Sliding into Dufferin: Maestro Fresh Wes talks role models, Black History Month, Canadian hip hop history
Written by Chris Halliday
There was no internet, YouTube, SoundCloud, iTunes or GarageBand. It was Toronto’s underground clubs, MuchMusic and Electric Circus.
Wes Williams, a.k.a. Maestro Fresh Wes, and brothers Anthony and Peter Davis of First Offence had a new sound.
It was “a throw down, a showdown.” They had the ear of the underground clubs, MuchMusic and Electric Circus. It was time to break through.
There were no Black Canadian rap artists being played on mainstream radio. Few, if any, working at major record labels. And there weren’t any Black music departments at record labels like there is today.
Williams was fortunate. While performing on MuchMusic’s “Electric Circus,” he met dance artist Stevie B — their connect to New York-based LMR Records.
That was his shot. That aforementioned sound, “Let Your Backbone Slide,” blew up. Maestro Fresh Wes’s debut album, “Symphony in Effect,” went platinum. The rest is Canadian hip-hop history.
“It was a lot harder (to make it) than it is now. We didn’t have the internet. All we had as a machine was MuchMusic,” Williams says, thinking back to the late 1980s.
“We knew we were onto something big. We knew it wasn’t just a record we were making. We were making history, not only for Toronto but for the country at the time,” he said. “It is an honour to still be a part of it.”
Known to many as the Godfather of Canadian rap, Williams will visit the Museum of Dufferin (MoD) as part of event featuring a panel discussion with guest speakers, a Black History Month exhibit and a presentation on the influence of diversity in music next Sunday afternoon (Feb. 23).
The event will also feature several Black Canadians who are making their own mark on the Dufferin County community.
Scheduled speakers include: Alethia O’Hara-Stephenson, of the Centre Dufferin District High School (CDDHS) youth advisory committee; Shelburne Deputy Mayor Steve Anderson; Upper Grand school board social worker Geer Harvey; Choices Youth Shelter director Althea Casamento; and financial planner Linda Amour Grant.
“Go make history. That’s the main thing,” Williams said when asked what message he would like to see relayed to those in attendance.
“I’m not laying on my laurels of what I did back in 1989. It would be kind of comical if I was,” he added. “For me, every day is history. We’re making history every day. We’re celebrating history every day.”
Dufferin County has grown more diverse in recent years. Growing up in Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities in the world, Williams is inspired by Canadians’ ability to embrace both Canada and their own cultural heritage.
“I don’t care if it is Toronto or Orangeville. One of the beauties living in Toronto, born and raised here, is we embrace the Portuguese community, the Italian, Jewish, the Asian, the South Asian as well as the Caribbean or Africa diaspora as well,” Williams said.
“Experience other cultures but also embrace yours. We’re in a spot, a country, where you can really celebrate your culture,” he said. “We’re Canadian, but we’re still holding on to our roots.”
Williams knows his body of work — whether music, television or literature — has placed him in the position to be a spokesperson and role model for others.
He thinks about those who inspired him. Artists such as Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Nas, Slick Rick and Chuck D of the “legendary” Public Enemy come to mind.
“There are a lot of artists out there that inspire you to be better artists, but how many artists also inspired you to be a better human being?” Williams added. “Chuck D is definitely one of those that has inspired me to become a better human being.”
The MoD kicked off Black History Month with a raising of the Pan-African flag earlier this month. Williams is not sure what format the museum’s event will take on Feb. 23, but he promises one thing: “It is going to be enlightening ..There are so many different topics, so many different angles, so many different stories I can share,” Williams said.
“It is good to reflect every now and then on what you’ve accomplished, what your community has accomplished. This is a good time to do that.”
For more information about the Museum of Dufferin Black History Month panel discussion and exhibit, visitdufferincounty.ca.