Video: Wasiu – “Odyssey” ft. Da-P

The MTL Rapper Combines Homeric Epic and Modern Rap in the Ornate Video for a MTLiens 2 Highlight

12.22.2017

Critical Praise for Wasiu:

“Wasiu is the hip-hop voice of Montreal.” – i-D

“The young Montreal rapper has been working steadily to make a name for himself and it looks like he’s on the right track.” – Pigeons & Planes

“Wasiu is another one to look out for this year.” – Complex

“Many rappers twice his age would be wise to take notes…” – Okayplayer

“Wasiu is pretty much the embodiment of Montreal’s cultural shift.” – Noisey

“Wasiu is a rapper in a league of his own” – High Snobiety

The Video:

Flexing his rhyming prowess over innovative instrumentals from his hometown’s best producers, Montreal rapper Wasiu brings complex concepts to life through his music. Telling a tale of a complex relationship with mythological imagery over a halting electronic production courtesy of Soulection’s Da-P, Wasiu shows his talent on “Odyssey.” Directed by Maxime Deroschers, the video is rife with mythological and religious symbol, finding Wasiu relaxing in his castle and disturbed by the presence of a beautiful woman. While the woman begins the video as pure and innocent, she becomes a succubus as she plunges into a dark liquid, turning Wasiu’s dream into a nightmare and leaving him a husk of his former self. Premiered by ELEVATOR, “Odyssey” is a highlight from MTLiens 2, Wasiu’s recent album. Featuring an all-star cast of producers from Montreal, including Kaytranada, High Klassified (The Weeknd, Future, as well as guest appearances from hometown heroes including KNLO and Lou Phelps, MTLiens 2 is a tribute to and product of Montreal’s rich underground music scene and all of its intricacies.

Explains Wasiu, “This song is the modern day epic voyage Inspired by Mos Def’s ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ and the Ancient Greek poem ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer. I took my favorite parts from those two amazing stories and made my own tale about taking a long trip across the city and getting seduced by a goddess. Will I ever return? I might get lost on this journey and drown in an ocean of sinful bliss. If I die spread my cautionary tale across the land in the form an infectious song, with the siren-esque properties of Da-P’s beat. In the video version, the journey takes the form in many parables: a race throughout my mind, the path to unity with what you think someone was but is not, a woman’s path to vengeance, a man’s path to getting betrayed, a set-up, a man’s journey to his casket, and other things. Curiosity killed the cat, since it took me too long to break from the spell of mesmerization… As I sit there, helplessly, the beautiful demon sucks my soul while my body is left to decay into a corpse. I guess my soul took a trip in her, and now I’m lost forever, unable to return to my body. I’m under her possession.”

A fierce ambassador for his hometown’s art scene, Wasiu’s music captures different aspects of Montreal’s distinctive scene. In September, Wasiu shared the “Artbeat Cypher,” a single dedicated to ArtBeat Montreal, a society that gathers Canada’s best producers to show off their best beats and one of the pillars of the MTL underground. Earlier, Wasiu shared“Cigarettes & Poutine,” another Montreal-themed single, premiered by Highsnobiety, focusing more on the sights and smells of Montreal during a late night out. In the wake of his hero Jay-Z releasing his new album 4:44, Wasiu doubled up Jay-Z’s classic “22 Two’s” into “44:4 (44 Four’s)“ using 44 variations of the words “for” and “four” in two and a half minutes. The video, premiered by Mass Appeal, playfully brings the concept to life, with the Afro-Canadian rapper emceeing in a large amphitheater, generating a clone of himself every time he says a variation of “4.” Earlier this Summer, Wasiu released Snow Mexican, an accomplished, politically charged EP. Inspired by a fake (yet believable) Donald Trump tweet and stuffed with innovative electronic production from the likes of Tommy Kruise, Dear Lola, and others, Snow Mexican finds Wasiu exploring what it means to be an outsider–approaching issues from the perspective of an African in Canada, an English-speaker in a French-speaking city, and a Canadian trying to make it in the American rap industry. With Snow Mexican and MTLiens 2, Wasiu establishes himself as one of his city and country’s premier rap talents, able to go bar for bar with anyone North or South of the 54th parallel.

Watch “Odyssey”: https://youtu.be/Rfkfc0nfROI

Check out the ELEVATOR premiere: http://www.elevatormag.com/wasiu-turns-his-dreams-into-nightmares-on-the-odyssey-video/

Listen to MTLiens 2: https://soundcloud.com/afrowasiu/sets/mtliens2 || https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/mtliens-2/id1300006300

Please contact Michelle or Dharmic if interested in talking with Wasiu.

The Background:

For Wasiu, being a pariah has always been a constant. A child of divorce from a Nigerian Muslim father and Haitian Protestant-Christian mother, he was torn between worlds, seen by both communities as impure, and a “mixed breed”—not entirely Haitian, not quite Nigerian. Even though he’s Québecois (a Québec native), his immigrant parents tainted his claim to the province. Raised by his mother after his father moved to Toronto, he felt obliged to fit in with her side of the family. Resentments towards his father’s beliefs and culture led him to drop his father-given middle name—Wasiu—so that he wouldn’t be teased in his predominantly white school, where he battled black stereotypes by pushing his intellect past expectations.

Overcoming adversity and using those lessons as lyrical fuel is Wasiu’s strongest suit. He is preparing his debut album which funnels his life experiences into a culturally defining opus that balances both optimistic and pessimistic perspectives on human themes. “I’m showing what people view as both the good and the bad,” he says, “and how without the bad, you can’t have the good, and so you start to appreciate the bad… for the good.”