This is coming from a Toronto hip-hop star who has been a seemingly inescapable presence in the domestic arts and entertainment scene for decades.
"I don't want to call out anyone," he prefaced in a recent interview at the headquarters of GhostLabel, a Toronto fashion brand he often wears at appearances. And while Drake is often courtside for the Toronto Raptors and Ryan Reynolds is waving the flag in his own ways, most of the biggest Canadian celebrities live outside the country and rarely turn up at homegrown events unless they're being honoured by an institution.Rising to fame in the early aughts, he helped construct a sturdy, mainstream Canadian hip-hop empire with his friends years before Drake was even thinking about the blueprints for his Toronto mansion.
Earlier this year, it was announced he joined the executive ranks at Def Jam Recordings, the legendary hip-hop label co-founded by Rick Rubin. His experience at the Canadian label "really sharpened the blades" for the big leagues, he says. Now he has "more resources and more opportunities" at his disposal to reach the masses.