Malice in wonderland

>> Montreal rapper Malicious talks about
maintaining his momentum in 2008

FLIP IT UP: Malicious

by SCOTT C

There’s absolutely no doubt that 2007 has been a stellar year for Montreal rapper Malicious. His MuchMusic presence and unstoppable radio assault across Canada has made him an instantly recognizable indicator that English hip hop is still alive and well in Quebec. Following the release of his long-awaited LP on OdoubleF Records, Music Starts With M, the Mirror spoke with Mr. Malish about the year gone by as he gets ready to perform at Redlite’s New Year’s celebrations.

Mirror: What, in your opinion, were your biggest accomplishments in what was clearly a very successful year for Malicious?

Malicious: On a whole, I think the fact that I single-handedly brought awareness back to the existence of English hip hop in Quebec was big for me. I think I restored some faith in people’s view of what goes on here, and to a large degree made it clear to a lot of clueless people that we’re still here. That and finishing the album were very important to me this year.

M: Does it bother you that MusiquePlus still doesn’t support English hip hop artists in their video rotation?

MA: There’s definitely not that same love here that I get outside of Quebec, which is a shame. The reason hip hop from the South does well is because the South supports the South. Same with New York, L.A., Florida and Toronto. We still like listening to everybody else instead of supporting our own artists and our own sound, and developing something here in our own city that other people will gravitate to. I hear more Toronto tracks in the clubs here than I do Montreal tracks. I don’t want to put all of the blame on MusiquePlus, because I don’t even know who watches MusiquePlus for hip hop anymore, and they’re certainly not the only outlet that hasn’t been supportive. We got people here who are afraid to break a record in the club, and you can’t be scared to do that. It’s going on in other cities, so why not here? Unless you do something different, you’re just another club DJ who plays the new Jay-Z track.

M: How do you top yourself after the videos that you’ve made and the people you’ve worked with? You can’t really go back, right?

MA: I don’t want to spoil any surprises, but there are definitely things that I’ve already done, and for the time being, I don’t feel like I have to do that anymore. We’ve done big tits and ass, to be straight-up, and I know what some people are checking for, but I want to bring it back to what initially brought me into this. Now that I have people’s attention, I think I can do that. I’m in more of a position to switch things up and do things a little different. One of my favourite groups is Outkast, and between album one and album two, they were able to completely flip it and change up their style without losing their foundation. I loved both albums, and then when the next one came, they flipped it again. Video is my biggest promo tool, and I still feel like I can flip things a little differently the next time out.

With Frigid, Jester, Marc Anthony, Kleankut and
more at Redlite on Monday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m., $25