🇨🇦Michie Mee and Maestro Fresh Wes and J.Kyll, Imposs and Dramatik of Muzion are the first Canadian hip hop artists ever to receive their own official Canada Post Canadian stamps!  I’m so proud. We salute you, we congratulate you, we are so proud of you all. 

🍁It was my pleasure to host this classic Concert Hall event 01-27-26.  Let me share some of the excerpts from my speech.  More to come.

🇨🇦These ground-breaking artists didn’t just bring hip-hop to Canada – they gave the music its very own Canadian sound and they did this in a time when there was no infrastructure.
Nobody knew the game. Nobody was dreaming, None of us knew what was coming, 

🇨🇦There were no experts, writers, record labels, pressing plants, managers, recording studios, no producers, engineers, nobody in Canada who understood the movement because it was USA centric — most of us on the outside were innocently imitating while creating. 

🇨🇦New York City,  the home of rap and Hip-hop,  was so close yet so far. The movement coming from there was teasing and tantalizing, we could hear rap on WBLK in Buffalo but we had no Canadian players in the game at this time — we, as young Canadians and Torontonians, with so much curiosity, potential, talent, were on the outside looking in. 

🇨🇦So this was the stage. This is how it was this is how it started. This is the era that these 3 pioneer and trailblazing artists come from and represent, Muzion, a slight exception coming from the early 90’s. 

🇨🇦Thank you for staging this event in this historic venue, the Masonic Temple aka Concert Hall. Thank you for recognizing that greatness does not always come down to numbers,
likes and sales, because some may wonder why arguably Drake did not get this stamp first, and Canada Post has made a statement that they understand that — without seeds there would be no trees, so you have put things in the right order by honouring who came first, the genesis, the street soldiers and pioneers on the front lines who created a path for the industry that exists today in Canada.

🇨🇦I love the Concert Hall. Canada Post could not have chosen a more perfect venue. So much of our urban history was made right here. This place marks the beginning—the first umbrella in Canada where a beautiful, all-ages hip hop culture could manifest and call home.

🇨🇦This was the first place many of us saw live rap, live breakdancing, and DJs perform on a real stage. It’s where local talent—including young Michie and Maestro—first saw “the big stage” and dared to believe that one day, it could be them.

🇨🇦The beauty of the Concert Hall movement was that we didn’t need alcohol or drugs. The DJs were the first stars—armed with massive sound systems and impeccable taste. MCs, rappers, and beatboxers came later.

🇨🇦Whether it was a Love Jam, Monster Jam, or a Run-DMC/Public Enemy concert, the music was loud. The concrete walls shook. The windows rattled. And yes—neighbours complained, police came, history happened.

🇨🇦We were witnessing a new music transforming into a culture—still underground, underestimated, unnamed. We just knew something special was happening. We didn’t even know it was called Hip-hop yet.

🇨🇦We remember sneaking out as teenagers to attend pivotal rap parties and concerts, fully accepting whatever consequences came after. This was the proving ground—the place where MCs learned that people from their own hoods loved them and would support them through any battle. This is the turf our trailblazers come from. Some of Toronto’s greatest early hip hop moments happened right here.

🇨🇦Today, we pay tribute to the genesis. We celebrate Muzion, Maestro, and Michie—their achievements, legacy, and history. We salute you. We are proud of you. You made hip-hop history.