio, on our website, on our page. But, you know, stay true to yourself.

But there is realms and boundaries when you want to get on radio, when you want to be that big artist that you have to be aware of. And you're speaking to young children on those platforms. So you can't just be reckless. And I think Canadian artists

are more aware of that than American artists. And that's just my opinion. But we're in different climates. So that's, you got to understand that we're not in america and they're not in canada real talk real talk anytime you're inspired to deliver some real talk that microphone's ready for you there i respect toronto might now i'm looking at uh my Enemy T-shirt, okay? Man, I'll never forget. DJ Ron Nelson told me this story, and I keep repeating it every chance I get because he tells me this story.

He brought Public Enemy to the concert hall or something back in the day because he was one of the first guys in Toronto to bring American hip-hop acts to Toronto, as you know. And he was telling me about the day that this guy came up to him and said, are you DJ Ron Nelson? He's like, yeah.

He thought he was in trouble or something, but he said no. He had a check for him or money, cash or something. And Ron says, what's this for? And he goes, t-shirt sales. They sold a ton of t-shirts. And there was this moment he described to me where he realized

white guys buy t-shirts where the black community didn't buy t-shirts in the same volume or whatever. Probably still true. So he said it was a moment where suddenly he realized hip hop wasn't just for black people. Hip hop was for everybody.

And from the beginning, we had discovered this great musical form and we were there. We were there to buy t-shirts. Yeah, well, yeah. Everybody had their place. When you say that though, I'm saying that real funny, but it's not that funny. In Canada, we had a whole big scene. there we were there by t-shirts yeah well yeah you had everybody had their place everybody what do you say that though i'm saying that real funny but it's not that funny in canada we had a whole

big scene i mean everybody grew up and came into the scene at a different time so it's all such a sensitive topic i mean you have people injecting themselves in the history of hip-hop now with all over the place everyone's rewriting history everybody was there everybody was you know was first so there's you know the ways to look at. We can break down all the things. It's like breaking down who was in the disco room, who did drugs, who didn't, who was in when pop music was going on, who was not pop, punk rock, who was there when alternative was creative, this alternative rock category. There's so many ways we can break down who was in the room. A lot of black kids love rock and roll. When I came, I loved a lot of rock and roll that's what led me to ragged f so and all our school dances had rock and roll um so yeah and i was on the side of the

school with my white friends and we played floor hockey and listened to rock and roll um and i had when the buttons came out you had michael jackson or prince or kiss you had buttons those button seasons we had everything you didn't, black kids didn't just have, you know, Prince and Michael Jackson. We had rock and roll artists that we love, buttons. So this was Canada. This was Canada. So everybody had a right to be everywhere

and we were everywhere. So I didn't see it any different until everybody started breaking it on down. Ragged Death. Okay, good. I can talk about Ragged Death now. But first, because I mentioned Public Enemy, I just want to say I was at their last show at the um now it's the the dogs the sound academy

is what it was called back then and uh you and maestro got pulled on stage yeah can you tell me uh like what kind of relationship do you have with like my favorite mc of all time chuck d put no mentor above him so everybody knows so maestro called me today said chuck's coming to town you got tickets of course i do so uh he put our name on the list and off we went and it was easy as one two three and we were up in the vip and flavor i had the opportunity of touring with public enemy right after finishing drop the beat we went right off of the season and went right on tour the next day i don't even think i sat down and they're very i had signed to atomic pop which was the off when digital was going everybody was going offline and if things were online so i had signed to atomic pop which was distributed to kotch um and which is now e1 so even that it was the first time i was doing an independent release as a as a label owner and being in a label and i

had to look for distribution and Chuck D was an asset to that and signed me to Atomic Pop so he's just always been in my career he did that intro at the beginning of First Cut is the Deepest was my first independent release on Atomic Pop Yvonne Koch and it's going to be on all your platforms in a hot minute with this new record and I'm going to re-release it and yeah he did the intro on it so he's always been there he's always been very supportive on on the new stuff that he's doing too he's always involved me whether it's rap station she movement so i don't know that's my my linky in the u.s well did you see my tweet about uh prophets of rage okay yes all those

similarities you just cannot be denied i went so I was doing listening to a bunch of ragged death okay and then I ended up and I love Public Enemy forever like the first time I heard

