April 23 & May 22 I will have the chance to play a show with two artists that I respect tremendously.

As a touring artist there are many perks. As in any workplace we forge different relationships with those around us. As a touring musician our workplace tends to be bigger and carries over different time zones. After several runs, faces become familiar and conversations easier to form. For me the biggest perk is being able to get the chance to grasp the dynamics of this vast country we love and its regional nuances.

Saskatoon or as I and a few others have sometimes fondly dubbed it “Rap-Skatoon” is one of Canada’s wonderful anomalies. Like Hobbema/Maskwacis, Alberta and London, Ontario for some reason, rap took hold in this city of bridges by the beautiful glacier green South Saskatchewan river quicker and more rabid than anywhere else. Hip Hop took hold and became its own regional entity. Not considered a traditional rap city during the 90s era. For a city it’s size (300k), in the middle of nowhere it has consistently attracted hip hop shows of a different ilk and mainstream shows that Winnipeg and Regina could never get and had consistently sold them out. Mostly Winnipeg artists are privy to this information.

The privilege of touring with a hip hop artist that has never been to Saskatoon is extremely exciting and gratifying. I can remember, a number of years ago on tour, myself and Odario explaining the phenomena that is Saskatoon to Shad K, then seeing him pleasantly smile when he finally experienced it. Since the mid 90s crews like The Beatcombers, FTU/TAU & Submerge MCs (amongst others) have held it down. Names like Factor, Sasafrass, Innate, Epic and Joey Stylez have created music and sold out shows in the city of Joni Mitchell. Its artists have toured the world, been featured in blogs, have had thousands of youtube views, worked with rap legends and been written of in the most prestigious of international music publications.

In the late 90s - 2010s, if a Canadian hip hop artist was having a bad or decent show run. Saskatoon would save the day or up the ante. It is the city where west coast underground legends came to play all ages venues. Full rooms of 400-500. The kids climbing rafters as lights would fall to the ground and be destroyed. Fresh Fest, Cosmos Senior Centre, Airliner Hall and Crystal Ballroom are venues that ring true with drool inducing nostalgia. Those are the venues where 2mex, Mystik Journeymen, Awol One, Scarub, Murs and many other West Coast hip hop underground stalwarts left their indelible impressions. It is also the city where over zealous, posturing, platinum selling American artists (G-unit) came in and got their chain took by people that were simply not having it.

A Trini In Canadian Football Country

Fans don’t just show up out of nowhere and habits are not formed over night. To understand this anomaly, one must know its catalyst. The 80s + 90s were an era when Saskatoon and its province of Saskatchewan were economically have nots. An agriculture based economy in a terrible downturn, high unemployment, high crime and systemic racism that was only acknowledged in certain corridors. Sports and music have a way of becoming a refuge and providing hope when times are bad. The late DJ Cool Curt (Curt Williams August 10,1969-November 15, 2010) was a great combination of those two worlds. He was the junior football coach at Marion M Graham Collegiate in the north end of the city. It’s the former high school of Wendel Clark, many a hockey goons and Saskatchewan, NDP leader Cam Broten. It is a place where “your boy” would proudly boast that he punched future NHLer Wade Belak in the face on the weekend. NHLers were the norm. If not hockey, football is king of this city and this province. On weekends at Griffiths Stadium, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” is affectionately sang-a-long to in a sea of Football Huskie green. Families routinely drive 2.5 hrs to Regina to attend a CFL game….In their best Sunday Greens….Saskatchewan is a province where distance on highways is marked by signs of legendary Roughriders yardage. Football is taken seriously here. It is a unifying force that provides solace to many…. But let me digress, DJ Cool Curt was not only a football coach. He was most likely the godfather of the Saskatoon rap scene.

The Marion M Graham Falcons were Senior football city champs of 1988, 1990, 2007-’09 and 2014 and 3x Provincial champs. Mark Chambury, more commonly known as Chaps in Saskatoon circles, was a half back on the ‘95 team that lost to Holy Cross in the city finals. He remembers his former football coach Curt Williams fondly. “He was the best dude.” In addition to being a tremendous football coach, Curt was mentoring a fledgling hip hop scene. Chaps, a DJ and former promoter continues, “He practically lent me his whole record collection for 5 years so i could listen to it all and practice.” In addition to equipment and records, Curt Williams would share cassette recordings of Toronto’s kings of hip hop college radio; The Powermove show and The Master Plan show. Chaps firmly believes that “It all begins with Curt.” From him directly came 3 hip hop crews and a number of DJs. Through the years students would drop by his place, friends and rivals would routinely meet, get some pointers and break bread. Williams was the son of Trinidadian immigrants to Saskatoon. The story is that he DJed in the 80s on community and commercial radio. By the time Chaps met him, Williams was firmly ingrained in the scene. He was a mountain of a man. 6′6 in stature and one hell of a rugby player. His older sister opened up the first West Indian restaurant in the Northern Saskatchewan city. Her son, Curt’s nephew, M.phasis would be one of those kids that routinely dropped by to develop his skills in the hip hop art form and would later contribute to it.

