Song: Wasiu – “MTLien” (Prod. by Tommy Kruise)[Co-prod. by Dear Lola]

The Canadian Record Reflects on His Unique Upbringing in This Outkast-Referencing, Mass Appeal-Premiered Track

05.17.2017

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 Song:

A rapper’s rapper who defies easy categorization, Wasiu is one of the most respected emcees in the underground Canadian scene. Reflecting on his mixed upbringing and his status as an English-speaker in a French-speaking city, Wasiu channels Outkast on the profound, jazz-inflected “MTLien.” Though Wasiu is proud of his heritage, his unique background makes it hard for him to feel like he belongs anywhere, and causes problems for him in his personal life and career: “I’m born here, they told me ‘go back where you came from, Monkey’/See the city don’t really love me/My province don’t fit into the country/My country barely in the industry.” Premiered by Mass Appeal and produced by Tommy Kruise with co-production from Dear Lola, “MTLien” is a thought-provoking examination of the different flavors of alienation and its uneasy relationship with artistry.

Explains Wasiu:
“Tommy Kruise is one of the most familiar faces from our scene, having worked with the likes of Playboi Carti, Maxo Kream, JME, Main Attrakionz, being close friends with ASAP-Yams (R.I.P), and releasing his own critically-acclaimed projects. It was an honor that he sent me some beats.

Much like my music, Tommy’s style doesn’t fit in with the rest, he has an unique sound. We also share sentiments of being outsiders or feeling neglect from others. That thing we have in common is what I wanted to paint on the canvas that he sent me. MTLIEN is the result. I got Dear Lola to add some icy cold elements to add some setting into the picture… but basically this record is me explaining why I resonate with Outkast’s ATLiens album so much. OutKast feeling alienated by their peers and not being accepted by Hip Hop is how I’ve been feeling my whole life…

Half Nigerian, Half Haitian… Nigerians don’t accept me because I’m half, Haitians don’t accept me because I’m half. Mother’s a Christian, Father’s Muslim, both sides telling me the other side is wrong, yet I’m learning both. Either way, I’m Black, and English-speaking, in a French White city, with classmates telling me to ‘go back to my country…’ but I was born here and that makes me a Quebecois just like them. Quebec already doesn’t fit into Canada, since our laws and regulations are all in French to preserve that culture. Canada itself doesn’t fit in with the Hip Hop industry… Yeah, you have exceptions to the rule who make it… but we all know exceptions are smaller than 1%. If I’m the most outcasted figure right now, I’m sure many Montrealers, not even just in music, but in general, also feel the same way. The scene itself gets refused to be acknowledged by outsiders. Every time I put out a release, the producers rarely get credited, and they’re the reason why the scene is popping. Who’s the biggest artist you know from Montreal? A producer. 2nd, 3rd, 4th biggest artist from MTL? All producers. Now think of how many others are neglected from getting coverage, even though they’re the real stars of our scene. In some way, people of my city, the scene, my province, my country, all feel some sort of alienation. And if you’ve ever been neglected, left-out, or were alienated some way some how, and just wanted to be accepted into a circle, then you can relate to the sentiments and tone of this song.”

A deep-thinking emcee and rhyming technician with endless bars, Wasiu is perhaps known best in his homeland for his commercials for Kijiji, Canada’s answer to Craigslist. Viewed by over 4 million people, the commercials showcase Wasiu’s charisma and prodigious skills behind the mic. After a yearlong break from releasing music, Wasiu returned earlier this month with the VIBE–premiered “Snow Mexican,” a sinister track based on a fake (yet believable) Donald Trump tweet about Canada. Last week, Wasiu recounted the first time he ever went to a strip club on “Daddy Issues,” which boasted some of the most politically provocative cover art you’ll see all year. In the past year, Wasiu performed at SXSW, The Montreal Jazz Fest, POP Montreal, and Canadian Music Week, and opened for Little Simz, Jazz Cartier, BadBadNotGood, Grandmaster Flash, Dead Obies, Sean Leon, and others. His single “P.K. Subban” garnered over 150k plays on Spotify, contributing to a combined 1.2 million total. Look out for MTLiens 2, hitting stores later this year.

Listen to “MTLien”: https://soundcloud.com/afrowasiu/mtlien

Check out the Mass Appeal premiere: https://massappeal.com/wasiu-mtlien-premiere/

Please contact Michelle or Dharmic 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.”