I think I heard Black Steel and the Hour of Chaos I think it was on on Much Music I saw Black Steel and the Hour of Chaos and I'm like

what is this and Nation of Millions and then so on so love Public Enemy but your voice would fit perfect in that Prophets of Rage model I we say that

there's some there's some i've been working with some uh rock talent in uh in new york uh so hopefully you'll hear that and some really cool stuff coming out uh via the chuck d uh so you never know you never know there's i mean and i'm still recording i have a you know on this record i have rock rap and reggae coming out on this new mixtape record. And I'm following through with a lot of songwriting and new music. So it's out there. You can't deny it.

I'm working with Darius again, who engineered a lot of our stuff. I'm looking to talk to Walter again and see what he's got in his, you know, his little tools there. So, I mean, the vibe is right now, the audiences across the world are ready for that whole you know that scene they get it now so it's easier to book and radio you know

stations can't say they can't play it no more and if they can't play it they can't say you can't see it because it's live music and it's everywhere now so yeah now is the time for that to be put on its feet well i'm about to play some Ragged Deaths and pepper you with more questions. But first, who's the truck that you drove here in? Is that E's? Yes. Okay.

So I'm like, oh, this is happening. At first, I thought it was one of those like Ford Raptors. You ever see these? I'm like,

that's one of his toys. I asked because should E ever require any servicing of his automobile, any work done at all. This, listen up, this is amazing. This is a new online service called Buckle, B-U-K-L dot C-O.

So you go to B-U-K-L dot C-O. You enter your car, the service it needs. You got to know the make, model, what you need done. You get instant quotes from shops in your area. Then you can book the appointment online. And then you just got to bring your car in to get it serviced. And you just drive away. Like you're automatically charged for it all. It's all seamless through buckle.co. So do yourself a favor and give it a shot. B-U-K-L dot C-O. And while we're talking about apps, there's one more app

I want to mention. PayTMm this is an app i use to manage all of my bills i pay all my bills with paytm because not only is it easy and i can pay all my bills on my mastercard which gets me president's choice points so i can get free groceries because that's what i'm about man that's what i'm about that's how cool i am that's how i roll but uh you also get points like rewards uh from paytm for paying your bills and then you can redeem those rewards within the app it's all you know no surcharges or extra charges it's all free it's just super convenient they give you alerts when you got to pay your bill you can do it quickly if your mobile

device so go to paytm.ca and give Paytm a shot I promise ragged death. Let's do this. Which one? Which one? How about this one? Love the life you live and live the life you love. After life, there's death. Ragged death. Take your time, no honor, got anywhere you're going, you know the goodness must follow. One life, deliver it, I don't think I'm gonna need it. You're bossy, I like you, I'm just trying to survive. Take your time, no honor, got anywhere you're going, you know the goodness must follow.

Here's a story of your life without climaxes while I have this, but I keep this straight and focused. Cause I know this never lacked as you were born. But clinging on to people and the stigmas in the eye of nothing, holding on to something in admittance. I know. Okay, Mishimi, I think my favorite might be when you take the hard rock and you take the hip-hop and you smash it up, you know. That's... Just my favorite. I really love when I do Ragged Death. Ragged Death is, it just brings out a whole other light

and I get to cross over tracks. To me, it's O Canada. It's like I get to be, you know, the rapper, I haven't changed anything I've done over the hip-hop music in terms of toasting and doing you know the lyrical chanting but it's just ragged death is just a whole other energy that i get to be absolutely different yeah yeah now one life uh that's i mean that was a big much music uh hit this was a big big jam here. But you mentioned Walter. Can you maybe tell me a little bit about who else is in Ragged Death?

And how does this combo come to be? It's awesome. You've got to remember, Paul, Steven, everybody. They started it. They were doing the project. They needed artists. All the men auditioned. I'd put it that way.

