Video: Wasiu – “P.K. Subban” (Prod. by Noah Barer & Cakewerk)

The Montreal Rapper Drops First Single from MTLIENS 2, Pens Heartfelt Tribute to the Canadiens Defensemen on The FADER

05.12.2016

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 has exhibited a desire to creatively tackle a variety of topics, and he raps about them in a way that proves he’s a more-than-formidable emcee.” – HYPETRAK

The Song:

In Wasiu‘s own words:

I was reading The Fader’s Interview with Drake, and he was saying how incredible it was that Wiz Khalifa made ‘Black & Yellow’, which had the whole world rap along to a song about Pittsburgh. He wanted to do what Wiz did for Pittsburgh, but for Toronto, and that’s what inspired his hit “Know Yourself.” Got the whole world saying “I was running through The 6 with my Woes.” Toronto shit.

I feel the same way. I need to make a hit that everyone is repeating, but paying homage to Montreal at the same time. P.K. Subban is the face of the city, and in many ways I feel like him, so I ran with that.

There aren’t many black players in the National Hockey League, but P.K. is 1 of the best active players, period. He’s the best on The Montreal Canadiens, and he’s the only black guy on the team as well. In Montreal, most rappers are French, not many of us rap in English, so there’s that.

When I was young, I went to school with all white people, and it was hard being the only black one there. They’re all saying racist shit to you and making you feel inferior. So I had to prove myself to them, not only for me, but for all black people, and to make them feel like “damn, this black kid is winning all the awards and getting the best grades in school… maybe blacks aren’t inferior.”

You know how it goes… When shit goes bad, blame it on black people. The Canadiens had a bad season, and local media pointed the finger at P.K. It’s funny though, because he’s the best player and we all know he isn’t the problem. Same way when there’s violence that occurs at a club or in general, go check on the black people first because they look like they “fit the description,” even if they weren’t the ones to start up any problem.

So in many ways, I feel like P.K. Instead of making a song talking about racism, I made a song celebrating him. People are going to have to accept it, the face of a French white city is that of a black man’s, whether they like it or not.

This song is lowkey about empowerment and flossing black power by bigging up all of Subban’s work. He donated $10mill to the MTL Children’s Hospital, and they built an atrium in his name. The kids love him. Sorry white people, but a black guy represents you… and after this song, I hope he’s the 1st person people think of when they think of “Montreal.”

Look at the facts, the best player is black, and a black man beat a white man at his own game, it’s all good. Hopefully, black people continue to beat white people at their own game, in every aspect of the world… We got P.K., Obama, & others to look up to for as inspiration to dominate whatever field we enter. Shit, when people think about the best Montreal rapper they probably think about some white dude. We bout to change that real quick.

Black Lives Matter, everywhere. We gotta strive for prosperity in every region. This is the 1st single off MTLIENS 2. The other songs on there are not a celebration like this one… The deeper, personal, emotional, militant, and other moods will be equally balanced throughout the course & story of the project.

Listen to “P.K. Subban”: https://soundcloud.com/thisisjuspop/wasiu-pk-subban/

Check out the FADER premiere: http://www.thefader.com/2016/05/12/wasiu-montreal-pk-subban

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

Wasiu 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.”