One Year of "Gritty City"

As the summer continues to rush by us, we're coming up on one year since my book "Gritty City: An Oral History of Winnipeg Hip-Hop Music 1980-2005" was released. Last summer was a very busy and frankly stressful time in both the lead up to the book release and subsequent to it, so this summer I am making sure to relax, take some time off, and enjoy the nice weather.

It was August 1st last year that I had the book launch for "Gritty City" at the Handsome Daughter. I had just picked up the physical copies from Friesen Press in Altona two days prior. We were in the middle of a heat wave that week, and I remember sweating profusely as my partner, my dad and I loaded the boxes into our vehicles on the loading dock of the Friesen printing plant.

Excitedly I cracked open a box to hold a copy of my first book, and the sensation I remember the most is the smell of the fresh ink on the pages. As my partner drove us home, I flipped through that copy still blown away that it was real, that I had actually written this book. For the next month I hardly had a chance to rest between the launch, connecting with other people to get them their copies, and being available for a number of interviews, but that moment in the car driving home continued to stay with me.

I'm often asked about the pros and cons of being a self-published author, and I usually respond with the answer that they're the same thing: I'm in charge of everything, but I'm also in charge of everything. In my experience during the last year, for the most part the good side of that has outweighed the negative side. Some of the downsides are as expected: having to do all of the admin work (including the taxes!), doing all of the never-ending social media grunt work, dealing with shipping, and all the other tiny chores that continuously add up.

But the good side of being in charge of everything has without a doubt been the people I've connected with over the last year. I researched and wrote "Gritty City" largely during the pandemic, when lockdown restrictions gave me a ton of free time to work on this project, but also forced me to do almost all of my interviews remotely. Subsequently there were people who I had spent hours with on the phone back in 2020, 2021, or 2022, who I had yet to met in person. Finally, in 2024, I had the occasion to connect with them in person to get them a copy of the book they were interviewed for. I'll always remember Avon T, from Spotlight show fame, showing up to my house wearing a leather vest and cowboy boots in a souped up car. Or how important it felt to me that J-Style, aka Jay Willman, came to my book launch and hung out the whole time.

Over the last year "Gritty City" has led me to a lot of great places. Ten days after the book came out last August, my partner and I headed out to Saskatoon for the Summer Fling festival where I was scheduled to give a talk about my book and the history of Winnipeg and Saskatoon's hip-hop connection. I had never been to Saskatoon but I was welcomed warmly by their hip-hop community, especially Chaps, Rove, Nolto, Soso, and Parab Poet. I was also fortunate to be able to connect with some of the other visiting artists, such as Chadio, Noblonski, and also strengthen my relationships with my fellow visiting Winnipeggers, Yy, The Gumshoe Strut, and Bazooka Joe (aka John Smith). I was giving a talk in the middle of a hip-hop and graffiti festival and so I easily could have been completely out of place and rejected, but the warm reception from the crowd made the journey out there well worth it (and the memories of my time on stage helped soothe my spirit when I got a speeding ticket from Saskatoon in the mail a few weeks later).

A major highlight for me last August was when a representative from the Winnipeg Public Library reached out to me about purchasing 20 copies, one for every branch! It meant so much to me that the library would even consider my book, let alone feel as though every branch needed a copy. Since then my partner and I, who are both avid readers and big library users, have been on a mission to visit every single branch of the WPL, in part to check them out, but also so I can visit my books and leave a Gritty City sticker tucked within the copy. By the way, we're over halfway done our library tour, and hoping to be done by the end of the year!

Speaking of the Winnipeg Public Library, another highlight was when I was approached by the library's events staff asking if I was interested in putting on a talk at a branch of the WPL. I loved the idea, and was able to adapt and add to the existing presentation I had prepared for my Saskatoon talk. I really wanted to speak about the nature of memory, who is remembered and why, and why I felt it was important to take down the first-hand accounts of people's stories for my book before their stories were lost to time. I gave my talk last October at the St. James-Assiniboia branch of the WPL to a small but enthusiastic crowd.

Some of the other cool opportunities I've had over the last year to meet and connect with people around my book has been at a number of shows and markets. This spring I was invited by DJ Disspare to set up shop at one of the local talent showcases he organized, and followed that up by vending at the Loud Sessions one year anniversary, thanks to an invite from Charlie Fettah.

But still the coolest experience I've had selling my book so far was at last fall's Winnipeg Punk Rock Flea Market. It was my first time even attending the event and I was blown away by how well-organized it was and how warm and welcoming everyone in the community was. I was able to sell a lot of books and meet a lot of great people. One special memory from that day I'll hold forever is when Olivia Michalczuk and Brendan Berg stopped by and Olivia purchased my book, saying, "This is awesome, I've been meaning to get a copy!" I did not know Olivia and Brendan well but even that small comment meant so much to me and it's something I immediately thought of after their recent, untimely passings.

Despite initially having planned to go last summer, I finally had the chance to get out to Toronto with copies of my book in late May of this year. I was extremely fortunate to meet a ton of great people out there, including a great conversation with Eugene Tam at the historic Play De Record. Although we didn't have time to connect in person I do have to give a special shoutout to Rob Freeman who directed "Drop the Needle," the documentary about Play De Record, for helping connect me with Eugene. I was also able to deliver a copy in person to Skratch Bastid, who kindly had given a blurb for the back of the book. My only regret is that I didn't have enough time there; simply due to scheduling there was a number of other people who I didn't get a chance to link up with. Don't worry, Toronto, I'll be back before long.

Some of the other people I've had the chance to get copies to over the past year that mean a lot to me are Shad, who also gave his time to provide a blurb for the back cover; Cadence Weapon, a fellow Prairie writer whose music and writing I admire greatly; Odario, who graciously sat for many hours of interviews with me back in 2021 (again over the phone); and Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe, in town with Odario for a Manitoba Music event, whose voice I am so familiar with from "The Block" that it was surreal hearing it in person instead coming from my radio.

And I'm not done working my way slowly across the country, spreading the gospel of Winnipeg hip-hop history. Coming up in late August my partner and I are making the trek out to Edmonton, another city I've never visited, to connect with their hip-hop community. I heard from many people during my interview process that Edmonton had one of the best underground hip-hop scenes in Canada, and it was always on my list of places to visit. One of the things that helped solidify my decision to make the journey this summer was connecting with artist Aja Louden at a talk he gave in Winnipeg in June of this year (shout out to my friend Jacob for inviting me to that). Aja's enthusiasm for my book helped push me over the edge to go to Edmonton; it's always a bonus when you know there's good people out there to say what's up to.

So, if you or anyone you know is in Edmonton, get in touch with me on Instagram (@grittycitywpg) or by email ([email protected]) I'd love to link up while I'm out there in late August.

Finally, this newsletter itself has become a continuation of the book, helping forge new connections and strengthen existing bonds. While I took a bit of time off to enjoy the summer, I have been plotting lots of interesting pieces for this newsletter so stay tuned for those or if you’re new here don’t forget to subscribe.

Gritty City is more than just one book, it is a movement documenting and preserving the history of Winnipeg hip-hop history, a history that is interconnected with all the major cities in Canada, especially those in the Prairies.