A lot of people came through, and they just wanted someone that could adapt and what I brought to it was again the reggae is there something when you get me into the studio Steve was from the UK so that element was always there and it was already written and here I was and I came in and it was easy to write it was a it was a no-brainer to put us together and the tracks came and the labels wanted to work with my single specifically specifically and it was a fun journey it still is and then it was something that I couldn't let go so I went on to do the day after I went on to keep doing it I would perform Ragged at any time I got a chance and it was an obvious energy that was you know relevant to the world because even

if it wasn't what I said it was how I said it and it was easy to energy that was relevant to the world. Because if it wasn't what I said, it was how I said it. And it was easy to freestyle from that. So yeah, Ragged Death is very old Canada. They love it across the way. And it was a way for me to get across Canada when hip-hop routes weren't really there. So I got to see Canada in another light across on a rock tour and see how they treat rock bands. And it was amazing. An amazing experience.

So I will never forget that. And in touring in the UK, we went to Europe quick. We were at hip hop everywhere. We went to Sweden, Berlin, everywhere. We were considered Spinal Tap because it was like 13 of us. The label sat over there. We were just crazy. And the people that were carrying us around

were saying we're crazy like Spinal Tap. So we had a lot of good response. We toured with Limp Bizkit was there. They were launching, so they would open up for us at shows. Oh, yeah, with the $3 bill, y'all. And Fred Durst was there. The Faith cover, right? Listen, we would be in town, and Tragically Hip was there,

and I'd run and go on the tour bus and sit on the tour bus. I got to meet Tragically Hip. Amazing. Yeah, in Europe on tour. So I couldn't speak, couldn't talk. So a lot of my experiences representing Canada was even in Europe. And there was more hip-hop clubs there than there was here.

So we got to, there was like every night in Sweden from Monday to Friday, there was hip-hop club. So it was a lot more outlets to perform. Shawnee Canuck on Twitter says, To this day, I have said on many occasions without Mishy, me, and Ragged Death, I question the likes of Glue Leg, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Korn,

Rage Against the Machine, etc. Essentially, what became known as rap metal gets unearthed in the music scene industry. So, some props from Shawnee Canuck. Big up Shawnee Canuck. You know what time it is. And was and still is, so stay tuned. And I'm going to, because I've got to play one more Ragged Death Jam here.

Okay. Uh. Yeah. Uh. Here we go. Another level Man, I love that. Me too. Works every time live. Love it. Where's the mosh pit, man?

I know. Although my ceiling's a little low i was i was there too i was there too this is a song that always does it yes it yes i love it and i almost don't even like talking over it but uh all right i'm gonna ask you now you tell me if you don't want to talk about this okay is that okay. Okay. So Snow, I want to go back to Snow for a minute. Okay. So Snow, he's

literally like, I believe when Informer breaks, he's in jail or something. There's some legend. I never knew if it was an urban legend or not. Snow was in jail when

this thing breaks or something. Not sure of the time when it breaks, but he was in there around that time. I don't know. But you know how

these legends, these stories get written because it's all good for Snow or whatever. I'm just curious if you're comfortable talking about your own personal legal problems. If you're not, we can just move right on. It's all up to Mishimi. Yeah, we can move along, but it's not, you know what I mean?

I'm like any other artist in any other job, not any, in every. I had my issue with the law in 91, and I paid my time, and I can cross the border, and I have pardons and all that good stuff. I guess I'm wondering how it would derail your career. Like, no judgments at all, man. Like you said earlier about evolving and maturing. So, okay, so yeah, so it fs up your... It hindered traveling.

I would tell everyone here, if you're in music, stick to music. The business wasn't set up here in terms of surviving. So it was just like, oh my gosh, I'm caught in the world that I'm not really in. And here I am, I get in trouble in the law, and I had to go and do a year, and it had to do with importing. I was going to say, did you want to talk about... So you just learned basically that...

Stay out of trouble. Stay out of trouble. Yeah, I was living by the road code. I was in the scene, immersed in it, doing it for Canada, being in places where I was just representing everybody

and it just led to some, you can't trust everybody and it is what it is. The time has been served. It's years ago. You can't travel for like seven years. I had to apply for a waiver. I had to do everything.

