Let's all take a few minutes to appreciate Chali 2na. (And listen to some of his finest guest spots.)

Chali 2na makes his near-annual Victoria appearance this Friday (June 30) and an appearance from the Verbal Herman Munster is always a reason to look back at why and how this giant of hip-hop has remained such an unmissable act wherever he appears. Ask me on any given day for my top 3 Mcs and Chali 2na will be somewhere on that list. Obviously the beginning is Jurassic 5, but it's his never-ending stream of consistently great, inventive solo work and guest appearances that has made him such a mainstay on the headphones and stereos in my life. As much as any MC on the planet, 2na has kept up with modern sounds in the ever-shifting hip-hop landscape, never hollowly imitating them but always taking the pieces that suit his sound and style, making them his own. More impressive than almost anything he's done, is his willingness to embrace EDM, in all of its forms. His ubiquitous presence in electronic music has kept him at the forefront of the genre and his status as a hip-hop legend has helped introduced new music fans to the roots of the music that helped spawn all of this. It's a logical progression and one that I'm shocked more rappers haven't leaned into. But luckily for everyone who likes those real goods, Chali 2na remains everywhere, smothering everything he touches with that good, classic hip-hop flavour. Now I'll take a look back at a dozen of the homies best, most diverse tracks and appearances (Or at least my favourites) to present a mere glimpse of the versatility of one of the GOATs.

I listen to the whole of Hip-Hop. I don’t segregate between it because I know and understand where it all was spawned and I give everybody their space to be an artist, where a lot of fans are probably like “What?! You listen to Snoop Dogg?!” But yeah, I listen to it all...I feel like I’ve done a lot Hip-Hop wise and now it’s a journey through music more than it is just Hip-Hop. Changing the band and all that, I’m just trying to tap into music. If it’s good music, I’m just trying to be a part of it.” - Chali 2na, interview with Rags Music, 2014

N.A.S.A – There's a Party feat. George Clinton and Chali 2na

This might be an odd one to start this list off, but it made its way onto a lot of my playlists after Chali explained to me the significance of the song. “You know, to be perfectly honest, it’s not one of my best guest appearances, but the fact that he is who is… I did a song called ‘There’s a Party' on the NASA album, ‘Spirit of Apollo’, a song with George Clinton and I’m so proud of that. Just the experience of doing that song with him is just priceless, you can’t trade that for the world. Like I said, it may not be one of my best songs but it’s definitely a milestone for me.”

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I come out of a long slumber.

Hey friends.  It's been too long since I've been posting all my real talk and dope-ass interviews here. But really, I've been quite busy. So this is just a quick little update to let you know what I've been up to.

Last weekend was the Phillip's Backyard Weekender here in Victoria and I was there doing coverage for Exclaim!. If you weren't there you should read up on the shows there, highlighted by De La Soul completely destroying. But I shouldn't be surprised, it's how they do.

Night 1 with Cat Empire, the Dirty Heads and the Expendables

Night 2 with De La Soul, Buck 65 and SonReal 

The week before that was the Victoria Ska Festival  , which remains, hands down, the best week of music here in Victoria each year. It's just a ton of fun, which is always great because I don't really like ska music. Well, ska revival music. But the lineup is always diverse and lots of fun. The organizers are also great people who just love music. Sure, there's money involved, but it's a whole lot more love. I've worked pretty closely with the Ska Society over the last couple of years doing interviews in the run-up to the festival and reviews during the festival. This year was no different. Here is a roundup of ALL my Ska Fest-related pieces that have kept me away from you lovely people.

Interview piece with Logan Bell from Katchafire. 

Interview piece with Dub FX. 

Interview piece with Kris Wood of Blackberry Wood. 

My Ska-Fest listening primer. 

Days 1 and 2 of Ska Fest with Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars, Blackberry Wood and the Revivers. 

Days 2 and 3 of Ska Fest with Blitz the Ambassador, Tanya Stephens, Dope Soda and David Hillyard's Rocksteady 7.
Much respect to Yasiin Bey. Headliner at the 14th annual Victoria Ska Fest. Photo by me.

Much respect to Yasiin Bey. Headliner at the 14th annual Victoria Ska Fest. Photo by me.

The final day of Ska Fest with Yasiin Bey (Formerly Mos Def) and Dub FX. Also, why I love Ska Fest so much.

And just a couple of weeks before that was the Victoria Jazz Fest, always a stellar time. I only did one interview leading up to it, but it was a real doozy. I also did media coverage for my home publication, the Martlet.

Interview piece with soulman Lee Fields. 

Review of Five Alarm Funk's set at Centennial Square. 

Review of Vieux Farka Touré at Sugar Nightclub. 

Review of David Gray Infinity Quartet feat. Macy Gray.  

I've also done up a couple of reviews for LyfStyl Music. Big ups to them for giving me another place to talk music. There's never enough space.

My review of Kanye West's Yeezus .  (In retrospect I would like to re-rate this record at like a 6.5 or maybe 7.)

Review of the Uncluded's Hokey Fright .

Same props and respect for the Coastal Spectator. The place I got my first paid article published. I've been doing some reviews around town for them as well. Much respect, Andrea and Lynne. 

 Review of Eddie Spaghetti's sweet new record, The Value of Nothing .

 Review of Victoria all-girl rock band White Hot Jet's debut performance.

Review of Blackberry Wood at Logan's Pub.  

So there it is. When it's all laid out in front of me it's actually kind of amazing how much I've been doing lately. But it's not enough. I love writing and I love being forced to do it.  There's more on the way, as always, so stay tuned. And as always, if you know of some awesome music that needs my attention, please leave a comment or drop me a line.  

Much respect,

Rags

Lee Fields at Victoria Jazz Fest. Taken by Kim Jay with my camera.  

Lee Fields at Victoria Jazz Fest. Taken by Kim Jay with my camera.  

I only know a bit about Dub FX, then Dub FX tells me a lot about Dub FX.

I didn't know much about Dub FX other than some friends telling me to check him out. When he announced as a headliner for this year's Victoria Ska Fest (One of the major highlights on the Victoria music calendar)  I took the opportunity to check him out. After hearing "Made" I was hooked. I jumped in the rabbit hole and quickly decided I needed to track him down as part of my Ska Fest run-up for a little chat before his return to Victoria. Intelligent and warm, we had a great chat about his musical roots, the terrible music we both listened to in the past, Snoop Lion and the joys of playing music with the woman he loves. It's a bit of a long one this time, folks, but it's a good one. Much respect to Dub FX.

 

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