View Full Version : It's Mount Pleasant, y'all (Calgary hip hop)
Kilgore Trout
Dec 12, 2006, 8:22 AM
alberta has never been known to have much of a hip hop scene, but lately it has been generating some innovative acts. cadence weapon in edmonton is the darling of indie music lovers across canada, of course, but there are some lesser-known groups like dragon fli empire from calgary.
listening to cbc radio 3 recently, i was pleased to hear this duo's song "mount pleasant, in which they rap:
up and down the number two
killarney 17th avenue
mount pleasant
it's mount pleasant, y'all
it's mount pleasant
it's the kind of music that has a distinct sense of place. any calgarian listening to dragon fli empire will recognize names, locations and descriptions. it's the kind of stuff that helps cities build a mythology and a cultural identity.
check them out at new music canada:
dragon fli empire (http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?band_id=9380)
(and for the same reasons, plus the fact that his work is fantastic, check out cadence weapon (http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?Band_Id=16916) nmc page.)
jeffwhit
Dec 12, 2006, 8:45 AM
^^ That song is somewhat of a Calgary classic now I'd say, at least if you listen to cjsw.
Cadence Weapon, by the way, made a cameo appearance with Islands in Calgary last month.
McPaul
Dec 12, 2006, 2:29 PM
and who could forget Getty from Vibe985 with "in tha dome" in the spring of 2003...
Arriviste
Dec 12, 2006, 5:09 PM
I'd say Mt. Pleasent is a classic. I hear at least once a week. I love it every time.
murman
Dec 12, 2006, 5:27 PM
alberta has never been known to have much of a hip hop scene, but lately it has been generating some innovative acts. cadence weapon in edmonton is the darling of indie music lovers across canada, of course, but there are some lesser-known groups like dragon fli empire from calgary.
listening to cbc radio 3 recently, i was pleased to hear this duo's song "mount pleasant, in which they rap:
up and down the number two
killarney 17th avenue
mount pleasant
it's mount pleasant, y'all
it's mount pleasant
it's the kind of music that has a distinct sense of place. any calgarian listening to dragon fli empire will recognize names, locations and descriptions. it's the kind of stuff that helps cities build a mythology and a cultural identity.
check them out at new music canada:
dragon fli empire (http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?band_id=9380)
(and for the same reasons, plus the fact that his work is fantastic, check out cadence weapon (http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?Band_Id=16916) nmc page.)
I find the concept of the word "Pleasant" in a rap or hip-hop song rather dissonant, unless Pleasant is a woman's name, in which case the phrase "mount" takes on a whole other meaning.
Edmonchuck
Dec 12, 2006, 5:41 PM
/\:whip: :banana: :worship:
Rusty van Reddick
Dec 12, 2006, 6:19 PM
The number 2 is a great Canadian urban bus route- it's mythic. The fact that it is ALWAYS packed makes it a great topic.
Thing is- this is an old song, at least 3 years old, I think.
Kilgore Trout
Dec 12, 2006, 6:46 PM
yeah, it's from 2004. but it's new to me! i was hoping this thread could serve as a catalyst for more discussion of place-specific music.
i never spent much time on the number 2. my regular bus routes were the 101/104 (boring commuter crowd) and the 7 (only marginally more interesting).
Wooster
Dec 12, 2006, 6:51 PM
Yeah, I've always liked this song. It is really quite catchy.
CorporateWhore
Dec 12, 2006, 6:55 PM
Funny, since Mt Pleasant has to be the least hip-hop-ish neighborhood in Calgary.
Wooster
Dec 12, 2006, 7:15 PM
Killarney on the other hand is hard core!
Arriviste
Dec 12, 2006, 7:17 PM
WIIILDWOOD represent, what?!! Yah heaaarddd..
srperrycgy
Dec 12, 2006, 7:26 PM
Killarney on the other hand is hard core!
Damn right y'all!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a76/srperry/7780left1.jpg
Arriviste
Dec 12, 2006, 7:30 PM
That is a great pic.
So what is Mt. Pleasent actually like? Mid century bungalows if I remember correctly.
What a route:
http://www.calgarytransit.com/Routes/images/rte2.gif
CorporateWhore
Dec 12, 2006, 7:33 PM
So what is Mt. Pleasent actually like?
let's just say i remember going there as a kid in my lilly-white shirt and shorts to take tennis lessons.