I had to learn how to do it through an attorney, do it online. I think I can give classes and get pardoned and do fingerprints everywhere. And every time you go to the border, you have to do a little print card. And while the process, it's not worth it. It is a journey. And now I have, you know, last dispositions that they're not even there the case is so old there's no trace of it unless we bring it up so I mean it happens it happens and you do come back from it I mean you have to continue living as a songwriter I continue to

write I continue to reflect on life and now I have lots to talk about I mean if i was in the u.s i probably have a reality show right when i came out it's a different marketplace here so yeah it is what it is and it's done and now we back and have that new record in mishimi.com and all these really cool things that you're gonna hear about me in the future okay well let's talk let's yeah let's talk about what's going on with you now uh like okay but but as a segue into what's going on now, I just want to ask you about Flow 93.5 real quick. Because when it shows up here, it's Flow 93.5, and I guess it's supposed to serve the Toronto community.

I know. Hey, I fought for it. we're on the board i was representing the artists and you know fighting for milestone to actually have that label i believe they played bob marley one love and don't want to be your slave was the second song ever played on flow so it was a time where we wanted to have a voice i reflected on this on rip me off saying you know 400 000 black folks and still no radio station we We had, we felt there was no, you know, and there's still only, you know, college radio and shows and segments, but that's everywhere in the atmosphere. And Toronto is just one of them to build for. So flow 93.5, you can't please everybody, but you sure are trying. So we got to keep, you know,

go a little harder and get some talent that knows the scene and the sound and they're there already, but there's more and kind of just share the love there's lots of generations everything is not new everything's not old we're kind of in a middle ground where we can reflect on all music and all genres and so forth but yeah there's a lot of urban music to celebrate on on flow if that's what you're referring yeah well i mean it's just they they've kind of switched up a bit they switched up a lot from what i fought for this is what i'm getting at like is this is this what you fought for the current iteration of 93 i don't even know if you hear me on it so it's it's an odd place to be but you know what it comes with the territory it's not the first burn so you know i mean what could i say but i hope they play the new stuff and some

of the old stuff and it wasn't what we fought for we really fought for everybody to be heard um content uh to be more pigeonholed into what we to reflect the community and the toronto scene and it wasn't i mean and then you know it was sold so what could you do the business it's beyond my region with the powers that i did what i could and you know that's how it worked it has a man like it has a mandate from the crtc right it does but it you know how are we drake and the weekend sort of satisfies it is that what i'm uh exactly you know what i mean the commercial artists that already have the marketing money

to be you can't just follow suit on whoever has marketing there's a lot of independent artists that we don't have marketing uh half of them are living if they even get a grant off the grant and even with the grant you still can't survive here you don't get royalties you get grants so how are we going to even be able to push our own music here uh much less to compete with what is already there and you're just playing them because you're canadian that has already gotten marketing from someone powerful in the u.s so it's you know things have changed and it's just to be here and be a part of it from the beginning to now and seeing how the business came in and kind of filtered out what was happening here in the scene but kind of left out us and, you know, a whole generation of like artists that have something to say and reflect our scene here.

So I don't know, it's very one-sided and it is what it, I mean, you know about it and you're asking me about it and it's, you're not alone and the ones that want to know more about it can't do anything about it because even back in the day and i know the internet is showing up and it's it's a game changer and i get it all of course i'm a digital guy myself but uh you know back in the day even like you had a show like you like fantastic voyage on ckl, but there's not even, like, there's no CKLN anymore. Like, really. There's nowhere to go to. Like, you know that run to?

I follow the New Jedi and see where they're going to. I know what looks like hype, like, implies they're going there. But if you ask them, it's, like, literally ask them. There's no one, like, we knew to go to Ron. You know what I mean? We knew after you finish a run, go down to CIUT and see what's there. You know what i mean we know if you're after you finish it run go down a ciut and see what's there you know what i mean go and see what's going because you know where to go now there's really you kind of make it up you have to search you have to i even now if i'm gonna

put out something i would really have to research and see who is who is the it right i can guess that you know a good five but then after that i'm gonna i'm gonna really look because there's so many i don't know it's so because it's so fragmented like yes like that's the thing right so it's like where where do you go like uh and and hopefully doing things like this for example you know because that's why uh yes now okay well actually i want to hear about new music and i also want to hear about uh what you're doing with bedini so dave bedini from the real statics has this uh he's got this west end phoenix uh tell me what you're doing there dave you're this awesome person out there thank you to the

