Rascalz

A five-piece crew based in Vancouver, Canada, embraces the complete range of hip-hop disciplines, from MCing and DJing to graffiti and breakdancing. Made up of MCs Red 1 and Misfit, DJ Kemo, who also works as a practiced graffiti artist, and breakers Zebroc and Dedos, the West Coast collective has earned the distinction of becoming the country’s highest-selling hip-hop act in history.

These artists helped bind together Canada’s still-developing hip-hop community. Their 1997 single “Northern Touch,” an anthem featuring Choclair, Checkmate, Kardinal Offishall, and Thrust, brought the Rascalz a Juno Award; nevertheless, the group declined the trophy to protest the lack of institutional support for urban music from both the Junos and the Canadian music industry at large. The members first came together on Vancouver’s East Side as breakdance rivals and issued an independent recording in 1991. Their 1997 album Cash Crop became one of the scarce Canadian hip-hop releases to achieve gold status. With the arrival of Global Warming in 1999, the group stood ready for wider commercial reach while remaining faithful to hip-hop’s foundational principles.