The Beatcombers & CFCR

Circa ‘94-’95, one of the crews that were directly impacted by those meetings were The Beatcombers. Its members promoted shows, created mix tapes, DJed, produced, rapped and did graphic design. The crew consisted of Curt’s nephew; M.phasis, Chaps, Dj Innate, Know skills, DJ Phosphate, The Fall Guy, Epic and Sol (Soso). Through Erin Patrick Carroll aka Epic most of the crew originally met and were tied together. From this group came many show promotions and campus radio shows. One of them being “Trunk Of Funk the Vinyl Frontier/Third Verse” on CFCR. It has been on the air for 21 years. It could possibly be the longest running hip hop radio show in Canada. The show was founded by Know skills in ‘94. DJ Innate and Chaps held it down as co host. Chaps eventually was handed the helm. A young, hip hop hungry, 17 year old Factor came in the fold and got his education in that radio studio, on that radio show. Eventually he would start his own label Sideroad Records and work with some of Western Canada’s finest rap acts while developing his own. He’s been featured in magazines like the Source and continues to work with an array of US West Coast underground hip hop legends.

CFCR at one time would feature hip hop radio shows hosted by Epic, DJ Innate, the before mentioned Chaps and a cat named Paul Kell (Non-Beatcomber). He had his own show “Crack House,” that was dearly loved. He would later become a well respected Cinematographer. Peep one of his docs; “5 Sides of A Coin” http://youtu.be/nozy0qgrK-U. The Beatcombers were all over the radio. Grooming the ears of their audience. Tuning them into obscure and mainstream sounds of hip hop from all over North America. They provided a foundation for what was to become a very knowledgeable audience. Accessibility for local artists was also one of the key ingredients in those radio shows. Campus/Community radio was a big part of the scene and a key to good live show turn outs. But honestly, the promoters worked hard, believed in their product and were some of the most amicable humans you could meet. The community was highly supportive of what was happening. They believed in their artists, who also happened to be some of their close friends.

Soso

Troy Gronsdahl aka Soso fka Sol (aka Solvent Abuser) was responsible for some of the recording, beats and graphic design for The Beatcombers. He was pretty much self taught when it came to recording and graphic design. He started Djing in ‘95. Bought his first turntable with proceeds from his pick up truck that got written off. With Student loan money he bought his first piece of equipment, an AKAI s900. One Saturday afternoon a trip was taken to North Battleford. A “DJ/Producer guy” named Randy(DJ Phosphate) trained him on the Akai and taught him how to use cubase on an old Atari. Soso has applied every lesson to his craft. He has been recording and releasing his own records under the name Soso since ‘97. His Clotheshorse records imprint started in ‘99 after being inspired by the Vancouver via Winnipeg/Brandon seminal hip hop label, Peanuts & Corn. At the beginning, Peanuts & Corn’s mcenroe answered any questions that came up. Raised on an acreage near Saskatoon, Soso’s music is a reflective whisper on family, place and life on the Canadian prairie with his Saskatchewan drawl, speaking-with-you type of style, over his signature stunted drums. His music is honest and sprinkled with dry wit. This enables him to slyly snicker about what happens behind closed doors. Song titles like “Extermination of A Raccoon,” “The Goose Hunter,” and “Your Mom is in The Next Room.” gives you a quick glimpse into his subject matter. Sincerely Candadian. Hip Hop’s regionalism in its full glory.

Saskatchewan through out the majority Soso’s life had been a have not province in Canada. What attracted you to hip hop, i asked him. He replied, “I think i was drawn to rap because of its outlaw, political kinda bend and i love beats for whatever reason.”

In addition to solo Soso music, Clotheshorse released records from Canadian Hip Hop artists: Recyclone, Thesis Sahib, Nomad, Wynrush, Kutdown w/ Soso and classic albums from his old Beatcomber associate Epic. In 2004 Soso started Phonographique with Edmonton based graphic designer/web designer Noyz319 of Ugsmag.com. The business would feature online retail and a physical shop in downtown Saskatoon. They sold predominantly independent hip hop releases from around the world. In 2007 the store closed and by 2010 Troy sold the online business to Ryan Stinson (RDS), a Saskatoon based producer/entrepreneur. Why the entrepreneur bug? He explained that he comes from a family that’s members have at one time or another operated a small business. It was a natural thing to attempt.

Currently, Troy Gronsdahl (Soso) is a student at Emily Carr in Vancouver. He has curated for two galleries and now organizes exhibitions & programs for Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon. A visual artist in his own right. His music attempts to put the whole package together, music & the visual package. His latest LP “Not For Nothing” was produced by long time collaborator & friend Maki.

Soso will be playing Winnipeg on April 23 at The Cavern with Rob Crooks, Nestor Wynrush and Lonnie Ce.

He will also be playing May 22 at Amigos in Saskatoon w/ Rob Crooks, Nestor Wynrush and Chaps

You can hear more about Soso, Chaps and The Saskatoon rap scene in future episodes of #WitchpoliceRadio.

Blog compiled from the story telling and conversations with Chaps & soso. Plus articles taken from the Star Phoenix. Thanks for your time. RIP Curtis Edison Williams. Godfather of Saskatoon rap.