Rusty van Reddick
Dec 12, 2006, 8:03 PM
Funny, since Mt Pleasant has to be the least hip-hop-ish neighborhood in Calgary.
"Pleasant" older community north of Rosedale- really nice. Walking distance to Lina's Italian Market!
Bigtime
Dec 12, 2006, 8:14 PM
"Pleasant" older community north of Rosedale- really nice. Walking distance to Lina's Italian Market!
The proximity to Lina's is reason enough to live there if I had the choice!
Rusty van Reddick
Dec 12, 2006, 8:30 PM
We like to park in the Bridges area and walk up to Lina's- it's a amazing walk, with their risotto-mozza croquettes waiting for me at the top! Plus, the gelato at their caffe has Mario's for about half the price you'd pay at Amato Gelato, and exactly the same gelato.
But as to locally-themed songs- the Barenaked Ladies are great for that- Brian Wilson is about Sam the Record Man, all sorts of TO references
Edmonchuck
Dec 12, 2006, 8:50 PM
The number 2 is a great Canadian urban bus route- it's mythic.
Mythic??? About as mythic as the Spadina Bus in Toronto which just HAD to be put in another lame song by the Shuffle Deamons???
Artist site... http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/tsd/bio.asp
I listened to this rap bit...it sounds like drunken karaoke...
jeffwhit
Dec 12, 2006, 9:52 PM
^^ That song always confused me, by Spadina Bus were the in fact referring to the Spadina streetcar?
jeffwhit
Dec 12, 2006, 9:52 PM
Funny, since Mt Pleasant has to be the least hip-hop-ish neighborhood in Calgary.
Actually, that would Silver Springs.
Edmonchuck
Dec 12, 2006, 9:53 PM
^^ That song always confused me, by Spadina Bus were the in fact referring to the Spadina streetcar?
Yep...:shrug: I guess bus worked better in the cadence of the song....
jeffwhit
Dec 12, 2006, 10:04 PM
But as to locally-themed songs- the Barenaked Ladies are great for that- Brian Wilson is about Sam the Record Man, all sorts of TO references
The very first song on their very first album also paints an unflattering picture of Halifax.
As for T.O References, I can't say i know my BNL that well but I can remember a Go Train reference as well.
Rusty van Reddick
Dec 12, 2006, 10:08 PM
^^ That song always confused me, by Spadina Bus were the in fact referring to the Spadina streetcar?
There was a Spadina bus before the streetcar.
biguc
Dec 12, 2006, 10:13 PM
Cadence Weapon is dope but I'm still not convinced he isn't actually Kool Keith.
jeffwhit
Dec 12, 2006, 10:17 PM
^^ He wasn't sporting a black elvis haircut... does that quell your doubts at all?
Kilgore Trout
Dec 13, 2006, 4:57 AM
all i know about cadence weapon is from the twenty minutes i spent five feet from him while my friend exclaimed, "omigod he is soooo hot."
biguc
Dec 13, 2006, 5:41 AM
Watch Cadence Weapon's Black Hand video, then watch Kool Keith's Weapons World segment on Prince Paul's Prince Among Thieves video and I defy any of you to tell me they aren't the same person.
No knock to Cadence Weapon at all though. Dr. Octagon quality is much appreciated. Surprising from a kid from the prairies too.
Kilgore Trout
Dec 16, 2006, 12:57 AM
anyway, someone mentioned the song "spadina bus" by the shuffle demons. the streetcar on spadina is actually quite recent -- it was only installed in 1997. before that, there was a bus.
here's the original music video of the song. it is pure awesomeness. some classic 1980s shots of spadina.
http://www.shuffledemons.com/video_bus.php
Zilla
Dec 16, 2006, 2:11 AM
Does anyone remember Cat Ranch's 'Song for Calgary'? It was their entry to the pre-Olympic contest that gave us the country/oom-pah mess 'Neighbours of the World'. Here's what I recall:
C!-A!-L!-G!-A!-R!-Y!
I wanna live here till I die!
'Cause life's so great in Cal-ga-ree,
It's the only place for me!
