Straight out of Manitoba, the Winnipeg-based rap collective known as Abstract Artform is all about putting its own distinctive twist on things when it comes to hip-hop. The genre is principally about repping where you’re from, and frontman/producer MC Shea Malcolmson notes they take it to heart.
“We're about that laid-back, dirt-road rap,” he says over the phone from his Winnipeg studio. “We typically call it back porch rap. We’re just a bunch of guys who like to get together in a cipher on the back porch and hang out. We're country boys that do country boy stuff.”
Initially just a solo act consisting of Malcolmson, the five-member crew consists of a tight-knit bunch: Justin "Cue" Mathews, Daryl "D-Rail" Hayward, Mike "Bishop Grandin" Gould and Chad "DJ Toad" Kendel.
“There's a sense of family when we come to the studio,” Malcolmson notes.
He says his musical influences range from early 1990s hip-hop like A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets to Everlast of House of Pain fame. “I’m a huge fan of Everlast and his career, particularly from being on both sides of the fence, doing his Whitey Ford versus the House of Pain stuff," Malcolmson notes. "I'm similar in that sense, where I can do a lot of singer-songwriter stuff and write 16 bars and hop on hip-hop tracks."
The band made its official debut with 2008’s Prairie Kid and hasn’t looked back. Their sophomore effort, 2010’s His Story in the Making, spawned singles “I Am Canadian” and “Summer in the City” (featuring Doodlebug of Digable Planets), further entrenching the group’s presence.
Listen to "Summer in the City (ft. Doodlebug)"
Their upcoming album, As The Crow Flies, is slated for a December release and offers up a bluesy, more introspective take on hip-hop. Working with celebrated and Juno-nominated producer Fresh Kils, the new project marks the first time Malcolmson let go of the beat-making reins. Malcolmson admits it took some getting used to, but ultimately freed the band up to focus on the writing end of things.
“Having the crazy-talented Fresh Kils, I really wanted to take a step back from beat-making," he says. "This record is about deeper things like drug addiction, being adopted and the losses and struggles we've been through. So it's a very introspective record for sure."
Between working on a few new musical production projects and the new album coming out, Malcolmson says the band — a recent International Songwriting Competition finalist — is ready to make their presence felt in the wider Canadian scene, starting with their appearance in Toronto during Indie Week music festival this week.
The Winnipeg scene, when it comes to hip-hop, “may be a little bit different from the norm,” but Malcolmson notes that it’s what gives Abstract Artform such a unique sound. In the summer, you’ll find the crew camping and spitting bars around the bonfire.
“It's a little bit different imagery than what might happen in other places in the world," he says. "It's not so clique-heavy and politics driven over here. It's very different. It's that small town charm and that's what we bring to the music scene."
But don’t get it twisted: Abstract Artform is all about bringing the heat when it comes to their hip-hop sound.
“It's always been about being from the city that I'm in — partially living in the city, partially working on the farm when I was younger," Malcolmson says. "And just the fact that we get country-boy rowdy – drinking on the back roads and smoking cigars.”
See Abstract Artform at the El Mocambo in Toronto on Saturday, Oct. 13.
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New Music Canada Track of the Day for August 28, 2009: Abstract Artform "Stay Prairie"