and the entire west end phoenix team i'm a writer i write for that beautiful comic on the on the back of west end phoenix or inside there for the entire so i'm the writer on on the back of West End Phoenix, her inside there, for the entire, so I'm the writer on the comic strip, and that's a great opportunity where I get to see stories that I've written turn into a comic strip. And Simone is the artist, and just to have her, and I got to tell my story to an audience

that might not have heard my story and see it animated. So Dave is just a lifesaver. It's actually letting artists write. So it's very artist affiliated. So artists are writing about artists. And I got to review Anne Murray. Like who gets to do that? Yeah, so it's just, yeah, right? For me, it was like

she's a hell of a golfer, you know? Apparently, speaking of athletes, she's a kid. Anne Murray, I chanful. When I see her in the CBC building, I just, you know, a long time ago, I just stood still. She probably was like, why is this rapper always talking about me? But yeah, she was that songbird

that when you come, I came to Canada, that was being played in the household everywhere. And I just love Anne Murray. She's, yeah, so. It's not the love. Yes. So getting to write back to West End Phoenix

when I got to write about her, it was getting to reflect that and coming from the first stop when I got to write about her, it was getting to reflect that and coming from the first stop when I got to talk about myself. So Dave, you're just awesome and the entire West End Phoenix crew. Melanie, I just love you guys. And thank you for the opportunity.

Yeah, I get to write, show my writer's side. I write not only music, I write books. Stay tuned. Stay tuned for sure. I'm tuned in. Mishimi, I couldn't be more tuned in here. What am I going to do? By the way, this sweater, Northside Hip Hop. side hip yes you know what shout out to the archive north side

archives that are archiving you know hip-hop and doing the best that they can in terms of documenting um some of our history here in canada and yeah i have some music for you too i have this brand new uh single coming that has been launched and we're gonna come out with a video real soon and it's called made it and it features missanya P., who's an amazing reggae artist here with a vocal chord range of, you know, so I let her sing and her amazing vocals and do her thing on Made It. And that you can check on all your platforms. And I got you a little pre-release sneak EP.

The new record is coming out, Bad Gal's Revenge slash mixtape, and another album after that. We all have music. I think everyone's getting in where they fit in. coming out, Bad Gal's Revenge slash mixtape, and another album after that. We all have music. I think everyone's getting in where they fit in. So yeah, look out for Mishy Me's new single, and another single, and a whole bunch of singles coming out. Shout out to Century. Shout out to Shy. Shout out to Esco. Shout out to everybody doing it in hip-hop in Canada. It's not an easy thing, but we're out here. And yes, i have new music coming out and stay tuned to mishime.com mishibadgalme on all your social media and toronto miked he will keep you in tune and let

you know what i'm doing you do your own tweets right yeah i do do my own tweets yes i do do my tweets he's not doing your tweets for you no no he's not you're hilarious so so i run my teats and run no, no. So just look out for new music. I'm doing what I can. I love working with new artists. I love seeing what's out there. Toronto, you're so talented.

Keep it up. You're so talented. I am looking out for you. I do have a documentary and a movie I'm putting together. What? You're bearing the lead here. Yes, I would love to tell my story from my perspective and putting it together and finding out all these really cool ways of it being told and getting all my casting and people involved.

So it's a really cool process. And yeah, I'm enjoying fulfilling this journey of mine that I set out to do and just don't know how to quit. Well, you got it. I was gonna say that you got this story. And the reason I wanted you on for a long time, actually, is because the story needs to be shared. You know what I mean? This is a great story. Isn't there some like megabucks lying around from Netflix or something?

