DETAILS

Chali 2na from Jurassic 5 with The Lytics & DJ Pump
HiFi Club
Saturday, September 18 - Saturday, September 18

More in: Dance / DJ / Electronic

Booming baritone MC Chali 2Na (Charlie Stewart on his birth certificate) has been blessed with one of the most unmistakable voices in hip hop. Following the untimely extinction of his crew, Jurassic 5, and his tenure as the rhyme-slinger for Latin funk-fusion collective Ozomatli, he’s now set out solo, boasting two mixtapes and a full-length to his name. At the top of a 10-date Canadian tour, we called him up.

One of your nicknames is “The Friendly Neighbourhood Baritone.” Do you remember at what age your voice changed into the deep tone people know you for now?

When I gave myself that moniker, I was thinking about Spider Man and his mantra, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We musicians have the power to influence a lot of our fans. As for my voice changing, I was probably around 10 or 11. I started wondering, “Damn, what happened to my throat?” I never really noticed it was deep, because I had to live with it, until I started getting compliments from girls.

Was there someone who encouraged you to use that baritone for singing, rapping or performing, or was it something you decided to do yourself?

I want to say it was something I did on my own, because nobody in my family really sings. There are poets and painters and other kinds of musicians, but it was cool to be able to stumble into this. I took tunes from people like Guru, Gang Starr and Rakim, and watched what they were able to do with their voices before I tried out mine.

Your latest mixtape, Fish Market Part 2, features lots of cool guests, such as J-Live, Tanya Stephens and Planet Asia, but the song that stands out most is “Gadget Go Go,” with a beat by British dubstep artist Rusko. You also guested on his song, “How Lo Can You Go,” too. How did that collaboration first come to be?

After we did that song together, he gave me a bunch of beats and told me I could use any of them. I played the “Gadget” beat for my wife, and she said, “Whoa!” So I sat down and tried to do something rhythmic and creative, rather than just rapping. Rusko heard it and he liked it, too.

Is Fish Market Part 2 meant as a preview for an upcoming full-length, like Part 1 was for Fish Outta Water? If so, anything you can share about it?

Definitely! It’s the snack before the meal. I’ve been working on it for a few months now, and I’m hoping to have a cohesive album by spring next year. The tentative title is Against the Current, because I want to bring a bit more musicianship and melody back to the game. A lot of music nowadays is electronic-based, so I want to do this next record with real musicians. Usually bass and tuna go against the current, so I guess I’m the only tuna that’s an upstream swimmer.

You’re hitting some pretty small Canadian cities on this tour such as Lethbridge, Golden, Nelson and Tofino. Have you been to those cities before?

I’m looking forward to it because I haven’t had a chance to visit a lot of those places, whether with Jurassic 5, Ozomatli or even by myself. We’ve usually stuck to the bigger cities like T-Dot, Montreal, Vancouver and Whistler, so it’s cool to be able to do it and see the crevices of the country. Spread the love!