We've got hockey, football, baseball too
Prostitution on 3rd Avenue!
Ralph's my buddy - he's so great
'Cause he got us the Olympics in '88...
http://www.punkhistorycanada.ca/noise/view.php?id=626
Hardhatdan
Dec 16, 2006, 9:56 AM
I'll meet you back at Oliver Square.
DizzyEdge
Jan 9, 2007, 5:34 AM
Funny, since Mt Pleasant has to be the least hip-hop-ish neighborhood in Calgary.
You best step off, biatch
Mt Pleasant is my hood, and I take the #2 every day.
Thats right, I gotz street cred.
DizzyEdge
Jan 9, 2007, 5:35 AM
That is a great pic.
So what is Mt. Pleasent actually like? Mid century bungalows if I remember correctly.
Um, south of 20 ave 50/50 1912 or 1940s bungalows
north of 20 ave mostly 1940s, but the infills are coming on strong, 3 houses replaced on my block in the past 2 yrs, and a few blocks north there's an entire block that no longer has a house older than probably 5-10 yrs old.
DizzyEdge
Jan 9, 2007, 5:37 AM
That is a great pic.
So what is Mt. Pleasent actually like? Mid century bungalows if I remember correctly.
What a route:
http://www.calgarytransit.com/Routes/images/rte2.gif
It's funny how it shows the east side of 4th street being called Balmoral, the 1912 street plan that shows my house that was in the paperwork when I bought it shows it being part of Balmoral, but Mt Pleasant swallowed it up years ago as far as I know.
Also where it says Crescent Heights, is actually Rosedale.
SpongeG
Jan 9, 2007, 5:42 AM
there is a mount pleasant in vancouver too
so confusing
dubiousmike
Jan 9, 2007, 5:52 AM
As a fledgling hip-hop producer in my younger days, I have to tell you that Inglewood is, by far, the most hip-hop neighbourhood in Calgary. Purely because of Recordland, which is the only reliable source of sample fodder in the city.
The Mt. Pleasant in Vancouver is far more noteworthy than the one in Calgary.
jeffwhit
Jan 9, 2007, 6:01 AM
The Mt. Pleasant in Vancouver is far more noteworthy than the one in Calgary.
Oh yeah, where's its hiphop song?
dubiousmike
Jan 9, 2007, 6:13 AM
The song isn't about the neighbourhood, it's about the bus route ;) More specifically, the part that passes through lower Mt. Royal and into downtown.
shappy
Jan 9, 2007, 6:15 AM
anyway, someone mentioned the song "spadina bus" by the shuffle demons. the streetcar on spadina is actually quite recent -- it was only installed in 1997. before that, there was a bus.
here's the original music video of the song. it is pure awesomeness. some classic 1980s shots of spadina.
http://www.shuffledemons.com/video_bus.php
holy shit kilgore, thanks so much for posting that! Ridiculously cool.
SpongeG
Jan 9, 2007, 7:10 AM
omg i remember that spadina bus song - they played it a lot back in the day
Kilgore Trout
Jan 9, 2007, 10:10 AM
the song is pretty daft, but the video just rocks. it's like "do the right thing" without all the hate.
Edmonchuck
Jan 9, 2007, 1:55 PM
Ahhhh.......the days of sam taylor and video hits....
SpongeG
Jan 9, 2007, 9:37 PM
Ahhhh.......the days of sam taylor and video hits....
hah yeah thats where i remember it from
i won a Video Hits Watch and something once from Samantha :haha:
ScottFromCalgary
Jan 20, 2007, 2:29 AM
As a fledgling hip-hop producer in my younger days, I have to tell you that Inglewood is, by far, the most hip-hop neighbourhood in Calgary. Purely because of Recordland, which is the only reliable source of sample fodder in the city.
And let's not forget about the connection to Inglewood in Cali.
Inglewood, Inglewood, always up to no good
-2Pac, "California Love"
Arriviste
Jan 20, 2007, 2:49 AM
Wow, this was revived for that?
ScottFromCalgary
Jan 20, 2007, 3:51 AM
:tup:
Haha... cute. :) They think they're something! :D
kool maudit
Jan 20, 2007, 4:00 AM
crush your whole enterprise, down for the count -
i live past vendome, don't even try and call it westmount.
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