There's got to be room for a Mishimi documentary. I hope they love it. We are going to pitch. On that note, there's a series I watch on Shad actually hosts it. It's called Evolution. It was so good but where there needs to be a toronto version hip-hop uh episode well you know what yes and shouts out to

mc light she shouted me out in there so shouts out to the you know the first con con in that can't go on that uh hip-hop evolution so yeah man they i mean it it's going to be documented i think in time you know probably gonna have several versions different qualities but you will have content on what's happening here just pay attention to the rewriters i mean some things can't be rewritten some things can't be real relived um it is what it is and there's a lots of story here there's lots of talent here and i think you're gonna there's a whole just generations that have come out and they have a story to tell too that's very similar to their parents because some of their parents didn't get to tell some of their stories so yeah look out and you're you're happy very

recording again too and and when i say recording again too in a bigger way and getting to write for other artists and just exploring uh my talent in that field and writing for west end phoenix is just a lot of words and it's a it's a good place to be and that makes me very happy and how's your uh is your daughter you have a son a son it's one or the other i was uh i should never guess right i have a big boy shouts out to shamar he's 20 so messing up my bio when I'm in the mall. Yeah. I have a big,

big, big, big 28 year old. Yeah. That's amazing too. I'm doing the math in my head. It doesn't seem to compute there, but I, yeah,

he's my bodyguard, my boss, my management, my graphics, everything. Um, yeah, that's my heart right there.

So shouts out to him. And just before you go, uh, if somebody is listening now, let's say, uh, it's like the next wants to be the next Mishy Mee, like somebody,

like for example, my 14-year-old daughter or something. So what advice? Because the industry seems like you have more independence than ever, but it seems harder to get exposure. Like I can't tell what was better, like the olden days or this new way.

Like there's pros and cons to both, I guess. So what do you tell somebody who wants to do what you did back in the mid-late 80s? Nurture your talent. Nurture your talent. Write every day. Produce every day. Do music every day. Because that'll be what saves you.

Save your money. It will save you. At the end of the day, you will need some type of marketing content. Be yourself. But really nurture your talent because when you make it self-contained, it is that much more easy to pitch, to sell. Less hands in it. It's more you.

If you are not the talent, then get behind the talent that you believe in. There's so many ways to do it now. You don't have to be the talent. And that is a really good part. There's lots of niches that you can fulfill and get in. And there's so much, like you said, there's so much information out there. Be resourceful. Get out there and look for what you want. Compare the marketplaces not only with just Toronto and Canada and leave Toronto a little bit and get out across Canada and see and build. We need Canada to build in terms of the scene. So it might take Torontonians moving across Canada. So kind of get out there. We're depending on the younger generation to kind of put it together.

There's a plethora of grants everywhere. Grants are everywhere, guys. Look for them. Do apply for what you can. If you don't get one, just make one up. Is there any podcasting grants? I know, right? Can you imagine?

Wow. Come on. Wow, that's a good one. And you know what, Grant? If you don't get one, do not depend on grants because that's a whole other world. Yeah, you get all into that timeline and so forth. So yes, I just think stick to the plan, nurture your talent. Believe, believe, believe,

believe. As Maestro would say, stick to your vision. Right? It's true. See himself, not change. Mishimi, this was a delight. Thanks so much for doing this. Thanks for having me, Toronto Mike. On Toronto Mike. So Toronto, stay tuned right here.

I'm going to cut out that, I'm going to cut that out and use that as a promo. I'll get even more. I have to shut down the music. You want to do another one if I shut down the music? Right now. Toronto, stay tuned right here with Toronto Mike. And it goes a little something like this. Hit it.

Love it. Thanks so much for doing this. And enjoy your lasagna and your beer. Oh, I will. He looks hungry over there. He's going to get all this vegan. And that. Beer is mine.

Brings us to the end of our 434th show you can follow me on Twitter I'm at Toronto Mike now Mishy by the way I noticed some people aren't sure how to spell Mishy I noticed this

when Brian sent me so I'm going to spell M-I-C-H-I-E is how you spell Mishy but you want to go to can you say this I don't know if I can Mishy Bagel.

Bad Gal. Bad Gal. Bad Gal with a Y. The G's not capitalized. That's what's messing me up. It is. You know what? And because they make me spell it with the less letters on every social Mishy,

Mishy Bad Gal Me everywhere. Some with a Y, some without. And remember, Me has two E's. Correct. Listen, ask me how to follow Mishy Me. I'll help you out. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Propertyinthesix.com is at Raptor's Devotee.

Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair is at Fast Time WJR. And PayTM is at PayTM Canada. See you all next week. Everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't stay today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray.